How to make a homemade hacksaw | FREE PLANS

It had been you for a while that my hacksaw was broken, and I was hurting myself over and over from the sharp edges.
That’s why I decided to build my own hacksaw, made from wood.
To make this homemade build hacksaw, I used my old hacksaw as a base.

The advantage of making this hacksaw myself was that I could adapt this homemade hacksaw to the shape of my hand.

Do you want to build a hacksaw like this yourself?
Then download the free template in this blog and follow the steps below.
The result will be a perfectly fitting hacksaw and a lot of pride the next time you will cut iron with your self-built hacksaw.

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What is a hacksaw

A hacksaw is a hand-powered saw, consisting of a U-shaped frame, a handle, and a small-toothed saw blade.
The saw blade is tensioned between the u-shaped frame with a tensioner nut.

The blade of a hacksaw can be installed in 2 directions. That way you can cut with a pull stroke as well with a push stroke.

What is a hacksaw used for?

A hacksaw is mainly used for cutting metal objects.
However, a hacksaw is also often used to cut plastic, such as for shortening plastic pipes in construction.
Wood can also be cut with a hacksaw if you want to obtain very fine cuts, like for example when you want to make woodworking joints.

Watch the video here & learn how to make a DIY hacksaw

Here you can watch the video and see how to make the hacksaw.
After watching the video, you can continue reading the step-by-step guide to making this hacksaw yourself. 

How to make a DIY hacksaw step by step

Step 1 | Making the base of the hacksaw

I started by drawing the shape for my new hacksaw by using my old hacksaw as a base.
However, you don’t have to do this! I took the dimensions of my new hacksaw and made a template of it.
You can download it for free on this blog.

Pay attention!

The template is made in a 1: 1 scale and consists of 2 parts because this could not be done in one A4 format.
A transverse line has been drawn on the template.
This allows you to connect the 2 parts together.
Overlap the line on each part and glue the 2 parts together in this place.

The hacksaw consists of 2 layers of plywood.
Do not glue these together yet, but connect them with double-sided tape before cutting out the shape.
This allows you to make a recess in a later step where the saw blade used to be.

With my jigsaw, I sawed out the shape of this hacksaw. I always cut just outside the lines.

To cut the inside of the handle I first drilled two holes with a Forstner bit. That gave me a perfect circle for the top and bottom of the handle.
The excess material in the handle was cut away with the jigsaw.
Also, here I cut just outside the lines.

The advantage of cutting right next to the drawn lines is that I could now touch up with my drum sander. This gives me a smooth and clean finish to the hacksaw frame.

Now that the final shape of the hacksaw has been made, the 2 layers of plywood can be separated from each other.
Be careful to prevent breaking one of the parts.

In one of the parts, you can now make a slot in which the saw blade fits. You can make this slot by removing the wood with a chisel to a depth that is slightly more than the thickness of the saw blade.

Make a mark where the hole is in the saw blade and drill a hole in the wood.

Later, You will use a nail to secure the saw blade in the hacksaw. The diameter of the hole must therefore be adjusted to the diameter of this nail.

A final step in making the frame is to glue the two parts together. To do this, use wood glue, and clamp the two parts together tightly for at least a few hours.

Step 2 | Mechanism to tension the saw blade

The tensioning mechanism consists of a piece of threaded rod on which a button is placed. This allows you to adjust the saw blade to the correct tension.
For the threaded rod, I took an M8 Bolt and cut the head off.
Then about 1 cm of the threaded rod is flattened.

Drill a hole in the middle of the flattened part.
Again, you adjust the diameter of the drill to the diameter of the nail that you will use to fix the saw blade.

The button with which the saw blade can be tensioned is also homemade.

Be sure to check out my blog where I teach you how to make this jig.
Free plans are available to make this jig on this blog.

With the vice, you can press a T-nut into the button.

The wood glue has now hardened and the frame can be removed from the clamps.
Now you can drill a hole for the clamping mechanism in the middle of the frame and at the same level of the slot you made in which the saw blade will fit.

Before mounting the hacksaw, you can update the edges of the frame so that they are less sharp.
I did this with my router and a 45-degree chamfer bit.

Step 3 | Assembling the hacksaw

OK, time now to put the hacksaw together.
Start by locking the saw blade in the slot. I used a nail for this. The length of the nail is just a little less than the thickness of the two layers of plywood.

On the threaded rod, place the homemade button and a washer and slide it through the hole at the end of the hacksaw.

Now place the saw blade on the flattened side of the threaded rod and connect it with a nail. You can trim the nail afterward and round off the edges so that you cannot injure yourself.

Your hacksaw is ready!