Power Hacksaw - General

Safety Precautions/Loss Prevention

1. Operator must be wearing safety glasses.
2. Saw location requires operators to be wearing steel-toed boots and green coat.
3. Do not operate saw without prior training.

Standard Operation Procedure

Sample and Machine Set-Up

1. Briefly check machine for unsafe conditions: broken or loose blade, sharp or flammable metal scraps, E-STOP button.
2. Secure sample in vice while saw is off.
   • The vice on this saw is a bit old and crooked. This makes securing smaller samples difficult. Use other pieces of metal or available guide to even out the vice while you are securing your sample.
3. Make initial adjustments to both saw pressure and cutting fluid.
   • An operator can change the pressure of the blade during sawing with the dial shown in Figure 2 at the bottom of the page. If you know you are sawing a soft material, start at a pressure below “3”. If you are sawing a harder metal, start with the saw pressure at “3” and work up in pressure as needed.
   • The cutting fluid flow lever’s location can be seen in Figure 1. If you are sawing a soft material, please ensure that this is in the on position. This will help keep the blade from becoming gummed-up during use. Add more cutting fluid to saw by pouring water/lubricant mixture through one of the saw’s drains. Fluid should appear milky if it has an adequate amount of lubricant for sawing.

Machine Operation

1. Turn on saw by turning the “ON/OFF” switch (Figure 1).
2. The blade will begin moving once the “START” button is pressed. Guide the blade down until it meets your sample.
   • If your sample begins to shift in the vice at any point of sawing, press the “STOP” button immediately! A moving sample can cause the blade to snap!
3. Move the cutting fluid nozzle so that the blade is lubricated.
4. Adjust the saw pressure until you find the proper setting for your material. Pressure is optimal when each pass of the saw blade creates small shavings and not a curled, attached bit of material.
5. The saw will stop automatically once it reaches the bottom of the sample. Stop the saw at anytime by pressing “STOP” as well.
6. Raise the blade by holding down the “STOP” button.
7. Turn off saw’s “ON/OFF” switch and remove sample.
8. Vaccum/sweep up all shavings and appropriately dispose of them.