A part of the Chas. Taylor of Birmingham company from 1969 following a buy-out, W. Kennedy Ltd had associations with Taylor that went back to 1904 when Charles Taylor lent Bill Kennedy money to start his company in West Dayton Middlesex. The company originally specialised in static and portable bending and coiling machines for strip, bar, tube, tees and angle sections and, as an explosion took place during the first half of the 20th century in the demand for domestic and industrial metal piping to carry water, gas, steam and electrical wiring (and reinforced concrete bars) so the company found a ready market for its products.
Kennedy also produced a range of small mechanical hacksaws, of ingenious design, used as portable units on building sites and in both home and professional workshops.  Long out of production (though greatly sought-after) it was introduced in 1954, at the British Industries Fair in Birmingham, and became commonly known as the "Hexacut" - with its sliding mechanism protected under a "Hexaglide" Patent No. 681620. Two models appear to have been made: the rare No. 90, with a capacity on round bar of 31/2-inches and a weight of 88 lbs., and the more common (and easily-carried) Model 60. The latter, weighing 41 lbs in ready-to-run form and just 22-inches long, 71/4-inches high and 10-inches wide (and with a maximum capacity of 23/8-inches on round bar and 2-inches on square and angle material) was marketed as a labour-saving device for small workshops that would take up little more space than an engineer's vice.
A standard 12-inch hacksaw blade (24 t.p.i. is a useful general-purpose type) was broken in half to provide the cutter and secured in place with Allen-screw retained clamps. The machine was developed as far as a Mk. 2  Model that used (like previous examples) a pressure die-cast aluminium body to the front of which were secured two hexagon bars that acted as runners for the vice jaw and, at the rear, an extension to carry the crankshaft bearing and act as a (concentric) pivot point for the overarm. The machine was available in either ready-to-run form, mounted on an aluminium base plate, or as a basic unit for the customer to motorise himself. In its complete form the saw carried a "full-size" 1/6 hp (ball-bearing spindle) over-load-protected Hoover-made motor that drove, by a flat belt, a ground-steel pulley whose support shaft ran in phosphor-bronze bearings (the special belts can be supplied, email for details). At the other end of the pulley shaft a crank arm was arranged to oscillate a connecting rod connected to the bright-steel hexagon bar frame; to the top run of this frame was bolted a length of hexagon bar to form a V-shaped slideway that ran trapped between two parallel hexagon bar secured into the top face of the overarm carrier. The saw's action was damped by an oil-filled dashpot fitted with an adjustable pressure-relief valve; the original oil was specified as a Wakefield (Castrol) V and the makers warned against using anything lighter. The machines controls were, by the Mk. 2 version, well thought out and included an automatic switch off, depth and length gauges, push-button release of the saw arm and a built-in steel carrying handle. A number of simple accessories were listed including pedestal and tripod stands, work-support tripods and a screw-adjustable length stop..