FS. Marvel #6 Power Hacksaw

Marvel #6. It works like it should and I have a box of about 20 blades to go with it. I upgraded to the #9 so this has to go.
Marvel Saw / Power Hacksaw - general for sale - by owner

$300 obo. Loaded.

Andy

That's a pretty sweet deal. Should make somebody very happy. I've got a 9A and it's just a joy to use. Pretty amazing how square and clean the cuts are.

Citxmech said:

That's a pretty sweet deal. Should make somebody very happy. I've got a 9A and it's just a joy to use. Pretty amazing how square and clean the cuts are.

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I agree completely.
I always chuckle when you hear guys complaining about power hacksaws. Try cutting (10-15) 8”x8” D2 die sections on a band saw and you’ll wanna throw the POS in the garbage halfway thru the 3rd section. Obviously on thinner steel and aluminum a bandsaw will out cut a hacksaw but that’s where it ends for me.

I’d like to send this saw down the road complete because it’s in good shape. If I can’t get $300 with the 20 blades I’ll keep it for a parts machine and sell all the blades. It looks like all the important parts are interchangeable between the 6” and 9” saws.

Andy

Hobby Shop said:

I agree completely.
I always chuckle when you hear guys complaining about power hacksaws. Try cutting (10-15) 8”x8” D2 die sections on a band saw and you’ll wanna throw the POS in the garbage halfway thru the 3rd section. Obviously on thinner steel and aluminum a bandsaw will out cut a hacksaw but that’s where it ends for me.

I’d like to send this saw down the road complete because it’s in good shape. If I can’t get $300 with the 20 blades I’ll keep it for a parts machine and sell all the blades. It looks like all the important parts are interchangeable between the 6” and 9” saws.

Andy

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I had one of those Marvels. It was pretty big, think it did atleast 8".

When I bought mine I went off advice like this that I read online. Thought it would do fine for starting out my shop. Paid $400 for mine. It was neat to watch, cut straight, thought it was fast enough.

Then I got busy. The hacksaw was a huge choke point. I was always waiting on the saw. I moved to a bigger shop and during the move I dropped that Marvel accidentally and scattered it into lots of small pieces. I bought a used 1" blade JET bandsaw and it turned out that bandsaw cut 6" 1045 bar about 5 times faster than that Marvel did and perfectly straight. I have a 7.5HP 1.25" blade full auto Kalamazoo now and it will rip right through thick steel sections no problem. I've cut 14" bar on it and it was within .005" parallel. That Kalamazoo is probably the same age as these old Marvel hacksaws and didn't cost me much at all.

So great to see a fair deal on a neat old saw, but I'd caution not to overstate the abilities of these things. I don't believe they are more accurate than a similar weight bandsaw and they are significantly slower. You also can't trust a grunt type employee to set the feeds right and you probably won't find blades anywhere local for one.

One of the most obvious problems is, half the time the hack saw is running, the blade is cutting. The other half of the time, the blade is going in the wrong direction...

What a sweet deal.............if only I were closer

dkmc said:

One of the most obvious problems is, half the time the hack saw is running, the blade is cutting. The other half of the time, the blade is going in the wrong direction...

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I remember if you actually kicked that thing up into high gear, high range on the motor and let it rip things would be whizzing at scatter speed and the whole thing would walk across the floor. I think it was optimistic that they even gave it such high speeds since there's no way you could run it like that for long. I spose if you ran it in scatter gear you could say it cut 1/2 the speed of a bandsaw, but you wouldn't dare run it that speed other than the one time you did just to see what it would do.

It's a piston engine compared to a gas turbine.
I suppose to make up for inefficiency, you could fix a basket to the arm, plop in a gallon paint can, and multitask it by shaking paint and cutting stock.

I don't think that anyone here is seriously suggesting that any power hacksaw is appropriate for a production shop. But for job/home shops whose owners enjoy keeping vintage equipment working, they are still very viable IMHO - especially at the price points you can find these things these days.

