Old Crosscut Saws

[Dave Shepard]

I've got a couple of two-man saws and one one-man saw. I have played with the one-man saw a bit. I need to do more work to it, but it does cut ok. I believe the thin, straight two-mans are felling saws, and the wider, bellied saws are for bucking. You can make a spider with a block of wood and four screws. Cut it into a diamond pattern and put a screw at each point, with just a little bit of the tip of each screw sticking out. On a flat surface, using a feeler gauge, adjust one screw on the long axis of the diamond to your preferred set.

 

[sotc]

Man, thats a pretty involved process!

 

[rskybiz]

No joke that is some process.

 

[GASoline71]

What is next stone axes from the Neolithic period. : Just rattling your cage a little

HAHA!

Actually Larry... I have 3 double-bit fallin' axes from the period too. Looooong handles on those puppies...

Gary

 

[sawinredneck]

I LOVE me a good double bit axe, mom and dad had a few misery whips for wall hangers. Two got painted up with landscapes by a talented artist, one was for use. I used it once, never do I want do to that again! NEVER!!!

 

[Magnus]

I'm watching this.

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Very well described.

First time i see a pictureslide of this. Much easier than reading text...
Most blades had their own tool sets with in a series/family of saws. Each manyufacturer had a bunch of family's...
A hole lot of tools... Making your own is a must!

Knocking out the tension is very important. If not it will loose a lot of your power in the cut to tensions.
I was told to knock it out from ridge down in center and out to sides. That way it is less punches.
You can hear the difference in the tone when you knock. High tone, lots of tension.

 

[Al Smith]

I have my dads double bit cruiser type axe which is older than I am .It has never set outside and never had a file put it .The old man always stoned it . Of course it wouldn't have the handle length of the western varities . Oh boy would it piss him off if I drove it into the dirt using it for a splitter .I was directed that was not the proper use of that axe .

 

[stig]

I have about 15 of them.
2 are set up and filed for falling.
Paul Plewa, my logging mentor, took a bunch of my apprentices, Richard among them, out for a day of old time falling about 10 years ago. He is the one who sharpened my saws for me. They are the ones being used in the pictures.
You'll notice that in order to be historically correct, we didn't wear hardhats

 

[Cobleskill]

It looks like it would be easier with a higher stump.

 

[stig]

Of course it would, but this is in Europe!

 

[Cobleskill]

Yeah, I know. I was just busting on ya a little.

 

[MasterBlaster]

LOL @ historically correct!

 

[stig]

I just figured, I'd catch some flak for being without hardhats.
It was a preemptive strike

 

[Cobleskill]

Is that an Oak?

 

[stig]

Beech.
About 80 years old. only took about 3/4 hour to put it on the ground with axes and crosscut saw.
And Paul spent a lot of that time showing us how to do it.
He started out by using the axe to shave some hair off his forearm, just to impress the youngsters.

That worked really well

 

[Cobleskill]

It sure looks different from the Beech here. My sister lives in Utica (about the center of NY State) and I saw a tree there I identified as European Beech. It did have somewhat darker bark-ours are almost white-but I don't remember it being that dark. The bark looks like our Pin Oak.

 

[woodworkingboy]

You can still pretty easily find these old saws here. Quite a lot of skill goes into making and maintaining them. Tapping the steel with special hammers moves it around to give rigidity and flex where you want it, and takes out warp. Unfortunately, all but an extinct trade now.

This one was rusty but cleaned up real nice. Still quite sharp.

 

[Chisel Tooth]

I have a few myself, but could you imagine using one this long?

 

[Dave Shepard]

How much would it cost to get one of those saws sent over here Jay?

 

[Cobleskill]

It must have been hard to move or saw a log that size, let alone cut it down.

 

[Old Monkey]

That looks like two saws welded together. If those were my employees, I'd tell them to buck it up into firewood lengths and see if that got a rise out of them.

 

[pantheraba]

.... The force of the water yanked the handle in front of me out of my hand and pulled the whole saw around my neck until it finally fell. Luckily the teeth got snagged in my shoulder strap, or else it would have cut my head off instead.

..... One of the guys on the crew used his tent repair kit and some dental floss to do stitches that night around the campfire.

Dang, Sean...great stories...sounds like saw teeth need to be carried with the teeth facing away from the neck.

And dental floss for stitches...great stuff...timeless adventures.

 

[Cut4fun]

We got a belly crosscut like Gary posted that has been retired and had a friend of the family paint a scenery type pic on it to hang it up on the wall.
Still have a straight 4" crosscut in the barn that is usable.

I know where a few of them that are that can be bought. I just never pulled the trigger yet.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'm watching this.

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His saw looks exactly like mine!

 

[sotc]

Stig, are those historical aluminum wedges too?