Power Hacksaw

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Wdnich

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Last month while in Florida I hit a estate sale up, while I was down there. Picked up a load of items. One in particular was a Craftsman Power Hacksaw. The wiring was decayed, and was not quite sure about it. But the price was right on it. 70 bucks for the hacksaw, and a bunch of other items on the table it was sitting on. I got around to rewiring it today to do a complete test on it before I started to clean it up and restore it. Heres the video of it running.

http://youtu.be/tH8YwF7zBh4

I spent an hour cutting things before the dry rotted belt wore out. New belt tomorrow and play with it some more.
 
Nice find! I wish I could find one of those around here! I've got a Keller 5A out in the garage, and it's great for cutting channel iron and chunks of I-beam, but a smaller bench top saw would be nice to have in the basement shop for most of the bar stock cutting that I do.
 
There was one locally about two months ago, the guy had an 1300 price tag on it. I have seen a few here and there all over the southeast but usually they want over 500 bucks for one. I will post up a few pics later. I love the thing. It cut through everything I put on it tonight without a hitch, even with the dry rotted belt. the grandkids are going to love watching it. I like the old iron machinery. Just something about the way they designed it to work, and the beefiness of it.
 
That is a well built nice running machine; with a coarser new blade it should work out very well for you; I have a 6X6 Peerless saw at home, and in my business I had a Marvel 6X6; there is the pinnacle of power hacksaw design the blade comes down parallel to the vise, and they have positive and friction feeding so tha round bar can be cut faster in the narrower sections with the friction feed, then revert to the positive feed in the heavier sections near the center of the bar being cut; this combined with a shaper like crank motion with slow speed for the cutting stroke and fast return make these saws cut about twice as fast and an ordinary powerhacksaw; too big for home shops, but wonderful nonetheless
 
I have one of these, and love it. The machine in motion reminds me of a little steam engine with all the moving parts. I suggest you get a 1 inch wide blade, as that is what it was designed for, and that will make for much straighter cuts.
 
I would love to see some pics of the peerless hacksaw. Never seen one. Did a search on the internet but so many different images not sure what I am looking at.

benmychree said:
That is a well built nice running machine; with a coarser new blade it should work out very well for you; I have a 6X6 Peerless saw at home, and in my business I had a Marvel 6X6; there is the pinnacle of power hacksaw design the blade comes down parallel to the vise, and they have positive and friction feeding so tha round bar can be cut faster in the narrower sections with the friction feed, then revert to the positive feed in the heavier sections near the center of the bar being cut; this combined with a shaper like crank motion with slow speed for the cutting stroke and fast return make these saws cut about twice as fast and an ordinary powerhacksaw; too big for home shops, but wonderful nonetheless
Click to expand...
 
There is a guy on the Chicago Craigslist that has one for $200 (I think). I thought that was a little spendy, but he said it worked. If anyone wants it, I'll track down a link.

GG
 
I have a craftsman that looks just like that one. Mine cuts pretty straight and I have been very happy with it. I also have a Milwaukee metal cutting chop saw, but I only use it outside as it throws sparks and such all over the place. The little power hacksaw doesn't make a mess. Its especially handy when it raining outside. The one addition that I made was to add a switch that automatically shuts if off as soon as the piece is cut (because I always seem to be busy doing three things at once). I used the switch from an upright sump pump, because that's what I had lying around. I made up an angle iron bracket to mount it to, and slotted it so I can adjust it as needed. As it cuts and the carriage comes down, it makes contact with the lever on the switch. As soon as the cut is made it shuts it off. Also you have to lift the carriage and manually reset the switch to restart it. Kind of a built in safety factor. Locally they usually go for $100 plus depending on condition, but you don't see them for sale very often. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

Hardly
 
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