New find Old Saw 4' maybe a bit more

[EatenByLimestone]

My experience was splitting firewood. When I coughed up something like $200 for a 6 ton electric splitter, my home heating got a lot easier!

[Bob10]

I would say easy to find a bigger one. There are a few "One Log Homes" long highway 1 up around the Richardson Grove in southern Humbolt...where they just cut the inside out for a home. There are 2 or 3 trees that had opening cut large enough to drive a car through. The one in Yosemite (Wawona Grove) fell down years ago, but I got to drive through it as a kid.

Alan

I have been through one of those trees IIRC in a 64 Buick Riviera I was a kid at the time

[bandit571]

The saw I had, was for pruning a tree hanging over the back off the house....when that was done, sold it to the next person that needed it....The Extra handle could be installed either  at the handle end, or the "dummy end"   for a helper to pull and push.   They are a bear to sharpen....

[TGW]

I have a few of those one man saws and also a few of the older two man variety but I have never used them.
I prefere to use my trusty Husqvarna 353 for felling and bucking bigger trees before I bring the logs to the local sawmill. However I have felled and bucked quite a bit of firewood and even a few smaller terees for sawlogs with an axe and a 1950-ies logger's bow saw in order to train my bad back. Cheaper and more fun and just as efficient as going to a gym.

This is roughly the history of saws in Northern Europe.

In the old days all felling and bucking was done with an axe. Saws were joiner's tools that weren't very efficient didn't stay sharp for long.
Logs could be sawn using waterpowerered sash sawmills with one hand forged wrougfht iron blade with a strip of sheer steel forge welded to the toothed edge. The teeth were then cut hot with a chisel on the anvil and then filed. However such a sawmill was a mayour investment so usually logs were split and hewn into boards.

Towards the later part of the 18th century a few sawmills were fitted with thin blades of rolled steel with machine cut teeth. Those blades could be ganged two or three for more efficient sawing. They were imported from Holland which was the world leader in sawmill technology at the time. One such thin blade costed the equivalent of the rest of the sawmill with building and dam and waterwheel and power transmission.

In the early 19th century bow saws for crosscutting appeared. They were first used by carpenters to cut logs and beams to lenght and they slowly became more common for crosscutting small dimensions such as firewood. One can see in the Nordic countries that from that time on it became more common to build fireplaces intended for shorter lenghts of firewood.

At that time pit saws also became common for cutting logs into boards. They were considered great labour savers. Two men could pitsaw a lot more in a day than they could split and hew.

In the later half of the 19th century two man crosscut saws first appeared. The first ones were English or American and were too expensive for most loggers. Step by step they became cheaper and more common. Loggers were often reluctant to spend money on crosscut saws but the timber buyers often drove the development  by demanding the logs to be bucked with a saw to save valuable timber lenght. However in some of the most isolated and poorest hamlets nobody used a crosscut saw until the early 1900-s.
Bow saws were still used for smaller dimensions.

Large steam driven sash sawmills appeared in the late 19th century but in villages that weren't close to such an industry people continued to pit saw their boards or use old single blade weter powered sawmills.

Between the world wars maller often sometimes semi-portable circular sawmills became common. They were often partly home made with wooden frames. In the beginning they were usually either stationary powered by a water turbine or semi portable powered by hot bulb engines but towards the end of the 30-ies as tractors started to appear they were increasinly used to run sawmills too.

One man crosscut saws were forst brought home by men who had worked as loggers in USA and then returned home. Only after the second world war local manufactured ones really took of and became common. They are a little lighter and have slightly smaller teeth than their American counterparts and aren't quite as hard on the body. Probably because almost every man and even a few women in the Nordic countryside did some logging at times while in America logging was a specialized trade for only the strongest men. However the one man saws were expensive and all loggers weren't quite strong enough to use them all day so two man saws remained in use and were manufactured until the beginning of the chainsaw era.
After the war the Swedes also started making logger's bow saws with frames from steel pipe and two hand grip. They are a lot lighter and easier to use than the old wooden frames. Soon the swedes were followed by manufacturers elsewhere. Personally I think the Purmo bowsaws made in Jakobstad in Finland are the very best.

[TraditionalToolworks]

I have been through one of those trees IIRC in a 64 Buick Riviera I was a kid at the time

So funny you mention that, when I was a kid there was a Riviera in front of us with a chrome plaque in the rear window for some car club, I can't remember from where but it was some type of purple metallic low rider...beautiful car, and I thought it was cool, but I never owned any cars like that...

