- Joined
- Jan 1, 2021
- Messages
- 10
Hello all. I bought a power hacksaw at the Dublin NH engine meet about 3 years ago. Other than missing the weight that's bolted to the arm, and a "hacked" up vise, it's all there. It used to work OK, but lately it's been cutting at an angle - essentially it's not cutting straight down, but rather at an angle inward, towards the base of the saw. Cutting inch thick rod, I've broken three blades. When it's about 1/2" deep, the blade is constantly rubbing, and sooner or later when it comes all the way back the blade must be twisting too much within too short of a distance, and snaps. So now I won't be using it until I figure it out. I've placed a square against the blade at both no and full extension, and it's facing straight up and down. There is nearly ZERO play between the blade holding arm and the scraped guide it runs on. Gibs are tight enough.
The blade holders are square. My thinking is that maybe I'm over-tightening the blades? I'm afraid to run it now, as I down want to break the saw frame (cast iron) - I'm SURE there's been a good amount of force putting stress on this hardware. How tight should the blade be? I've disassembled the unit, some play in the drive wheel bearing, but I don't see how that can translate to an angular cut.
Anyone with thoughts?
THANKS!
- Paul
The blade holders are square. My thinking is that maybe I'm over-tightening the blades? I'm afraid to run it now, as I down want to break the saw frame (cast iron) - I'm SURE there's been a good amount of force putting stress on this hardware. How tight should the blade be? I've disassembled the unit, some play in the drive wheel bearing, but I don't see how that can translate to an angular cut.
Anyone with thoughts?
THANKS!
- Paul
The saw when I got it had the blade mounted on the side of the bracket that faced the saw. It meant the blade was closer to the vise. I decided that maybe that that was the cause, so I disassembled the whole thing and set it up so that the blade was on the "outside" of the mounting brackets. I was gambling a good deal, as I figured the bend in the cut might just go outward now. But I cut a 1" rod, and it cut as straight as an arrow, straight down. So happy to report that no more work is needed on this tool (for now...)...