Citxmech said:

I don't think that anyone here is seriously suggesting that any power hacksaw is appropriate for a production shop. But for job/home shops whose owners enjoy keeping vintage equipment working, they are still very viable IMHO - especially at the price points you can find these things these days.

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Love my salvaged Kasto 10" X 12". 60 or so blades, "many" types patterns and pitches stashed.

For the "seldom used but who knows on WHAT NEXT?" guy, the ability to swap to a more appropriate blade for one specific task in a New York Minute is GOLDEN.

And yeah, IF I had the need? I'd want a Kasto, DoAll or similar-capable top-end bandsaw AND a top-end cold saw.

But I do NOT have the need.

Horses for courses. This saw can still bring SOMEBODY serious grins, and "not JUST" a hobbyist, either. Blades alone are worth another $100 or $200.

Garwood said:

I had one of those Marvels. It was pretty big, think it did atleast 8".

When I bought mine I went off advice like this that I read online. Thought it would do fine for starting out my shop. Paid $400 for mine. It was neat to watch, cut straight, thought it was fast enough.

Then I got busy. The hacksaw was a huge choke point. I was always waiting on the saw. I moved to a bigger shop and during the move I dropped that Marvel accidentally and scattered it into lots of small pieces. I bought a used 1" blade JET bandsaw and it turned out that bandsaw cut 6" 1045 bar about 5 times faster than that Marvel did and perfectly straight. I have a 7.5HP 1.25" blade full auto Kalamazoo now and it will rip right through thick steel sections no problem. I've cut 14" bar on it and it was within .005" parallel. That Kalamazoo is probably the same age as these old Marvel hacksaws and didn't cost me much at all.

So great to see a fair deal on a neat old saw, but I'd caution not to overstate the abilities of these things. I don't believe they are more accurate than a similar weight bandsaw and they are significantly slower. You also can't trust a grunt type employee to set the feeds right and you probably won't find blades anywhere local for one.

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I’m in no way overstating or comparing your 7.5hp production saw to this little 2-3hp hacksaw. They’re not in the same ballpark and your saw better cut 3x faster than this one. I’m selling a $150-$200 saw, with $100 in blades that cuts as straight as can be in any type of steel for $300 in the Antique section.

I’ll have take your word that your saw will cut thru large D2 & S7 die sections, D2 weldments and D2 composites all day straight as can be, without swapping the blade every 4-5 pieces but I’ve never seen it.

Citxmech said:

I don't think that anyone here is seriously suggesting that any power hacksaw is appropriate for a production shop. But for job/home shops whose owners enjoy keeping vintage equipment working, they are still very viable IMHO - especially at the price points you can find these things these days.

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Count me in as one who does use and enjoys having a power hacksaw in the shop. I've had a Startrite bandsaw in the shop going on 20 years. It does a good job and is certainly faster than a power hacksaw. We had a Racine saw 6x6 power hacksaw in the shop where I worked. That thing was busy from the moment the lights were turned on in the morning until they were shut off at quitting time. I got used to hearing it rhythmically cutting away all day long. About 5 years ago I got a couple big jobs and the bandsaw became the choke point. Not wanting to spend a ton of money for a backup, I found a Racine power hacksaw for sale in the area.

I went to take a look and as you might imagine it was a filthy beast covered in swarf and dried coolant. At that point I really wasn't interested, but thought I would talk to the owner for a few minutes anyway. Before I could even open my mouth the owner said, "don't let the price scare you, you can have it for $100.00 and I'll load it in your truck".

At that point I still wasn't sure it was worth more than scrap, but decided to take a chance. It took a couple weeks between jobs to get it cleaned up and running. I was amazed that the beast was still fully functional, and would still cut straight. Once it was up and running I kept it busy for a couple weeks straight. Now it sits next to the bandsaw getting used only a few hours a month when the other saw is busy.

I kinda like the old beast. It reminds me of days gone by. It's what I would refer to as "a bit of functional nostalgia". I must say I'm glad I have it. I noticed last week the bandsaw is leaking a bit of gear oil. When time allows I'll do a little disassembly and replace a couple seals. No big rush in putting it back together. I think the Racine power hacksaw can fill the gap for a few days.

