Hacksaw Design

[DonglordActual]

Is there some advantage to this design of hacksaw or am I right in thinking it doesn't make a lot of sense. It has a threaded rod at the top and the frame is a pipe full of metal bits. I would guess those aren't supposed to be in there.

Probably something missing.

 

[4xdog]

That style is my favorite, FWIW. Easy to tension through a large nut above the handle. Strong. Built-in blade storage in the long tube.

 

[anavrinIV]

I have to agree with @4xdog it looks like a pretty stout design

 

[RTM]

I’ve got one somewhere. Much higher blade tension, and easier than the on-blade screw for developing that high tension.

 

[mv213]

I had one like that for years, until I dropped it and the casting broke. I ended up with a knock-off version of one of the newer style high-tension hacksaws like this. The casting on mine seems like it’s even more liable to break (it’s not quite as robust as the Irwin in the picture). We’ll see.

 

[Old Man Roger]

the frame is a pipe full of metal bits. I would guess those aren't supposed to be in there.

I would like to make fun of you for this statement, but I‘ve owned one for decades, and never knew it was meant to store blades in lol

 

[4xdog]

I use my crown-top Craftsman version most of the time.



One can see the slotted screw cover for the blade magazine in this view. This angle also shows the large nut for tensioning the blade.

 

[vjquan]

I have that Cman saw as well. I believe it's made by Milwaukee. The back and forth rattle of the blades tends to break the cover, so I don't store blades in it anymore.

 

[4xdog]

...I believe it's made by Milwaukee. The back and forth rattle of the blades tends to break the cover....

I don't think it's Milwaukee. The OEM is typically blue, as in the OP's earlier version. I have my blue one at my folks' old house, and I forget who made it right now. The red plastic insert in the Craftsman handle is blue on the OEM. Someone will come in with the name of the original producer.

The plastic on the blade magazine cap isn't the most robust, I'll agree, and ISTR a broken cover years ago at the research institute where I started my career. There aren't any blades stored in either of mine, simply because I scored a lifetime supply of vintage Sandvik blades in a nifty metal case at an estate sale years ago, and I use those.

 

[dscheidt]

One of the big problems with the typical stamped hacksaw is that it's not terribly rigid. That means they twist, and limits the tension that can be put on the blade.
Two connecting members at the top should reduce the amount of twist the blade experiences while you tighten it. Using a pipe or tube and threaed rod reduces the number of parts that have to be cast or extensively machined. If the pipe is the right size, it will hold spare blades.

 

[vjquan]

I don't think it's Milwaukee. The OEM is typically blue, as in the OP's earlier version.

Not sure what you're saying here. I requested replacement covers and blade pins decades ago and I'm pretty certain it was Milwaukee. Was even the same color.

 

[shawhite]

My hacksaw like the OP is labeled Klein

 

[4xdog]

Not sure what you're saying here. I requested replacement covers and blade pins decades ago and I'm pretty certain it was Milwaukee. Was even the same color.

I was just guessing that because the ones I remember and the two blue ones I have in addition to my red/gray CM -- bought originally circa 1980 -- were made by a company whose corporate colors were blue. I've always seen red from Milwaukee. Just guessing. Perhaps the blue ones weren't OEM, but rather another private label version. The way the Lenox name is molded into the plastic handle insert looks more private label than OEM, I gotta say.

As I thought about it, I recalled there were two hacksaws of that type here at my house, in addition to the one at my folks' house several states away. My blue ones are branded Lenox. Here are a few pix. This thread reminds me I need to clean up this one.




Note the old DuPont-Remington grit-edged blade (probably put in in the mid 1980s)

 

[DonglordActual]

That style is my favorite, FWIW. Easy to tension through a large nut above the handle. Strong. Built-in blade storage in the long tube.

Yep, it's full of blades and yeah it is more rigid than the hacksaw I already had.

 

[4xdog]

The basic principle is still there in the current Lenox high-tension hacksaw, although features and design have evolved considerably.

 

[4xdog]

Turns out the Garage Journal community covered some of this same ground three years ago, and there was some discussion about Drier Brothers of Chicago being the OEM.

Help me date this craftsman hacksaw

Any ideas on the period this saw was made? From the research I've done it looks like a Dreiers brothers challenger hacksaw. Anyone know when Dreisers brothers were in business? When they went out of business? I know Craftsman never made any of their own tools and the manufacturers of their...

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