How to choose the right hacksaw: looking for the best hand saw for wood
Practical advice on how to choose a hacksaw for wood. The subtleties of choosing a hand saw for wood: blade length and width, steel grade, tooth size, handle shape
Option # 4 – bow
Bow-type saws are more bulky devices that act as an analogue of a jigsaw.
The main purpose of this type of saw is to create an accurate cut when working with surfaces located at any angle.
Due to the solidity of the design and the threaded connections of the handles, the bow-type saws are able to easily overcome knots, cutting along radii and curved patterns.
Depending on the purpose and design of the saw, there may be:
- Swinging – for longitudinal cutting;
- Transverse – for sawing blanks across the wood fiber;
- Circular – for cutting holes, making rounds and curly sawing;
- Spike – for cutting connecting spikes, as well as cutting out simple geometric shapes on the workpiece.
Only an onion-type hacksaw can cut the material up and down, sawing blanks with complex fishing lines and performing the work alone without involving an assistant.
Tool specifications
The saw is rightfully considered the ancestor of a large family of hand tools. Since the creation of the first type of tool from iron, the saw has undergone many changes, having managed to acquire numerous "sisters" capable of performing dozens of jobs.
In the household, it is impossible to do without "toothy helpers": they are irreplaceable when pruning a garden, small carpentry and joinery
Hand saws for wood differ in many ways: blade size, steel grade, tooth shape, handle design. Let’s dwell on each parameter in more detail.
How should a hacksaw blade be?
The main part of the tool is a hacksaw blade. The first thing you should pay attention to when choosing a product is the length of the canvas. The possibilities of its application largely depend on this parameter. At the same time, the longer the blade, the more spring it is, which also complicates the process, especially when working with hard types of wood, such as ash, maple or oak.
Long stroke enables less effort when sawing, since more teeth are cut in one stroke
For sawing small elements such as plinths, bars or narrow slats, you can do with a hacksaw with a blade length of 25-30 cm.When planning to use the tool for more serious construction work, choose a product with a blade of 45-50 cm.
When determining the length of the hacksaw blade, be guided by the rule that the length of the saw is 2 times the diameter of the processed elements. If you do not follow this recommendation, you will only complicate your work. The teeth of a short hacksaw will jam inside the wood, and each will have to make a lot of effort to advance the tool to free the sawdust. Uncomfortable work will cause premature fatigue.
Traditionally, the width of the fabric of the product varies in the range of 10-20 cm. Models with a narrower fabric are not allowed for technical reasons, since they fail at the slightest bend. But it should be borne in mind that too wide canvases are inconvenient for manual work.
Of no less importance is the material for making the canvas, which is most often the role of alloy steel, as well as its degree of hardening
Tool alloy steel with a high silicon and carbon content is used for hacksaws:
- 65G, 60 C2A;
- 8 HF, 9 HF, 9 XC;
- U7, U7A, U8, U8A, U8G, U8GA, U9A, U10
Metal hardening is carried out due to the action of an alternating magnetic field on it, in which an electric current of high frequency appears. Spreading over the surface, it heats the surface layer of the metal, which is quenched after cooling.
The standard parameter is considered to be the hardness of the metal at 45 HRC, but it is still preferable to choose products, the hardness of the fabric of which is 55-60 HRC. A hacksaw with a blade of high hardness will have sufficient flexibility, but at the same time high tooth stability. On visual inspection, such a tool can be identified by the darkish shade of sharpened teeth.
Why and when to sharpen
The tool under consideration is subjected to various loads during operation, which leads to dulling of the teeth. If you cut with a saw that has dull teeth, the result will be much less effective than a sharp one. In addition, using a saw with blunted teeth is not recommended for the following reasons:
- Decreased tool performance. Not only the powers of the master will be spent, but also his time.
- Decreased accuracy of work. It is impossible to cut wood materials evenly with a blunt-toothed hacksaw, much less to do it neatly.
- Danger of using the tool. In the course of work, the saw will get stuck, jammed, and come off the mowing line, so such work can be dangerous for the master.
