Due to a lack of a pipe union and a quest pipe fitting
I didn't dare tamper with because I don't have the tool
to fix it. I found myself cutting 1" galvanized pipe with
a hacksaw this morning. While watching the saw go back
and forth I pondered the following question.

Is there an official direction that the teeth of the blade
be oriented? As in towards the handle or away from
it. If so... Why? Personally, I've never really paid attention
to which way I put them on.

Devonshire

Devonshire wrote:
Due to a lack of a pipe union and a quest pipe fitting
I didn't dare tamper with because I don't have the tool
to fix it. I found myself cutting 1" galvanized pipe with
a hacksaw this morning. While watching the saw go back
and forth I pondered the following question.

Is there an official direction that the teeth of the blade
be oriented? As in towards the handle or away from
it. If so... Why? Personally, I've never really paid attention
to which way I put them on.

Devonshire

I would suggest with the teeth pointing down and forward. Not only
does it cut better that way (for most jobs), but to do otherwise risks
a visit from the Hacksaw Blade Police. Nasty folks.

John Martin

"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never really
paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke pushes them
into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top stiffen your wrist.
The only blades I know that cut on the pull stroke are the very thin
wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They are so thin that they would
buckle if you tried to make one cut on the push. Hacksaw blades work best
at very high tension, so buckling can't happen.

You don't pay attention to the direction? Does this mean you slide the saw
back and forth with equal energy in both directions? John M is right. The
Hacksaw Blade Police will come. However, if it's your first offense, they
will probably send you to Sawyer's Education, and let you off without a
fine.

Watch out for the Metal File Police as well.

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:42:24 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:


"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never really
paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke pushes them
into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top stiffen your wrist.
The only blades I know that cut on the pull stroke are the very thin
wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They are so thin that they would
buckle if you tried to make one cut on the push. Hacksaw blades work best
at very high tension, so buckling can't happen.

You don't pay attention to the direction? Does this mean you slide the saw
back and forth with equal energy in both directions? John M is right. The
Hacksaw Blade Police will come. However, if it's your first offense, they
will probably send you to Sawyer's Education, and let you off without a
fine.

Watch out for the Metal File Police as well.

Fine blades such as used in a jewelers saw cut on the pull stroke
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

In article
,
"Leo Lichtman" wrote:

"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never really
paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke pushes them
into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top stiffen your wrist.
The only blades I know that cut on the pull stroke are the very thin
wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They are so thin that they would
buckle if you tried to make one cut on the push. Hacksaw blades work best
at very high tension, so buckling can't happen.

You don't pay attention to the direction? Does this mean you slide the saw
back and forth with equal energy in both directions? John M is right. The
Hacksaw Blade Police will come. However, if it's your first offense, they
will probably send you to Sawyer's Education, and let you off without a
fine.

Watch out for the Metal File Police as well.

Had to do a citizens file arrest a couple of weeks ago... wasn't pretty
either, a for real bona fide file felony.

The 'operator' was running said file back and forth as if it were a
sanding block. Makes me cringe...

Erik

Erik wrote:
In article
,
"Leo Lichtman" wrote:

"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never
really paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke
pushes them into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top
stiffen your wrist. The only blades I know that cut on the pull
stroke are the very thin wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They
are so thin that they would buckle if you tried to make one cut on
the push. Hacksaw blades work best at very high tension, so
buckling can't happen.

You don't pay attention to the direction? Does this mean you slide
the saw back and forth with equal energy in both directions? John M
is right. The Hacksaw Blade Police will come. However, if it's
your first offense, they will probably send you to Sawyer's
Education, and let you off without a fine.

Watch out for the Metal File Police as well.

Had to do a citizens file arrest a couple of weeks ago... wasn't
pretty either, a for real bona fide file felony.

The 'operator' was running said file back and forth as if it were a
sanding block. Makes me cringe...

