Why can hacksaws cut through metal, but they can't...

[Roberto Tomba]

...cut through a tree branch or a wooden chair or table? Likewise, an ax should be able to break down a metal shelf. 

This quirk can't get into the 1.0 release. Please?

[grimreefer24601]

You ever try to cut a branch with a hack saw?  Regular saw takes 10 seconds.  Hacksaw jams every half stroke.  In metal hacksaws work great, but wood, practically, not so well.

An axe could destroy the shelf, but it wouldn't leave usable pieces.

The right tool for the job pays off.

[Rusty_Old_F250]

Having used a hacksaw on wood before... with a coarse enough blade it does work, and you get a very nice smooth cut, but, it's only marginally faster than gnawing through it with your teeth  But I agree, it should be an option.

But unless I was extremely desperate, I would never use an ax to break down a metal object, an ax is a very valuable thing, and while it would work, it would heavily damage the ax and or break it.

Sam

[nicko]

use a hacksaw to cut sap wood? use once your saw should and will be ruined. Sap just clogged every cutting teeth on that saw.

[dbldrew]

It would probably be faster in real life to saw through a large branch then to completely break down a metal shelf into tiny scrap metal 

[cekivi]

My vote's with @Roberto Tomba. I've started a post on this myself. Even though you risk ruining your equipment it should still be an option. In a life or death situation would you: a) perish because you had no way to break down branches b) find anything that works - no matter how well - to get the job done?

[Roberto Tomba]

Hacking a shelf or sawing a tree should damage the tool. All I want is realism. They have me believing it with the effects of cold, then they take me out of it with something unrealistic (indicated by the same metallic clunk each time, even with wood). 

[Pillock]

Bear in mind that a hacksaw blade is suspended on a metal bar; once you cut down a few inches (into a log, for example), you hit the bar and can't cut any further. You'd have to rotate the log and cut down the same amount all the way round, then perhaps you could snap the remaining middle part of the log with your foot or something. It would take ages, and completely bugger the saw. But you could do it! In gameplay terms, it'd probably be more efficient to spend time walking around gathering sticks to an equivalent fuel value of the tree limb, though.

I agree it can be frustrating when the game tells you you can't break down a shelf because it "requires a hatchet" (wood) or "requires a hacksaw" (metal). I find myself thinking, "No it doesn't, it just requires me to kick the shit out of it!" Perhaps if they gave you a massive fatigue penalty and even a chance of injuring yourself if you're not using the correct tool (especially for metal objects)?

[cekivi]

I'd prefer just a longer duration to accomplish the task and a risk of breaking the tool. But, like you said, if you want something taken apart you will find a way to do it

For instance, with your example with shelves, if I found myself in the camp office I'd just trhough them over the railing from the second floor. That should smash most of them into burnable pieces. It'd definitely make "scrap wood"