I have been looking for one of these that I could afford for some time, as although on a good day I can cut through a 2" bar with a hacksaw, doing so would leave me completely paralysed for several hours afterwards. This one came up on eBay, and it appears to have been almost unused (it still had a Reyrolle plug), but has had a nasty bash at some point. The pivot pin and operating rod for the latch were both bent, the latch button was missing, and both the blade lifting handle and the power trip lever had been snapped off. Fixing the trip lever was a first priority so that it will turn itself off if I have an episode of paralysis.

There seems to be very little information on the "90" model on the web, so I thought I would post some pictures of the machine and the parts I made to repair it. The saw still needs a lot of cleaning, but apart from a little surface rust everything seems fine, and it can start work as soon as I make a space for it (I can see why the "60" is more popular). There is a publicity drawing of one on lathes.co.uk that appears to show a similar round motor to mine, as well as a round knob as the release button and some kind of sleeve or roller on the trip lever.

These are the parts I made, together with the original parts they replaced. The machine ball was easiest, as I only had to tap it out, but until I make a rotary broach, the pivot pin will have to make do with a hex head.

I couldn't work out how to spin rivet over the end of the trip lever to retain the delrin roller, so I made a separate cap and secured it with Loctite. I will probably remake this lever later as I gave it too much offset and it has to be installed at an angle to avoid hitting the belt guard when lifted.

Here are a few pictures of the complete machine with the parts fitted. The motor is a mid-1970s Brook Crompton Parkinson, not Hoover or Lemac, and I have only found one picture of another Hexacut with this make of motor, so I don't know if it is original.

One oddity of the design is that the MEM NVR switch (which makes it really hard to set the depth stop) is upside down in order to be operated by the trip lever.

I had to fit a Kennedy blade

Thanks for putting up with me rambling on, hopefully the pictures will help anybody else with the same bits missing.

Brian

I think the hole and screw are for the length stop (which I haven't made yet, I'm not sure whether to order some 7/16" bar or go down a size for an easier fit). I have already found the drooping problem on some ali box section, luckily only a trimmed end was lost, and from then on I supported the overhang. When I finally work out where it will go I will have to rig up some supports both sides, as it is also hard to get long pieces level.

Fortunately, my son already had a site transformer (on special at Screwfix last year, a 110V Rage cut-off saw and transformer was less than a 240V model, and he thought the transformer would be handy anyway). Trouble is, I cannot safely use the circular saw as my episodes of paralysis begin without warning, hence my desire for a hacksaw.

Brian

The instructions say the saw should cut in the forward direction, but this is a bit ambiguous. I assumed they mean on the push stroke and have set the blade accordingly, so that, like a manual hacksaw, the tensioning screw is at the leading end.

I haven't been mobile enough to use it much so far, but with the dashpot set for a slow descent it cuts 1" x 1" x 1/8" aluminium box in under 20 seconds, and 1 1/4" dia mild steel bar in about a minute, which is fast enough for my needs.

Brian