'Thats not a saw, THIS is a saw!' (pic heavy)

[Peter_t]

i just finished fixing this old one man cross cut saw
so what use has this in bushcraft i hear you say? well im sure these would have been used to build logg cabbins back in the day befor the chain saw came along

it is made by disston which is a company better known for its top notch carpentry saws. it has a tooth pattern known as 'great american' which is not as efficient as patters with rakers but it is far less complicated to sharpen.

i picked it up at a car boot sale for £5 and it was very rusty and very blunt. i spent ages removing all the rust i could with wire brushes. i thought it best to start over so i hammered out all the set (it seemed way too wide). then it was time to joint the teeth, this process ensures all the teeth are the same height by running a file down the length of the saw until all the teeth show a 'jointing flat'. there are a couple of teeth that are very short so i have left these rather than filling away a good chunk of the blade. these short teeth are where teeth have been damaged or snapped off in the past and gradually reappear after many sharpening, including one of mine which i snapped off by accident whilst trying out my setting iron

then came the task of setting and sharpening. using a setting iron and a home made spider (gage used to check the set) i set the teeth to about 0.2mm. and then sharpened all the teeth... all this took what seemed like forever, im not sure how long, 4-5 hours maybe?

then after de-burring the teeth and screwing the handle back on it was finished!

hours spent sharpening in the garage

it made short work of some lime i had kicking about the seccond handle an be moved to the far end for use with two people.

is is very good at making coasters

I can’t wait to get a chance to try it out in the woods, me and my mate are cutting 10” alder coppice for firewood and then we shall see how she really performs

thanks for looking
pete

 

[Paganwolf]

Thats a lovely old tool mate, nice one ..

 

[Retired Member southey]

Nice job on the recon, great tool.( i just posted that five mins ago)

 

[ged]

i just finished fixing this old one man cross cut saw ... i set the teeth to about 0.2mm...

That seems a very small set, is that right?

I know alder grows fast, but how old is a 10" one?!

 

[Shewie]

A proper tool

Thanks for sharing Pete

 

[Adze]

Lovely saw - kudos for the time spent in restoration, too few bother these days and it's such a shame as so many of these old tools are being replaced by disposable powered equivalents and the hand tool is, by and large, almost always safer to use and very nearly as fast.

My brother in law and I picked up a beaut at a car boot recently - not a one man saw, but a four foot two man cross cut. It needed a little attention, but still managed to cut through a foot diameter log in quite impressive time. It'll be very handy for bothy building I'm sure and all for the princely sum of £3!

 

[launditch1]

Quality!I bet theres not many people willing to do all that...I bet she sings!!

 

[Peter_t]

im glad you like it guys there is something very satisfying about restoring and using these tools.

the old chainsaw V hand saw argument about safty and speed isn't entirely true. yes a crosscut can cut as fast as a chainsaw but only an average sized chainsaw against two huge blokes with a cross cut saw set up for racing. and even then after they have raced each other the bloke with the chainsaw is calm without even breaking a sweat where you could not say the same about the two blokes with the cross cut. say the chainsaw was a 120cc moster aposed to a 70cc saw it would blow them out of the water.
even with the leathal potential of the chainsaw you can use safter meathods in tree felling which cannot be used with a manual saw.


i like chainsaws too, i work with them all the time and have even restored a knackered chainsaw which i use as my main saw at work but i wouldn't recomend a novice to use one. a manual saw on the other hand i would. also the hand saw is in a different leage when it comes to reliability, trying to start a dodgy chainsaw then flooding it is very frustraiting!!! lol

That seems a very small set, is that right?

I know alder grows fast, but how old is a 10" one?!

only a small amount of set is needed, i took the 0.2mm figure from an online book but it is also quoted from mors kochanski's book when he talkes about bow saws. you want to have the smallest amount of set that still allows the saw to move freely. the more set you have the wider the saw curf is and the more effort is needed to remove more material.

i think the alder was around 20 years old, so thats around half inch growth each year.


thanks for showing an interest if anyone wants some advice on these saws i am happy to give it.
pete

 

[Adze]

im glad you like it guys there is something very satisfying about restoring and using these tools.

the old chainsaw V hand saw argument about safty and speed isn't entirely true.

Add in a 60db noise limit and see who wins that race with either chainsaw

Speed is relative, no doubt at all that someone with a lot of real work to do needs a powered saw... pretty much everyone else doesn't need, they just like the convenience... and Eastenders.

I'm a 'soft' user of saws and have very little to cut normally, so an old and simple saw is perfect. I used to take an axe with me laning in case there were any trees down which needed clearing, I'll be taking this now too:

I've no idea who the idiot is, he was the only one at the asylum with arms long enough to hold both handles for the picture

Cheers,

 

[Peter_t]

ah yes, forgot to add that not having to use ear protection is bliss.

Adze you saw really does look the business!
i may have to get myself a two man saw now. i have seen them about but told myself not to buy one without finishing the first. this way i wont have the problem i have with axes, ending up with about a dozen heads that one day i will fit

a two man saw is more than twice as efficient but is supposed to be harder to use. most two man saws are more floppy and you cannot push them, instead only pull while your partner keep the tension.


pete

 

[Adze]

We found pushing the saw was about the most effective way of stopping it from working, as you say, way too bendy. I'm sure with a bit (lot?) of practice and a decent technique and it'll be worth using on an irregular basis. It does need some more cleaning as there's still some surface rust, although the best way to do that might just be to use it lots. The handles are a bit wormy too, some replacements will have to be carved in due course, any recommendations as to which timber to use gratefully received.

I'm going to have a search around for a single hander to complement the big saw, I've got a few old carpentry saws but nothing which can handle bigger stuff. Ah well, it's just another excuse to go to lots of car boots I suppose

 

[Hugo]

I remember using one of these when I was 16 years old.
I found it very hard work, mind you, I was not eating enough at the time as I remember, also I reckon it was probably not very sharp.

 

[dasy2k1]

The handles are a bit wormy too, some replacements will have to be carved in due course, any recommendations as to which timber to use gratefully received.

I would guess that ash would make a decent handle for this type of work

 

[Peter_t]

any tough hardwood will do. ash, elm, beech, oak, sweet chestnut and hornbeam would all be good.
it doesn't need to be springy like for an axe handle as it does not take any shocks, it just needs to be strong.


pete

 

[nickliv]

Got to love the car boots. Adze and I got a two handled scythe AND that saw for £12.00

I could get addicted to them, so I could. I picked up a saw like Peters the week before, for about a fiver.

 

[Tjurved]

Would be fun to see a video where the lapplander and that one goes head to head, I mean they are both great backpack saws...