alllllllright, wait a dang sec. Using oil with a hacksaw?

A friend of mine insists that you should use [any] oil (he uses olive oil) when using a hacksaw. He says that it keeps the blade from wearing out but does not impede the cutting.

I just can't quite understand this. I understand that the blade's job is to have the teeth bite (and not wear through the item via friction heat) but it just seems to me that oil will make it nearly impossible for the teeth to grab hold of the item.

Can anyone shed light on this?

Reply to
Thomas G. Marshall
Loading thread data ...

I've used WD-40. Cools the blade, cuts faster.

MJ

Reply to
mjmwallace

Hacksaw teeth will bite into metal just fine even if the cut is saturated with oil. The purpose of the oil is to keep from wearing the teeth out, and to reduce friction so that the blade doesn't heat up so much it loses its temper (toughness and hardness).

Try it sometime on a piece of scrap steel, say about 1/8" thick. Make one cut without oiling the blade, then another cut with oil on the blade. You'll find that with oil, it cuts faster and smoother with less pressure, less noice, and less heat.

>
Reply to
Doug Miller

I don't use oil, I use something called 'cutting fluid' as sold by engineering supplies. Sure makes the drillpress bite better in hard/slick metals, I'm not going to give page-long testimonials for the efficacy with a hacksaw, but it seems to help. It also acts as a coolant for the cutting edge.

It does contain some light oil, not sure what else, I haven't looked at the blurb for a couple of decades. Also heard of people using kerosene for the purpose.

-P.

Reply to
Peter Huebner

"Doug Miller" wrote

Sounds like a good, all purpose definition of lubrication.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

On 12/19/2009 4:35 PM Thomas G. Marshall spake thus:

Well, by your reasoning, no cutting tool--drill bit, milling cutter, broach--should cut if immersed in oil. But they all are when used in industrial cutting machines, so I guess the oil is good for the tool and good for the cutting operation.

For one thing, it helps flush chips away, as well as cooling things down.

Reply to
David Nebenzahl

---------------------------------------------- "oil" provides a means of carrying away heat and "sloth" from the teeth of the blade.

Check out "cutting fluid", "cutting oil", etc.

Makes cutting metal a whole lot easier.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

A cutting edge is basically a wedge--the lubricant keeps the pieces it's wedging into from seizing to it and lets them slide more freely against it, not to mention the cooling effect, which is important with metals.

Reply to
J. Clarke

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:35:48 -0800 (PST), the infamous "Thomas G. Marshall" scrawled the following:

Oil with a hacksaw? Where's he trying to PUT it?

-- This episode raises disturbing questions about scientific standards, at least in highly political areas such as global warming. Still, it's remarkable to see how quickly corrective information can now spread. After years of ignored freedom-of-information requests and stonewalling, all it took was disclosure to change the debate. Even the most influential scientists must prove their case in the court of public opinion?a court that, thanks to the Web, is one where eventually all views get a hearing. --Gordon Crovitz, WSJ 12/9/09

Reply to
Larry Jaques

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:46:51 -0800 (PST), the infamous " snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com" scrawled the following:

Smokes, does it? Do you feed your arm Viagra before cutting?

HINT: If you use a sharp blade to start, it won't get very hot in the first place.

Unfortunately, I went 54 years before learning that simple lesson.

-- This episode raises disturbing questions about scientific standards, at least in highly political areas such as global warming. Still, it's remarkable to see how quickly corrective information can now spread. After years of ignored freedom-of-information requests and stonewalling, all it took was disclosure to change the debate. Even the most influential scientists must prove their case in the court of public opinion?a court that, thanks to the Web, is one where eventually all views get a hearing. --Gordon Crovitz, WSJ 12/9/09

Reply to
Larry Jaques

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:29:05 -0500, the infamous "J. Clarke" scrawled the following:

C'mon, guys. Cutting speed with a hacksaw is too slow to require coolant.

-- This episode raises disturbing questions about scientific standards, at least in highly political areas such as global warming. Still, it's remarkable to see how quickly corrective information can now spread. After years of ignored freedom-of-information requests and stonewalling, all it took was disclosure to change the debate. Even the most influential scientists must prove their case in the court of public opinion?a court that, thanks to the Web, is one where eventually all views get a hearing. --Gordon Crovitz, WSJ 12/9/09

Reply to
Larry Jaques

IMHO the lube is going to cut down on friction between the side of the blade and the material being cut. When first starting the cut you probably will not notice any appreciable difference when using a lubricant.

Will the lube keep the blade sharp? No, probably not but it will probably aid in keeping the teeth clean and that will in turn give the effect of the blade staying sharp longer.

Reply to
Leon

My dad taught me to use kerosene to rinse glass cutters and lubricate and clean the surface when cutting glass. We cut a lot of glass in our hardware store during the many years we had it open.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

You are machining the metal. A lot of metalworking machines spray oil or an oil/water mixture onto the cutting tool during machining. Oiling the blade is a simplified version of that with the hacksaw.

With that said, I'll admit I seldom use oil unless I am cutting a very large or thick piece of stock. Then it does seem to speed up and smoot the process.

RonB

Reply to
RonB

Same principle as using wet sandpaper. It carries the "swarf" off and keeps the gullets open.

-Zz

Reply to
Zz Yzx

Ever touch one just after a cut?

Reply to
krw

Metal cutting tools such as lathes, bandsaws etc. have cutting fluid circulating systems. Metalworking, woodworking, two separate worlds.

Ldb

Reply to
LdB

Wood cutting benefits from oil too. The trouble is that the oil soaks into the wood and can't be cleaned off, so there's a downside that outweighs the benefits.

FWIW, Bosch used to sell a blade oiler for their jigsaws, intended for metal cutting.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Light? You want Light and Oil?

I use both when cutting and drilling and they make the work go better and the cut straight(er).

Try it, you'll like it.

Reply to
Hoosierpopi

Because something is hot to touch does not make it too hot for the metal. We as humans have a very limited range of comfortable temperatures. A metal hacksaw can go quite a bit farther without damage.

Reply to
Thomas G. Marshall

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.