Power Hacksaw

[JRaut]

Beautiful!!
I would love to find one like that.

I agree! I found it at a local estate sale.

Paid about $250 for it, and I didn't have to do a single bit of work on it.

This version is sort of a class heavier than the Craftsman/Atlas types of power hacksaws out there, like the one that @Cadillac STS posted.

But it certainly is a hoss. Powers straight through whatever I've ever thrown at it without breaking a sweat. And it's significantly faster than the cheap HF bandsaw, which was a surprise to me. Lots of folks suggest that they cut super slowly, but I've not found that to be the case.

Only drawback is there is no native ability on this saw to make angled cuts. It can be done, but it's a bit of a hassle.

 

[projectnut]

Ultradog, It's a good thing you asked about your hacksaw on this site, there is another site that strictly forbids the discussion of any kind of power hacksaw.
Benmychree, I didn't know you had a Marvel.
I had a Marvel 612 horiz. saw. That machine was amazing after I fixed it.
It took 3 guys to load it after we took it apart.

Why not a horizontal bandsaw? They cut 100% of the time. Many members have the HF version. Properly adjusted they do pretty well.

That was true up until about 5 years ago. Since then they allow discussion about industrial power hacksaws in the "Antique" forum.

I made the mistake of mentioning my Racine W66 in the general forum. After a protracted and highly spirited discussion the moderator relented and allowed industrial brands to be discussed. They still forbid discussion about any foreign built or hobby grade machines. If you do a search on that site you'll find nearly 1,000 posts about power hacksaws. Some that deal with hobby grade saws have been locked.

As for the OP's original question I wish he had mentioned he was looking a couple weeks ago. There was a nice Racine saw in the Wausau area listed for $350.00 or best offer. It had been up for over a month with no takers. I looked again today but it was no longer listed.

I've had my Racine W66 for about 6 years and use it on a semi-regular basis. I bought it as a backup for my Startrite H175 horizontal bandsaw. At the time I hade several large projects going and the saw was the the choke point. I purchased the Racine to smooth things out. It needed a good cleaning and some new blades, but that was about it. If you're interested in a power hacksaw I highly recommend the Racine brand. If go to the Vintage machinery website (http://www.vintagemachinery.org/home.aspx) and search Racine Tool & Machine Company you'll find several brochures on Racine saws

 

[Uglydog]

I've been very slowly working on this one.
Currently have her torn down. I'd planned to make the repairs and move her down the road.
That finally happened last fall.
Any interest?
Come get her, or I could possibly-maybe deliver to the MN metro. She is currently located in Tamarack MN.
The pic is 10years old.
She has a "Property of War Dept" tag on her.

Daryl
MN

 

[benmychree]

I've got a 6x6 Peerless in Minneapolis (Linden Hills). Weighs damn near 1000 pounds. Worth every penny, and every drop of sweat it took getting it into my shop.

I don't see them come up all that often for sale. But they were made over in Racine, so you could probably find them pretty easily if you took a little road trip.

Bring over some steel to chop up if you want to give it a whirl.

EDIT: I used to have a cheap Harbor Freight 6x6, but I sold it when I got this. I don't miss it.

View attachment 363256

I've got a 6x6 Peerless in Minneapolis (Linden Hills). Weighs damn near 1000 pounds. Worth every penny, and every drop of sweat it took getting it into my shop.

I don't see them come up all that often for sale. But they were made over in Racine, so you could probably find them pretty easily if you took a little road trip.

Bring over some steel to chop up if you want to give it a whirl.

EDIT: I used to have a cheap Harbor Freight 6x6, but I sold it when I got this. I don't miss it.

View attachment 363256

That looks like it was a lineshaft drive machine like one that I saw in the '50s in a friend's father's shop, his shop was all on lineshaft, then there was one just like it but with factory motor drive on top and a 3 speed transmission in my high school shop, then I bought one at an auction, which I have in my shop A lot of these saws have broken saw frames because people remove the outer guards which prevent cut off parts from rolling off front or back and jamming between the saw frame and the machine base; mine was broken when I bought it back in the 1960s but I was able to buy a new replacement from Peerless.

 

[benmychree]

Ultradog, It's a good thing you asked about your hacksaw on this site, there is another site that strictly forbids the discussion of any kind of power hacksaw.
Benmychree, I didn't know you had a Marvel.
I had a Marvel 612 horiz. saw. That machine was amazing after I fixed it.
It took 3 guys to load it after we took it apart.

Why not a horizontal bandsaw? They cut 100% of the time. Many members have the HF version. Properly adjusted they do pretty well.

My Marvel was at my shop and was sold along with the shop, when I bought it, it was set up with an automatic feed table, when set up to feed automatically, a stop was set up for part length, and a vise equipped sled clamped the far end of the bar and after a cut, the machine's vise would unclamp, and a friction operated feed would kick in, and a chain drive would pull the sled to feed the bar against the stop and the blade would descend and that would re clamp the vise (repeat) until the bar was used up. The Marvel saw has several features that make it cut about 1/3 faster than any normal power hacksaw, first it has a quick return device instead of a plain crank, and it has a dual feed arrangement which combines a positive feed with a friction feed so that when cutting round bars, the friction feed puts extra feed when the cross section of the cut is smaller, going into the bar and exiting, then settling into positive feed where the cross section is more constant. Another feature is that the saw frame is on a ball slide and runs on vertical ways up and down by a screw feed and also has a generous cutting oil sump for good cooling, the mix being half kerosene for best heat transfer. I also had a Marvel #8, a wonderful bandsaw with tilting blade for miter cuts.

 

[Ultradog MN]

While you are thinking of what to do be sure to use searchtempest.com to check all local Craigslist ads.

I just loaded hacksaw in and this one near Detroit came up

Craftsman/Atlas power hacksaw - tools - by owner - sale

Vintage but in new condition power hacksaw made by Atlas for Sears in the late 1940 or early 1950. The saw is all cast iron and is mounted on a wheeled stand and it take 12" regular ackasaw blade....

detroit.craigslist.org

Thanks.
I was on Searchtempest this morning and saw that one.
It is a great resource for finding stuff.
I'd like to find one that was made to use the heavier blades tho. Like a 15 or 18" model.
No hurry.

 

[benmychree]

I think the Peerless will take 3 different blade lengths, I use 14" blades on mine. That is the longest it will take.

 

[Janderso]

Check this out.

Vintage power hacksaw video

A cool old vintage power hacksaw running. It is at a shop I go to for work. It has the coolest rythem when it's running, kinda like a shaper.

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[FanMan]

I use mine all the time, it was a $10 junk shop find which I restored.

 

[Janderso]

I think the Peerless will take 3 different blade lengths, I use 14" blades on mine. That is the longest it will take.

I may have missed it, what vintage is your Peerless John?