I have a few of those one man saws and also a few of the older two man variety but I have never used them.

If you really want to get an appreciation for timber, there's nothing better than peeling a log with a drawknife...many woodworkers have drawknives, right? I bet that should be no problem...only peeling a tree ain't no picnic like using a drawknife on a chisel handle. Just sayin'...

No matter what anyone tells you, it's very hard for some reason to learn how to pull with your body, rather than your arms. You will be so frickin' sore if you try to pull the drawknife with your arms, it must be with your body.

Another great tool, the adze...another tool that is one of the most brutally physical task...your back, your legs, your arms...it's hard work. Using an broad axe...it's hard work also...

In the old days all felling and bucking was done with an axe.

Some still do...depends where you are and what you have to survive. Lots of people rely on wood for heat.

Towards the later part of the 18th century a few sawmills were fitted with thin blades of rolled steel with machine cut teeth.

this is kind of where the 2nd phase of the Industrial Revolution was happening, and mostly in America for the most part. Although the 1st phase of the Industrial Revolution happened in England, it was mostly textiles and that industry...

At that time pit saws also became common for cutting logs into boards. They were considered great labour savers. Two men could pitsaw a lot more in a day than they could split and hew.

I think it's safe to say that it's all relative to what tools you have at hand, or can acquire, or fabricate. Without the blacksmith wouldn't all craftsmen be a bit pressed?


Alan

[TGW]

I have peeled logs with drawknife since I was a kid. Never thought of it as physically demanding until my back gave in. Probably I learned to correct technique before I was strong enough to do it any other way. I am on the mend and will hopefully do it again next year.
The drawknives we traditionally use for peeling have straight handles on the end of a slightly curved blade. Gränsfors Bruk still makes them https://www.gransforsbruk.com/product-ca...jdverktyg/

I own two full size ship carpenter's adzes. One is in usable condition but there must be something wrong with my technique as I cannot make it do it's job. My small hand aze is very useful and easy to control and I made both handles to the same geometry. There is something I need to learn.
When my great-grandfather worked as ship carpenter at the Imperial Russian naval dockyard in Kronstadt all new employees got an adze in his hands and was told to shape an oak log. The foreman watched and set the workman's hourly wage according to what he saw happening. That must have been in the 1870-ies or early 1880-ies. My uncle still has greatgrandfather's adze in occasional use.

Yep. Without balacksmiths we would have flint axes at best.........

[Bob10]

I have peeled logs with drawknife since I was a kid. Never thought of it as physically demanding until my back gave in. Probably I learned to correct technique before I was strong enough to do it any other way. I am on the mend and will hopefully do it again next year.
The drawknives we traditionally use for peeling have straight handles on the end of a slightly curved blade. Gränsfors Bruk still makes them https://www.gransforsbruk.com/product-ca...jdverktyg/

I own two full size ship carpenter's adzes. One is in usable condition but there must be something wrong with my technique as I cannot make it do it's job. My small hand aze is very useful and easy to control and I made both handles to the same geometry. There is something I need to learn.
When my great-grandfather worked as ship carpenter at the Imperial Russian naval dockyard in Kronstadt all new employees got an adze in his hands and was told to shape an oak log. The foreman watched and set the workman's hourly wage according to what he saw happening. That must have been in the 1870-ies or early 1880-ies. My uncle still has greatgrandfather's adze in occasional use.

Yep. Without balacksmiths we would have flint axes at best.........

funny I just came across an adze no idea how to use it, I am thinking youtube is the place for info.  It was headed to the steel mill looks really old haven't spent time looking for marks on it yet.  It looks really similar to what was on that link

[TraditionalToolworks]

I have peeled logs with drawknife since I was a kid. Never thought of it as physically demanding until my back gave in.

I was about 55 when I first tried it...all I can say is it's tough to learn how to do properly. I hated it enough that I paid a kid in West Viginia to peel the live edge for me. Keep in mind that most all of our timber techniques came from your part of the world. Many styles, and what I am building is a kind of morphed dovetail style that derives from Georgian Bay area of Ontario, Canada. There was a lot of French as well as some English roots with that style. The style would have traditionally been done with a broad axe in Europe, but the adze will get the same effect, with a different look. The adze looks way better.
Yep. Without balacksmiths we would have flint axes at best.........

funny I just came across an adze no idea how to use it, I am thinking youtube is the place for info.

