{"product_id":"millers-falls-no-99-adjustable-hacksaw-frame-with-pistol-grip-greenfield-mass-with-a-wood-handled-pad-saw-c-1950-1970","title":"Millers Falls No. 99 Adjustable Hacksaw Frame with Pistol Grip, Greenfield Mass., with a Wood-Handled Pad Saw, c. 1950–1970","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo metal-cutting saws, sold together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first is a \u003cstrong\u003eMillers Falls No. 99 hacksaw frame\u003c\/strong\u003e. The back is a slotted steel arm with \u003cstrong\u003ethree index positions\u003c\/strong\u003e, so one frame takes 8, 10 or 12 inch blades; the nose carries a \u003cstrong\u003eknurled wing-nut tensioner\u003c\/strong\u003e that draws the blade up tight. The grip is a moulded \u003cstrong\u003eblack pistol handle\u003c\/strong\u003e, shaped for a full fist rather than a bar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCast into the frame: \u003cstrong\u003eMILLERS FALLS TOOLS\u003c\/strong\u003e arched around \u003cstrong\u003e1868\u003c\/strong\u003e in a triangle, with \u003cstrong\u003eGREENFIELD, MASS.\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eMADE IN USA\u003c\/strong\u003e alongside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is fitted with a \u003cstrong\u003eVictor Molyflex high-speed-steel blade\u003c\/strong\u003e, marked 1218–36.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe second is a \u003cstrong\u003epad saw\u003c\/strong\u003e: a hacksaw blade set into a shaped beech handle and held by two rivets, with the teeth running the full length and the tip left open. No frame, no back, nothing above the cut line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Greenfield, Mass.” is the date, and it is stamped into the tool.\u003c\/strong\u003e Millers Falls took its name from the village of Millers Falls, Massachusetts, where the works stood and the home office sat \u003cstrong\u003efrom 1868 until 1931\u003c\/strong\u003e. In 1931 the company bought Goodell-Pratt at \u003cstrong\u003eGreenfield\u003c\/strong\u003e and moved there, and Greenfield remained the address until the whole operation went to Deerfield in \u003cstrong\u003e1978\u003c\/strong\u003e. A frame reading Greenfield cannot be earlier than 1931 — and the 1868 in the triangle is the founding year, not the making year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe pistol grip narrows it further.\u003c\/strong\u003e Hacksaw frames were made with straight wooden file-style handles for generations; the moulded pistol grip is what replaced them, and it replaced them because moulded thermoplastic made a shaped, hollow, one-piece handle cheap for the first time. That is a post-war change, not a pre-war one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe adjustable back is the clever part and the reason these survive.\u003c\/strong\u003e A fixed frame takes one blade length and becomes scrap when that length goes out of stock. A slotted back with index holes takes three, which means the frame outlives every blade that ever goes into it — and it is why a saw made seventy years ago still works today with a blade bought this morning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe blade in it is a working blade, not an ornament.\u003c\/strong\u003e Molybdenum high-speed steel holds its edge at temperatures that ruin carbon steel, which is what let hacksaws be pushed hard through steel stock rather than eased through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe pad saw solves the problem a frame creates.\u003c\/strong\u003e A hacksaw frame is a hoop, and the hoop is what stops you: it will not follow a cut deeper than the throat, and it will not go into a space narrower than itself. Put the same blade in a handle and the limit disappears — you lose the tension, and with it the speed and the straightness, and you gain access. Every pipe fitter, every sheet metal shop and every farm workshop had both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDated on the \u003cstrong\u003eGreenfield address\u003c\/strong\u003e (1931 or later), the moulded pistol grip and the adjustable slotted back: \u003cstrong\u003ec. 1950–1970\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eTwo metal-cutting saws sold together — a Millers Falls No. 99 adjustable hacksaw frame with blade, and a wood-handled pad saw. Frame approx. 16 in long overall; pad saw approx. 14 in.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOrigin\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMillers Falls Company, Greenfield, Massachusetts, USA (frame). Pad saw unmarked.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eSlotted steel back with three index positions for 8, 10 and 12 in blades; knurled wing-nut blade tensioner at the nose; moulded black pistol grip. Pad saw: hacksaw blade double-riveted into a shaped beech handle.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eSteel frame with moulded plastic grip; high-speed-steel blade; beech handle to the pad saw\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eFrame: MILLERS FALLS TOOLS \/ 1868 in a triangle, GREENFIELD, MASS., MADE IN USA, No. 99. Blade: Victor Molyflex, high speed steel, 1218–36.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1950–1970. Dated on the Greenfield address, which the company used only from 1931, together with the moulded pistol grip that replaced wooden handles after the war.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eVery good working condition. The frame is straight and sound with no bends or cracks, the adjustment holes are clean, the tensioner turns freely and draws the blade taut, and the grip is firm with no splits. Expect honest shop wear — light surface scuffing and small marks to the steel, and handling polish to the grip. The blade is serviceable and, like any blade, a consumable. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eTwo Pieces — 1 Set Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a tool you can still put to work, which is not true of most things this old.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlades are standard and sold everywhere, the frame takes all three common lengths, and there is nothing in it to fail — no motor, no battery, no proprietary fitting. Cut a bolt down, take the end off a threaded rod, trim a bracket, open a seized padlock. It will outlast every cordless tool in the same drawer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt also looks like something. Old American hand tools hang well — on a pegboard, on a leather strap, on nails above a bench — and the triangle mark with 1868 inside it reads across a room. A pair of saws on a workshop wall, a garage, a mudroom or a study says more about a house than a framed print of a tool does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pistol grip is the part people pick up and comment on. Hacksaws are mostly a straight bar; a shaped handle that fills the hand is a small piece of industrial design, and it is why this frame was worth keeping when the flimsier ones were thrown out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on care, and old steel wants very little. \u003cstrong\u003eKeep it dry and keep a film of oil on it.\u003c\/strong\u003e Bare steel in a damp garage pits within a season; a wipe with an oiled rag two or three times a year prevents it entirely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo not wire-wheel it or strip it back to bright metal.\u003c\/strong\u003e The darkened, evenly worn surface is what makes it read as a working tool with a history; take that off and what is left looks like a reproduction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you use it, release the blade tension when you put it away — a frame left under load for years takes a set — and remember the blade cuts on the push stroke, so let it come back light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlades are sharp. Store it where it will not be reached for blind, and keep it away from children.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Rue Tool \u0026 Supply Co","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48047020572777,"sku":"VE-0730","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/3163066C-AC36-4FE7-88CB-0EBE85E8A245.jpg?v=1789273581","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/millers-falls-no-99-adjustable-hacksaw-frame-with-pistol-grip-greenfield-mass-with-a-wood-handled-pad-saw-c-1950-1970","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}