Here's a relic

[woodworkingboy]

Forgot to take a pic yesterday, can do so today at my shop.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Japanese one man timber saw of old vintage:

 

[MasterBlaster]

Wow!

 

[woodworkingboy]

All their timber saws have those rounded backs for some reason. Some are radically rounded.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Found a pic. Rather typical.

 

[MasterBlaster]

What's the thinking behind that design? What purpose does such a high blade serve - added weight for cutting?

 

[Al Smith]

Purely speculation on my part but I believe that handle placement as well as the curved backs were used to kind of follow the persons natural arm movements when sawing .

The Japanese were pretty crafty about ergonomics before the word was ever even thought of .

Another observation .It seems to me that most designs of Japanese handsaws cut on the back stroke

 

[SkwerI]

It would definitely assure you of a straight cut, otherwise it would bind something fierce.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Actually, I think that these very rounded ones are ripping saws, for turning logs into lumber. The wide blade would help allow for keeping straightness in the kerf (good thinking, Skwerl), and my guess is that the overall design is good for a man standing on the angled board as he works his way down the log or plank (Al's ergonomics). I don't know that two man saws much existed, unlike in the west. All Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke.

 

[Al Smith]

Wow,what a job that would be ,hand ripping logs into lumber .

 

[woodworkingboy]

Those two man pit saws in the west for turning logs into lumber, must have been a particularly arduous chore for the guy below, what with the sweat and the sawdust. I understand that the guy who owned the saw, was usually on top.

 

[Al Smith]

They also were a tad ingenious about that at times .Some used a springy sapling to return the saw therefore could be operated by one sawyer in the pit .That would be the guy covered in sawdust .

 

[Magnus]

Sandvik had many types of cutting sequences and a hole bunch of different teeth. This was to accommodate the different needs and wishes.

First chain Sandvik did was with five scratchers on each link like the Jap. saw posted sorted...

Higher back and narrow cut makes a stable cut that is straight.

 

[Knotahippie]

Iv'e seen some pics of the old Japanese saws, always wondered about the shape...cool stuff.

 

[stehansen]

Here are my two relic handsaws. As I understand it they were brought up to here from the Santa Barbara area in the 1940's but the origin beyond that is unknown to me. The first three pictures are of the courser saw with different teeth toward the end. The last two are of a saw with finer teeth.

 

[Magnus]

Here is one nice dok I borrow from a poster on Swedish forestry forum.
http://www.skogsforum.se/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3800

It will show a bit of the types and files used.
The amount of blades and saws they made is mind bogling...
Stridsberg & Björk was another big one here.

 

[stig]

I am probably the only one here apart from yourself, who is able to descipher that!

 

[Paul B]

good pecs Ste! lol

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Bet those Japanese saws stayed sharp as well... They sure know how to make the steel and how to hone a blade...
Beautiful Jay....

 

[MasterBlaster]

Here's my old hand saw. I'd love to know its age.

 

[stehansen]

good pecs Ste! lol

Just checkin to see if you guys are paying attention.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Bet those Japanese saws stayed sharp as well... They sure know how to make the steel and how to hone a blade...

Up until recently, when disposable saw blades tool over, making saws was a very highly skilled profession. The blades have different thickness from top to bottom, and also at different areas along the length. This was to give flex and stiffness in the areas where you want it. When I used to take my handsaws to a sharpener, he'd also tap on the area above the teeth, all the way up to the back, to push around the metal to alter the flex. If a little warp gets into the blade, it alters the flex. Tapping on the steel would alter this.......apparently. It was a mystery to watch a sharpener working, they had about a zillion hammers.

 

[chucky]

You know it may sound odd these days but I remember a time that hardly anybody sharpened their own chains .They took the dull chain to have somebody grind it for them .

I recall as a teenager working out helping a sawmill logger type guy that didn't even sharpen his own .He just kept a bunch of extras for his long bared Macs .

Of course it pretty much goes without saying that the amount of folks that did repairs on their own saws were rare too . Times have changed for some .

Up in St. Lawrence county here in NY a lot of those who cut pulp and sawlogs have their saw sharpened and repaired by the Amish. The irony is the Amish, at least around here, are not even allowed for religious reasons to actually operate a chain saw.

 

[Al Smith]

With the Amish ,what they are allowed to use is dependent on the elders of the area .Some can use electrical tools for example as long as the power comes from a generater and not the utility company .