Erik

It is truly amazing how many so called tradesmen beaver away with a hacksaw
without regard to the pressure on the back stroke. Not only does it ruin the
blade in short order but the energy input is half wasted,

Sigh.
Ken.

I'm lazy. I use my sawsall. It cuts on the pull stroke. Nothing like
spraying water all over it when cutting into dry water pipe. I think I'm
going to make a short gfci extension cord for such days.
Karl

"Ken Davey" wrote in message
...
Erik wrote:
In article
,
"Leo Lichtman" wrote:

"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never
really paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke
pushes them into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top
stiffen your wrist. The only blades I know that cut on the pull
stroke are the very thin wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They
are so thin that they would buckle if you tried to make one cut on
the push. Hacksaw blades work best at very high tension, so
buckling can't happen.

You don't pay attention to the direction? Does this mean you slide
the saw back and forth with equal energy in both directions? John M
is right. The Hacksaw Blade Police will come. However, if it's
your first offense, they will probably send you to Sawyer's
Education, and let you off without a fine.

Watch out for the Metal File Police as well.

Had to do a citizens file arrest a couple of weeks ago... wasn't
pretty either, a for real bona fide file felony.

The 'operator' was running said file back and forth as if it were a
sanding block. Makes me cringe...

Erik

It is truly amazing how many so called tradesmen beaver away with a
hacksaw
without regard to the pressure on the back stroke. Not only does it ruin
the
blade in short order but the energy input is half wasted,

Sigh.
Ken.

On the day of Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:42:24 GMT...
"Leo Lichtman"
typed these letters:


"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never really
paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke pushes them
into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top stiffen your wrist.
The only blades I know that cut on the pull stroke are the very thin
wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They are so thin that they would
buckle if you tried to make one cut on the push. Hacksaw blades work best
at very high tension, so buckling can't happen.

You don't pay attention to the direction? Does this mean you slide the saw
back and forth with equal energy in both directions? John M is right. The
Hacksaw Blade Police will come. However, if it's your first offense, they
will probably send you to Sawyer's Education, and let you off without a
fine.

Watch out for the Metal File Police as well.



For most applications forward cutting makes sense. I could use my
weight as an advantage when cutting in a forward direction. To avoid
confrotation with the dreaded hacksaw police I will in the future
install my hacksaw blades with the teeth pointed away from me.
If I run into a rare occasion where the blade needs to go the other
way, I'll wait till 2am, turn the lights off, and play loud music so
the hacksaw police are less likely to figure out what I'm doing.

Speaking of the file police... They need to investigate the place
I used to work. They had a horozontal band saw that everytime
I went to use it the blade only had one tooth left on it. I'm almost
certain this was due to night time employees trying to cut files
with it.

Devonshire

On the day of Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:17:52 -0500...
Gerald Miller
typed these letters:

Fine blades such as used in a jewelers saw cut on the pull stroke
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada



The cutting direction varies on electric reciprocating saws too.
In a scroll saw I would install the blade so that it cuts on the
downward stroke which helps hold the material being cut to
the table. A Jig saw cuts on the up stroke to help hold the saw to
the material being cut. With a hand saw the matrial being cut is
held independent of the saw. I think the direction of the cut is
mostly personal preference and a particual cutting direction may be
advantagous in specific situations.

Devonshire

On the day of Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:43:57 GMT...
Erik
typed these letters:


Had to do a citizens file arrest a couple of weeks ago... wasn't pretty
either, a for real bona fide file felony.

The 'operator' was running said file back and forth as if it were a
sanding block. Makes me cringe...

Erik

I've seen it done. Probably guilty of it a time or two myself.
Normally when I file something I lock it in a vice and only
do forward strokes. I have used files in tight situations where
the back stroke was unavoidable. But, don't tell the file police.

Devonshire

On the day of Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:57:38 -0800...
"Ken Davey"
typed these letters:

It is truly amazing how many so called tradesmen beaver away with a hacksaw
without regard to the pressure on the back stroke. Not only does it ruin the
blade in short order but the energy input is half wasted,

Sigh.
Ken.



