Craftsman Power Hacksaw - Cut Squareness/Blade Size

[Placeholder17]

Hello all,
I've been playing out with blade types for my Craftsman power hacksaw (101.22940). The seller gave a me 14" long, 1.25" deep, 10 TPI blade, but I had only tested it with standard 12" long, 0.5" deep, 32 TPI hand hacksaw blades.

With the 32 TPI, 0.5" deep blades, it cut quietly and smoothly but not even close to square on something as thin as 0.5" EMT pipe, even after cranking the blade tension thumb screw with pliers.

I got around to cutting the 14"/1.25"/10 TPI blade down to 12" long and trying it cutting a piece of 1.5" rebar, lubricating throughout with cutting fluid. However, the saw vibrated horribly loudly on each cut stroke.

I then procured 12"/1"/14 TPI blades and tried cutting the rebar again. The saw vibrated just as badly on a dry cut, but after adding cutting fluid I got it to a smooth and quiet cut, also basically square.

Now, the Craftsman manual from Vintage Machinery makes no mention of blade size or blade lubrication. The Covel manual actually outright states the blade size is 12"x0.5"x0.025" (so a hand hacksaw blade), makes no mention of lubrication for the benchtop model, and gives TPI between 10 to 18.

So.....the original recommended shallow/thin blades don't cut square, yet don't need lubricant, and deeper blades cut square but depend on lubricant and can't use the coarser TPI from the manual.

*Through every experiment mentioned above, I reduced weight/friction by keeping the adjustable pressure weight OFF the saw.

Would those with more experience with these saws let me know if I am missing some trick to get the 0.5" deep, thin blades to cut square? Additionally, has anyone else had the vibration issue, and have you been able to cut with 10 TPI blades?

 

[tool_scrounge]

Have you adjusted the gibs on the main slide to stationary bar? See photo below. Please note rebar is harder than heck and this lighter weight hacksaw is probably not up to the task.

link to manual

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/222/16380.pdf

 

[lilredex]

I use regular blades on mine. Anything coarser than 18 TPI usually ends up in a chatter.

 

[Placeholder17]

I did already fine tune the gibs clamping the blade support to the arm so that the support could not rock at all (I do have and have read the manual). It's not too tight, I can turn the aluminum saw drive pulley with one finger.

I guess my question for lilredex is how tight do you crank the blade tension thumbscrew?. I tightened as far as I could get by hand, then a quarter turn with pliers. I didn't want the blade to snap during a cut if I tightened further.

 

[lilredex]

That's about how I tighten the blade. The other thing to look at is the way the way the lever raising plates connect to the feed block. Those fingers should walk their way down the block smoothly with no stumbling, to keep the blade from slamming on the work being cut. The best way is to adjust them with no work in the vise, and play with the adjustments until the blade walks down uniformly with each stroke.

The other thing you might look at is the automatic shut-off feature that was always omitted from the Craftsman version of that saw.