Design, Modelling And Fabrication Of Pedal Powered Hacksaw

Abstract

Hacksaw is a simple machine used to cut engineering materials like metal pipes and plastic tubing. The hand-held hacksaw is commonly used during fabrication process because it is easy to handle and does not require electricity. However, this hacksaw requires too much effort to use and operator is prone to accident. There is sparse literature on use of pedal powered hacksaw as an alternative. Therefore, this study was planned to design, model, fabricate and evaluate a pedal powered hacksaw using recycled bicycle. Standard design procedures were used to design and fabricate scrap bicycle, base, vice, hacksaw and link mechanism for the pedal powered hacksaw. Autodesk Inventor Professional software was used to model the fabricated machine to carry out its stress analysis. Performance evaluation of the pedal powered hacksaw was carried out on various engineering materials and the results were compared to hand-held hacksaw. It was established that the pedal powered hacksaw saved significant time in cutting and less tedious with fewer cutting strokes. The pedal powered hacksaw, a technological innovation, will save the environment from dumping of scrap bicycles and give the operator on-the-job benefit of a cycling exercise for physical and mental fitnesses.