I had not thought of wearing the blade by pressure on the back stroke.

In my case, regardless of what direction the blade is installed I put
more emphasis into the direction that it is cutting. However, when
using an elecric recipocating saw I've never let off on the back
stroke. Perhaps this causes recipocating saw blades to wear out
faster than a band saw. Then again, band saw blades have a lot
more teeth to wear out than a scroll saw blade. I don't know.

Devonshire

On the day of Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:16:55 GMT...
"Karl Vorwerk"
typed these letters:

I'm lazy. I use my sawsall. It cuts on the pull stroke. Nothing like
spraying water all over it when cutting into dry water pipe. I think I'm
going to make a short gfci extension cord for such days.
Karl


I considered using my side grinder and a cutoff wheel. But, since I
couldn't see how much water was left in the pipe I decided against
it.

Devonshire

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 17:20:19 GMT, Devonshire wrote:
On the day of Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:57:38 -0800...
"Ken Davey"
typed these letters:

It is truly amazing how many so called tradesmen beaver away with a hacksaw
without regard to the pressure on the back stroke. Not only does it ruin the
blade in short order but the energy input is half wasted,

I had not thought of wearing the blade by pressure on the back stroke.

Goes for files too, of course.

In my case, regardless of what direction the blade is installed I put
more emphasis into the direction that it is cutting. However, when
using an elecric recipocating saw I've never let off on the back
stroke.

If you look at the way the blade is shaped, you'll see that it's doing
that for you. Sawzall blades, at least the ones I use, have a forward
angle to the cutting surface.

"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) They had a horozontal band saw that everytime I
went to use it the blade only had one tooth left on it. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
When you changed blades, you should have cut that part of the blade out and
put it on your key ring. A single tooth that could survive on a band saw is
a remarkable thing, and might be very useful in disaster survival.

BTW, using a single tooth on an unmounted band saw blade, I would make it
cut on the PULL. TIC

In my experience more than you want.
Karl


"Devonshire" wrote in message
...
On the day of Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:16:55 GMT...
"Karl Vorwerk"
typed these letters:

I'm lazy. I use my sawsall. It cuts on the pull stroke. Nothing like
spraying water all over it when cutting into dry water pipe. I think I'm
going to make a short gfci extension cord for such days.
Karl


I considered using my side grinder and a cutoff wheel. But, since I
couldn't see how much water was left in the pipe I decided against
it.

Devonshire

According to Leo Lichtman :

"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never really
paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke pushes them
into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top stiffen your wrist.
The only blades I know that cut on the pull stroke are the very thin
wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They are so thin that they would
buckle if you tried to make one cut on the push.

The same for coping saw blades. The frame is usually springy
enough so it does not give sufficient support for push cutting.

Come to think of it -- it has been a while since I remember
seeing a coping saw in the hardware stores. Are they still sold?

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 04:49:09 +0000, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

According to Leo Lichtman :

"Devonshire" wrote: (clip) If so... Why? Personally, I've never really
paid attention to which way I put them on.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the teeth are pointed away from your hand, the cutting stroke pushes them
into the work, so they cut well, and you don't have top stiffen your wrist.
The only blades I know that cut on the pull stroke are the very thin
wood-cutting blades in Japanese saws. They are so thin that they would
buckle if you tried to make one cut on the push.

The same for coping saw blades. The frame is usually springy
enough so it does not give sufficient support for push cutting.

Come to think of it -- it has been a while since I remember
seeing a coping saw in the hardware stores. Are they still sold?

Enjoy,
DoN.
I have one that was old when it was given to me 60+ years ago - 1/4"
rod bent to shape, slotted to hold the loop end blade in one of two
positions. Nowadays they are much deeper and made of tubular steel
with screw clamps to hold plane end blades or jewelers blades.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada