A panel hack saw is a special kind of hacksaw that uses a spring steel sheet as a back to support a standard hacksaw blade. This allows the saw to make long cuts in metal where a normal hack saw would be stopped by the bar.

When I first found out about them I wanted to buy one, but no one seems to make them anymore. So I had to make one of my own.The spring steel is .032 sheet and the hacksaw blade is a standard blade.

The saw can be a little tricky to use.  The sheet must be well supported along the cut or the saw with bind.

The pic below shows a one meter cut I made today in some .063 sheet metal from a larger 12 foot sheet. While it does take a bit of elbow grease to make the cut, I find I prefer this method to my other hand power tools when cutting from larger thick sheets.