Hemingway Compact Powered Hacksaw

[Flying FiferParticipant @flyingfifer]

I made mine using the same design as Bizibilder changed some dimensions so I could cut larger lumps of metal and also didn`t weld it. Fitted a knock off switch gadget so I can just load the item to be cut then walk away and do something else. One of the most useful and least tiring tools I have/ I highly recommend Mr Cochrane`s design.

Alan

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

I don't own one(i went down the bandsaw route) but you can't help but admire these powered hacksaws.

Michael W

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Michael W,

I had the same issue with the blade running off the wheels on my Axminster band saw. I finally nailed it down to poorly aligned blade guides, in particular the one feeding the blade back onto the powered lower wheel.

This machine has the ball bearing guides to both sides and the back of the blade. Both the carriers were poorly machined, one was still as cast, and the worst introduced a twist onto the blade as it was presented to the drive wheel.

The upper wheel also had a poorly machined rim not aligned with the bore, giving the blade a weaving motion as it ran off the wheel. It now runs reliably as a result of putting those things right. I have sent an article to Neil covering those and other faults in the blade transmission I have had to put right

Regards Brian

[Flying FiferParticipant @flyingfifer]

Michael W & Brian,

I also have a Bandsaw, a Burgess BK 1 which I`ve had for the over 50 years. I only ever used it to cut sheet metal because quite honestly on anything thicker than 1/4" I was quicker with a Hacksaw. When the Chinese bandsaws started to arrive in UK I considered buying one then but there were so many articles in ME etc about how to cure them etc that put me off so I went for the powered hacksaw instead. I mounted mine on a wheeled trolley & it sits under the bench until it`s required for use.

Make your own !! It will give you both great satisfaction in having done so & it also cheers you up when you remember you don`t have to use muscle power ever again.

Alan

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Hello Alan,

Having cured my band saw of the various faults it has shown over 17 years of ownership, I feel I have invested more than sufficient time and energy to expect it to work now and pay off the investment!

To be honest, those faults have ranged from the irritating niggle to something rather more fundamental which required major surgery on the angle drive gearbox and I suppose there is some satisfaction, of an odd sort maybe, to be had in overcoming the various hurdles in my path.

I am equally sure that, knowing the pain to come, I would have chosen something else, or built my own, but none of us are clairvoyant and hindsight is the wonderful skill we all call experience. I now look forward to some reliable running ——– please !??

Brian

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Posted by Paul Lousick on 23/07/2016 08:40:04:

I have a small bandsaw which I bought 3 years ago for $350. One of the best investments that I have made for my workshop. It will cut 125mm dia steel and will cut thru 25mm in no time at all and only weighs 23kg. The support stand for the saw is an old milk crate which will be replaced by a proper stand when I get round to it. (still looking for a round tuit). I would recommend using a bi-metal blade. They cost a bit more but last for much longer. The one in my saw is over a year old and gets used regularly. The round white object is a tube of wax, used for lubricating the blade.

Bought mine on line but now sold by Hare and Forbes in Australia. (should also be an agent in UK) **LINK**

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 23/07/2016 08:48:50

This looks too be the same machine as the FEMI see above

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

These chinese machines being budget as they are, we all know the skies the limit on how much you can pay for a bandsaw so in the end you just take the plunge and get one at a budget price.

It isn't perfect, the cast (shoddy and porous) iron parts show that it's made to a set cost. I don't mind having to sort out niggles and problems because i never expected it to run perfectly. When i see things that were clearly made badly as part of a built in obscelecence, thats the only time i get annoyed by it.

Much of the designing of powered hacksaws clearly harks back to a day when the only bandsaw on the market was at a 4 figure price tag and weighed 500kg. Without the cheap bandsaws that would come later, the powered hacksaw seems to have flourished.

Despite these changes it still has one advantage over the bandsaw and that is size, the budget bandsaw easily use 2 metre footprint which is alot of room for a hobbyist. There is also the personal aspect of building your own which would never be felt with a bandsaw.

I think it begs the question "so why not make your own bandsaw?" well, i think the stumbling block is the gearbox and possibly the big cast iron drive wheels for smaller machines,

it's much easier these days to either go down the route of a powered hacksaw for space and a project to do, or go for a budget bandsaw and modify it as you like,

a good example; like tables provided from plate steel have never been very good with bandsaws probably due to the weight, labour and shipping costs of a good solid cast iron table.

 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 25/07/2016 14:56:34

[Enough!Participant @enough]

Went the Chinese 6 x 4 bandsaw route years ago. In my situation space considerations are determined primarily by the width of the machine and these devices aren't very wide. Did the usual minor mods early on to the blade guidance etc. Probably less work than I ever had to do to get the minilathe that I had at that time up to scratch.

The most serious issue was that I wasn't happy with the grounding (earthing). The power cable was routed into the bottom casting and the ground terminated there. The moving part picked up its ground only through the pivot. Easily fixed with a substantial ground strap between the two.

Apart from that, the usual,simple mods to hold short pieces, extend the vice jaws and add a more substantial (semi permanent) table when using in vertical mode (something power hacksaws don't do, I guess).

Couldn't function without it.

[Jonathan MeadParticipant @jonathanmead91773]

Thanks for all the replies. Interesting that nobody has actually built the Hemingway kit to date. Two things attract me to the powered hacksaw – the more compact footprint for my small workshop and the one that my friend has. His is the Blackgates Engineering one, but they don't list it in their current catalogue. It would be cheaper to buy than the Hemingway kit but is pretty much a set of castings and you have to source the motor and other parts yourself.

I'll be going to the Bristol show in a couple of weeks time and will have a look at the bandsaws on the Warco stand and talk to Blackgates about casting availability.

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