A sharp hacksaw is not only easier to work with, but also much safer. To determine that the time has come for sharpening the saw blade for wood, you should pay attention to the following factors:
- The canvas emits a characteristic dull sound. If the master often uses a hacksaw, then it will not be difficult for him to identify such a sound.
- The tips of the teeth are rounded.
- The saw refuses to perform its task when trying to cut wood.
These factors indicate that it is time to sharpen the hacksaw on wood with your own hands. But before you take up the file, you should determine whether these links are subject to sharpening.
How to sharpen a hacksaw on wood
To sharpen a hacksaw on wood, the blade should be fixed in a vice in the same way. Needle files or triangular files with a fine cut are used to sharpen the saw links. Not many people know how to properly sharpen a file on wood, so you should pay as much attention as possible to this process.
- Initially, you need to pick up a file. A file with a fine cut should be used, which should be held with one hand by the handle and the other by the tip of the tool.
- The sharpening angle is determined, which usually ranges from 15 to 30 degrees. The angle is usually determined by eye, but if it is difficult to do this, then you can use special home-made devices, for example, a wooden block. To do this, the bar is turned until it has the shape of a right-angled triangle with angles of 30 and 60 degrees.
- The most important thing when working with a file is pressure on it. To ensure uniform sharpening, the same number of file passes must be made over each tooth. With experience, you will learn to ensure that the top layer of metal is removed evenly.
- With the help of the prepared device, the sharpening angles are controlled. The process is carried out in a similar way on the reverse side of the web.
Now you know how to properly sharpen the teeth of a hacksaw blade for wood. But the process does not end there, as it will be necessary to align the teeth in height. If they have different heights, the uniformity of the cut will be disturbed. If there are links that are higher than the rest, then their shortening is performed using the same file. The check is carried out using a sheet of paper, to which the blade should be applied with the teeth down. After that, the sizes are compared, and the shortening procedure is repeated.
How to sharpen a hacksaw on wood yourself
For sawing building materials from wood, as well as trees, a tool such as a hand saw is used. Despite the fact that electric and even gasoline saws, jigsaws and circular saws have long been developed, a hand saw for wood remains an indispensable assistant in the arsenal of every master. With the active use of this tool, it becomes necessary to sharpen the teeth. How to sharpen a hacksaw on wood yourself at home, we will consider in the material.
How to sharpen a rip saw
The teeth of hacksaws for longitudinal sawing have an angle of less than 60 degrees, therefore they use files with large notches or a fine-cut file with a rhombic section. In this case, it is absolutely not recommended to use triangular files. For sharpening, the hacksaw is vertically fixed in the device. There are two methods for sharpening a hacksaw, which differ in giving different sharpening angles.
Educational program from the amateur estimata
For a beginner about the basics in the field of extreme and emergency situations, survival, tourism. It will also be useful for fishermen, hunters and other lovers of nature and outdoor activities.
Straight
The file / file is placed at a 90 degree angle. It is given a direction parallel to the hacksaw, and both the back and front cutting surfaces of each tooth are sharpened. This is repeated for the entire distal row of teeth. The hacksaw is then turned over in the clamping device 180 degrees and the same operation is repeated for the other teeth that will make up the far row.
Educational program from the amateur estimata
For a beginner about the basics in the field of extreme and emergency situations, survival, tourism. It will also be useful for fishermen, hunters and other lovers of nature and outdoor activities.
Straight
The file / file is placed at a 90 degree angle. It is given a direction parallel to the hacksaw, and both the back and front cutting surfaces of each tooth are sharpened. This is repeated for the entire distal row of teeth. The hacksaw is then turned over in the clamping device 180 degrees and the same operation is repeated for the other teeth that will make up the far row.
Oblique
This method differs from the straight one only by the angle of the tool movement direction to the plane of the blade – the sharpening angle decreases from straight to 80 degrees. The process is exactly the same, but the teeth after sharpening resemble the teeth of a bow saw.