Not too hard to use. What I do is place the timber I'm adzing in the center of 2 timbers. I stand with one foot on each of the side timbers and swing the adze up and let it swing down in a kind of pendulum motion, the trick is to let it take a shaving as it swings through the wood taking a clean chip out. You don't want a huge swing, you want a small pendulum type swing. Knots are difficult to cut through, so you need to have some momentum to cut through a tough knot.

Softer wood is easier of course, so pine is easier than doug fir. Hard maple would be pretty difficult, I've never had a hard maple log, but I suspect you will spend a fair amount of time resharpening your adze with hard maple.
To sharpen, I use a person/mill file to rough the edge, and then use an India stone with oil. I use the same for my drawknife. Be very careful sharpening an adze or drawknife. I hold it with one arm and choke up on the India stone and wear a leather glove...but you MUST be careful as you can easily cut your fingers (OFF, not just cut!) These tools need to be sharp, no forgiveness there...these days it is mostly done for looks. It's way easier to use a sawmill to cut the waste away.

Most people use too long of a handle, I cut my handle down a LOT. The craftsman that taught me how to do this recommends the Lee Valley adze, and he's tried all of them. The Lee Valley adze is not fancy...doesn't look as nice as the Gransfors or Barr, but the light weight and size of head make it spot on. Plus you won't feel so bad wacking the handle off to make it short...


This is how I set it up, I only have these old pics when I did these joists a few years ago...this is before I cut the handle down.

   

This is what it looks kinda sorta looks like, but each log is different of course.

   

These are 6x10 floor joists for the 2nd floor of the home I'm building...there are 14 over the kitchen and 10 over the master bedroom. These will be exposed in the master bedroom and kitchen, and I did it purely for looks. Watch some of Mr. Chickadee's videos on YT, he should have some with the adze, he definitely has some hewing videos, I can't remember if he uses an adze or broad axe.

EDIT: look at this Mr. Chickadee video, he uses an entirely different technique. Normally with a broade axe you will chop verticals  and chop the high part of the round to make it flat, he is working the face in vertical sections, but uses a bit axe to chop the high part of the round, then uses the adze to refine the surface, not a bad way and gives a very clean timber. I like the rough surface, that's how they do it in the Appalachians.I tried one of those adzes with the ears on them, I think that's the style that Gransfos has...it didn't work well for the pendulum style I have done.



Alan

[TGW]

In Österbotten we would never use an adze for squaring timber. Adzes were used for bevelling and fairing ship frames before planking. Hence they are sometimes called "spantyx" which translates as "frame axe". They were also used for adjusting the height of floor joists before laying the floor boards. Small adzes had lots of uses but the big ones were speciality tools for ship frames and floor joists more or less.


There are many variations on how people hew. Differences between regions and time periods.

This is how they traditionally do it in Skåne, the southernmost part of Sweden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf3T-bidkIc

This is how they hewed in most parts of the Nordic countries before the Black Death and how they still hew in parts of Russia. After the Black Death had killed off roughly one third of the population there was a shortage of labor. At that point broad axes came into general use as a way of saving labour and have been used ever since.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8DD5NQ1L7c

Norwegian methods from Valle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4746vgMS-w

Finnish methods from Lyytikkälä (south eastern Finland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNTfLGt59qo

Dalarna in central Sweden. They show first the old way and the (then) new way of doing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9-miG3J6n4


I did not find anyone on the net hewing the way we do in Österbotten. I am not very good at hewing but I have hewn a few logs now and then and get a good result  albeit a little slower than the old time professionals. I have not been able to hew anything in over 4 years now but it seems like I will be able to do it again.

[wmickley]

Bill,

And of course he would have been sweating like a pig so the sawdust would stick to your arms, so you would opt to wear a shirt and sweat even more...and you get down with a 12' or <gasp> 20' log and you've got one board. You only comfortably get about 1/3rd quality material, possibly a bit more, but there's a LOT of waste...


Alan

Sounds like fantasy woodworking to me. You need a pretty stiff wind to get sawdust in your face because the cut is not even close to directly above your head. If wind is a problem, you can saw the other direction. There is no problem getting quality material if you have a good log, good saw and a smooth partner. If you get a partner who is not used to doing manual work, he can wear you out in a hurry.