Thread: Hang-Time

A few comments that may be true.
The hacksaw handle doesn't really fit your hand in the same way as the cross-cut.
Sawing wood, you move your wrist more whereas with the hacksaw you only move in a single line and for a relatively short distance.
Metal is unforgiving so you have to keep it on the same line or risk breaking a blade. You turn yourself into a machine.
Then there is the mental thing. Who wants to waste time with rusty metal?

I use a grinder with a 1mm cut off wheel for bolts and find the hand angle doesn't bother me much.

Hand Tool Ergonomics - Tool Design : OSH Answers

Paul, I don't know about you, but I use hand saws & hacksaws in very different positions for 99% of what I do with them, so it's not surprising to me that you might find one good to use for an extended period & the other not, when they have the same hang angle. When using a hand saw on trestles, for e.g., you have a natural tendency to hold the saw and work it at its most comfortable angle, i.e. with your wrist adopting a 'neutral' position. I usually use a hacksaw high up across something held in a vise, so my wrist has to be twisted up from a neutral position. Hacksawing through a big chunk of metal is tedious - no wonder they invented the cutoff saw! The shape of the grip probably contributes to comfort, too, but in this instance, I suspect it had much to do with the angle of your wrist during the sawing.

And the quality of hacksaw blades has gone to hell in a handbasket! I use the 1mm cutoff wheels in my angle grinder a lot, but there are some jobs I can only do conveniently with a hacksaw. Buying decent blades has become nigh on impossible. Apart from wanting to cut circles when I want to cut a straight line, They slather the damn things with paint that sticks & binds in the cut & drives me crazy. I went to get some the other day, and there was 3 different brands, & every one looked like it had been dipped in thick, gooey paint! Hacksaw blades & files have both deteriorated to the point of uselessness....

Grouch, grumble....

I rarely use one but shouldn't hacksaws be used two handed and as Ian says, up high in a vice, whereas a wood saw is used low on saw horses, and with a lot more shoulder action in it.

Originally Posted by BobL

I rarely use one but shouldn't hacksaws be used two handed and as Ian says, up high in a vice, whereas a wood saw is used low on saw horses, and with a lot more shoulder action in it.

I dunno Bob ... these bolts were in 6' hardwood pergola posts sitting on milk-crates in the driveway.

Yes .. maybe that is the way they are envisioned ... at the metalwork bench.
I'm thinking the bulge in handsaw handles plays an important supportive role using the single-handed cut.
I wonder if packing the hacksaw handle slightly more oval would have made a difference.

Cheers,
Paul

I find that when I use the hacksaw it means I need to cut metal. For me this is a chore and not a pleasant way to pass the time. And no I do not think they are design to cut them selves they can bind if you just slightly out so you have to think of the cut and continue and continue and continue.

They do put a strain on the wrist.

Like any saw,long steady strokes, use the full length of the blade the same as a wood saw (sorry if the typing is patchy, it's burbon O'clock) When I was a youngster I would avoid the hacksaw too but make sure you have a good blade, good saw frame (sandvik are good) correct theeth for the job, ie 32 tpi for thin metal, 24 for average, and 18 for thicker things. Then just long slosw strokes, take it easy at the end so you don't skinur knuckles
AndChristos, don't be such a woose/ wuse,yeh one of those/ have you told Bai who is boss yet?

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

........
AndChristos, don't be such a woose/ wuse,yeh one of those/ have you told Bai who is boss yet?

I do not need to tell her she is the boss, as she already knows.