Hacksaw

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This article is about a hand tool. For gamers' speak, see H4X0R or for the professional wrestler see Hacksaw Jim Duggan

A hacksaw is a saw for cutting metal or bones. Some of them have pistol grips which keep the hacksaw firm and easy to grip. They also cut in straight lines. It is a fine-tooth saw with a blade under tension in a frame that is used for cutting hard materials (as metal and bone)

Small hand-held hacksaws consist of a metal arch (with a handle) that fits around a narrow rigid blade that has many small saw teeth along one side. The teeth can be placed so that they face away from the handle or the opposite way. On the push stroke the arch will bend a little releasing the tension on the blade. If one puts the labeled side upward when mounting the blade, the teeth will face the handle resulting in sawing action by pulling. The blade is normally quite brittle, so care needs to be taken to prevent brittle fracture of the blade.

A panel hacksaw eliminates the frame, so that the saw can cut into panels of sheet metal without the length of cut being restricted by the frame. Junior hacksaws are the small variant, while larger mechanical hacksaws are used to cut working pieces from bulk metal.

Large, automatic hacksaws are sometimes used to replace a band saw in machine shops.

[edit] See also

• Band saw, also used for cutting metal
• Coping saw, similar finer version used to cut wood intricately.
• Fretsaw, similar finer version with larger 'A frame' used to cut wood intricately further from the edge of a workpiece.