One just showed up sorta local. Not close enough to the OP to affect his target market I don't recon
Power Hack Saw - tools - by owner - sale

dkmc said:

One just showed up sorta local. Not close enough to the OP to affect his target market I don't recon
Power Hack Saw - tools - by owner - sale

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From the looks of it the machine is a 66HD. It uses 14" blades, has 3 speeds, 70, 100, and 140 spm, and weighs in at about 1,350 lbs. It's the smallest of the OilCut series.

14" blade.....what's the max round it'll cut, any idea?

projectnut said:

From the looks of it the machine is a 66HD. It uses 14" blades, has 3 speeds, 70, 100, and 140 spm, and weighs in at about 1,350 lbs. It's the smallest of the OilCut series.

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When I worked at mega factory we had a Peerless power hacksaw that would cut about 11" square stock. It was a beast and to this day I can hear that thing cutting away. It was used in the crib where all the steel was cut to supply a few tool rooms and sometimes it would run for a month or more non stop 24/7. I can't even imagine how many tons of steel and other materials that thing cut. But it is apparent to me now that it was a choke point in our system. Sometimes we would get a big project and toolmakers would be sitting around waiting for materials. A couple of band saws that cost a couple of thousand each would have been money well spent.

A few years ago I saw an ad on Craigslist for a Peerless power hacksaw. Went and looked at it and it was a smaller one that has and arm that pivots but still a stout saw. Brought it home and ran it a little bit. Not it sits in storage while I use an import 7X12 bandsaw to cut most steel and a Marvel 8A for big stuff.

But at that price it's almost tempting to buy it just for the blades.

"14" blade.....what's the max round it'll cut, any idea?"

My Marvel manual says that a #6, which also uses a 14" blade, will cut a 6" square.

Big B said:

When I worked at mega factory we had a Peerless power hacksaw that would cut about 11" square stock. It was a beast and to this day I can hear that thing cutting away.

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Those take 18" blades. I had one too, beyond worn out, and can hear it even now in nightmares. I could only run it at night or the neighbors would complain, but for $250, what can you expect ?

The 11" Peerless, for those who don't know, has ways and the blade cuts straight across, not at an angle.

I also had the power feed table, which was a true monster. A 20' long I beam laid over with a 200 lb cart that rolled along the edges of the legs, pulled by a chain. That got scrapped pretty quick.

If you listen to Quicksilver Messenger Service, Peace by Piece, that's the sound of that Peerless. (They were neighbors, they probably still hear the damn thing in their sleep, too.)

Citxmech said:

"14" blade.....what's the max round it'll cut, any idea?"

My Marvel manual says that a #6, which also uses a 14" blade, will cut a 6" square.

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According to the manual it will cut 6"x6" square, or 6 5/8" round. I have done a few work arounds with my 66D2 and cut 1" flat stock as wide as 7". That's pushing the envelope since the stroke is only 5". It was tough to get a feeler gauge between the blade mounts on each end with that wide a cut.

As an FYI most Racine saw models actually designate the size of the material that can be cut. The 66 series will cut stock 6"x6", the 816 series will cut 8"x16" stock, while the 1010 series will cut 10"x10" stock. This series also includes the 1212, 1616, and the 2020 models.

EmanuelGoldstein said:

Those take 18" blades. I had one too, beyond worn out, and can hear it even now in nightmares. I could only run it at night or the neighbors would complain, but for $250, what can you expect ?

The 11" Peerless, for those who don't know, has ways and the blade cuts straight across, not at an angle.

I also had the power feed table, which was a true monster. A 20' long I beam laid over with a 200 lb cart that rolled along the edges of the legs, pulled by a chain. That got scrapped pretty quick.

If you listen to Quicksilver Messenger Service, Peace by Piece, that's the sound of that Peerless. (They were neighbors, they probably still hear the damn thing in their sleep, too.)

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I don't know how many speeds it had but I remember three speeds. One for aluminum and brass type of materials, one for mild steel and one for tool steel.