Hacksaw for parting?

[Gary Conklin]

I have watched a few vids and read a few articles this week that have shown the use of a hacksaw with the lathe running for parting off. So have you done this or what are your thoughts?

[Roger Chandler]

I used a dovetail saw to part off a cherry box lid back in fall 2009, and it pulled the wood fibers out of the knob I made on the top and I did not have enough wood on the nob or in the chuck to fix it.

Made an otherwise lovely turning, something not so great.....

It can be done just be aware of the wood fibers building up and filling the teeth in the saw so that it stops cutting and starts pulling the fibers.

[charlie knighton]

anytime you part off the bottom while lathe is running however slowly you risk , risk what you ask, just keep on doing it :eek:, i turn a small nub on the bottom, stop lathe, cut off with what ever, sand nub away

[Jerry Marcantel]

Gary, just today, I set up an old steak knife as a parting tool. After sharpeing it to look like my old tool, it worked great.... I cut 2" into my piece before it seperated, and felt I could have cut up to 3" if my part was larger od.... It's a learning curve for sure, but with a long handle, I felt secure in what I was doing.... I'm surprised that all commercial parting tools I've seen are 1/8"........ Jerry (in Tucson)

[Gary Conklin]

I use a thin kerf parting tool, and feel very safe doing it. The application that I saw was for cutting the lids off boxes to maintain grain alignment. I was curious about others thoughts, seems handy.

[David Walser]

At Alan Lacer's demo at the 2009 Desert Woodturning Roundup*, Alan demonstrated using a hacksaw to part off a box top. The hacksaw saved wood, made grain alignment easier, and was faster than using a (thin or regular width) parting tool. He cautioned against using a flimsy "hardware store grade" hacksaw.

*Information about the February 2011 DWR can be found here: http://www.desertwoodturningroundup.com/

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I have watched a few vids and read a few articles this week that have shown the use of a hacksaw with the lathe running for parting off. So have you done this or what are your thoughts?

Gary some 50 odd years ago I wanted to make a stack of coasters, the wood was a dense tropical hardwood about 4" IIRC, and the question was how was I going to make thin slices, well a took a machine hacksaw blade and ground the teeth on the side so that it became a flat saw making a narrow kerf, used that as a saw, with the lathe turning in reverse, it worked, still did have a lot of mostly hand sanding the back sides of the coasters :rolleyes:
Now fast forward and the need to make real thin kerfs to make boxes with the wavy grain still lining up, well I used a hacksaw blade to do that, worked, but the blade likes to wander, I have used it for several boxes up to about 2" thick, wouldn't want to use it on much thicker than that, here's a picture of one :)

And a couple of boxes that have wavy grain.

154674

154675 154676

[Rich Greinert]

I use a hacksaw, it works well. I learned it from Matthew Hill http://www.matthewhillstudio.com/
He turns some very nice boxes.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

When I make boxes, I use a 1/16" parting tool to start the cut, then follow with a Japan pull saw with the lathe OFF. Turn the wood slowly as you saw through. I think this saves a lot of wood, (relatively) and allows the grain to match pretty good. IMO when I use even a 1/8" parting tool, it removes too much wood so the grain does not line up so well. I would imagine that you could use a hacksaw, but the Japan pull saws come in very thin kerfs. Just do the cutting with the lathe off for safety reasons...

[John Hart]

I use a hacksaw from time to time. Works fine....And in some cases, as mentioned above, it actually works better than a standard parting tool. :)

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use a japanese saw but not with the lathe running. It cuts clean and doesn't tear the wood at all.

[Neil Strong]

I would imagine that you could use a hacksaw

I do, with the lathe running slowly and with the handle braced against the toolrest. Works for me, but I'm not recommending it for others. A face shield is a necessary bit if safety gear should the blade snap (not had it happen yet), but then I wear a face shield whenever the lathe or grinder is on.

.....

[Jim Underwood]

Personally, I'd probably not use a saw on the lathe- at least while it's spinning. But that's just my preference...

For a narrow clean cut, I'd use an industrial bandsaw blade made into a thin parting tool. They should be around 1/16th thick and 1-1/4 wide. With a couple pieces of scrap wood and a couple of brass rivets or bolts you can make a handle. You could get a used up one from your local machine shop.

Or you could just purchase a set of cheap kitchen knives from your local X-Mart (or a yard sale), and convert them. You just need something that will hold an edge and has a handle. (I'd grind the standard edge off the knives before use. Last thing you want is for a sharp edged knife to get bound up and start flailing around.:eek:)

If you keep it sharp and make a light cut, it won't tear out so much. You'll not want to make real deep cuts with it either. I'd say a 4-5 inch diameter is probably the max, unless you've got a nice long handle on the thing. Even if you have a good handle, you'll still need to "stair-step" the cut down to keep from binding.

[Dave Ogren]

I also about 2 months ago went to an Alan Lacer Demo. He did talk about using an 18 TPI hacksaw blade. He stressed a high quality blade and high quality blade holder.

On another note, saw a video on how to straighten or tune a Japanese pull saw. Put it on a steel and with a hammer softly tap all of the teeth on both sides, I assume to make the kerf smaller.

Good luck,

Dave

[Allen Neighbors]

I've used a butcher knife parting tool, and a hacksaw blade. Standard hacksaw will work well if you turn the blade around for a pull cut, and reverse the lathe. Just keep the saw moving, to clear the teeth. The parting tool will take it down to just a small amount, and the hacksaw will finish the part. I think it works best this way for me.

[Greg Just]

I have used a hacksaw as a parting tool. Learned it from Alan Lacer in a class last summer. Like all tools, the blade must be sharp with lathe turning slowly. Don't rush it!

[Jeff Willard]

I use a japanese saw but not with the lathe running. It cuts clean and doesn't tear the wood at all.


That's how I do it. Start with a shallow "V" groove created with a skew.