Crosscut Saw Thread

Time? That I don't right now. Interest? Lots of it.

Trailtime-thanks for the starting point and take on the saw.
 
Repairable but it will take a lot of work to get those gullets cut down and then go thru all the teeth. I'd find something longer in the teeth before I spent the time on it. That said, the steel and wood both look OK. The condition isn't bad other than the filing.

Numerous makers used the 'Warranted Superior' verbage.
 
Square_peg said:
Repairable but it will take a lot of work to get those gullets cut down and then go thru all the teeth. I'd find something longer in the teeth before I spent the time on it. That said, the steel and wood both look OK. The condition isn't bad other than the filing.

Numerous makers used the 'Warranted Superior' verbage.
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Appreciate it. Thinking I might do this actually. I'll keep this one and slowly acquire saw specific tools as I read up some. My folks took pictures of the downed trees on their property and I was hoping to use a man saw as opposed to my chainsaw this summer - for the experience more than out of necessity. At 26$ I don't feel to bad hanging on to it but for a first saw I am getting the sense that I should find something a bit more intact.

Just wondering, after seeing this blade, if someone has a picture (or link) to what it should look like? I mean that particular saw with it's teeth in prime condition?

Don't want to derail all the great stuff in this post by any means.
 
That youtube video on the previous page shows a saw like yours.

You're in Oregon so you might be better off with a lance tooth or perforated lance tooth saw. They're better for cutting NW conifers.

Earlier you asked about an auxiliary handle. Those are available on the web.
http://crosscutsaw.com/wp/product-category/all/accessories/saw-handles/
Or you can make one from a 5/8" bolt. Just cut a slot in the end of it for the saw with a cutoff wheel or doubled-up hack saw blades.
 
Something like this. The saw in the pic has been filed on over the years and the teeth and rakers are shorter than the original, but much longer than yours. The gullets are deep enough for most bucking. The rakers are swaged, which is a more advanced and time-consuming technique that you can skip with your first saw.

P1010374_zpshxoa9w4n.jpg
 
That's good file work there.

On my last BCRT we had several occasions where the gullets were filling up and causing saw bind. The cause of that is not having a saw long enough for the cut. But it's exacerbated by having shallow gullets. To saw a log with a two-man saw you need the saw to be twice the width of the log plus 6"-12" in order for the center gullets to come out of the kerf and empty out on the back stroke. With a one man saw the saw only needs to be slightly longer than the log is wide because you can pull it further out of the log with no handle on the other end.

If you ever find yourself with a mysteriously binding saw (no top, bottom or end bind, i.e. - well wedged) then think about your gullets.
 
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I bought an Atkins one man saw yesterday, Model 390, 54 inch, with assist handle. The screws (2 of 3) may be just hardware stock. It has the brand stamp pretty legible on the shiny, clean blade. Cost me $45. Did I do alright? I have a picture, but not sure if I can post it. Man said he brought it from upstate New York.
 
You did GOOD. An Atkins 54" with a clean blade and a visible etch would usually go $100 to $150 on the bay these days. You can also find replacement vintage screws for your saw on the bay.
I would love to see pictures of it. I have a 390 that is in good condition.

Tom
 
Old Virginia Joe said:
I bought an Atkins one man saw yesterday, Model 390, 54 inch, with assist handle. The screws (2 of 3) may be just hardware stock. It has the brand stamp pretty legible on the shiny, clean blade. Cost me $45. Did I do alright? I have a picture, but not sure if I can post it. Man said he brought it from upstate New York.
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In my opinion, the 390 is about as good as a one-man crosscut saw gets, especially one of that length.
 
This past week I spent a lot of time pulling my 48" one-man lance-tooth saw bucking dry firewood in the central Cascades. I've been using this saw as my general purpose saw for several years and it performs well both for trail work and firewood duties. I sharpened it 12/12, 12/1000ths set to the teeth and the rakers 12/1000ths below the cutters. It cut super in green timber and good but not great in dry wood. A couple of things are happening (I think). One, the cutters don't sink as deep in dry wood as they do in green wood so I get a little bit of catch on the rakers. Two, when cutting dry wood that has surface dampness I get some bind that I think is caused by heat from friction swelling the damp outer wood in the kerf.

I'm thinking going to 14/14 on my next sharpening. That would give me a slightly wider kerf to deal with problem two and slightly lower rakers to deal with problem one, but all at the cost of cutting less efficiently in green wood - where this saw spends half its time.

Should I make this change? Should I go further? 16/16? 14/16? Or should I just set up another saw for dry wood? (I've got 7 saws now.)
 
First post on Blade Forums..... I have been reading, enjoying, and learning from this forum for a couple years now. Lots of great information and ideas!
Square Peg - It sounds like you are happy with the 12/12 setup on your 48" saw, so I would set up another saw for dry wood. Lots of one man saws are flat, or do not have much taper ground into them, so .012" set is pretty tight if there is any bind. I would go to at least .015" to start. .020" is usually good on a flat ground saw.
Raker depth of .012" shouldn't be a problem - that is what I use for most of my trail saws for our area (I'm in Southwest Washington).
 
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Thanks, Trailsawyer and welcome to Bladeforums. You must be a fellow WTA member.

This is a taper-ground saw but the taper isn't as pronounced as on my two-man saws. I'll try taking it up 15/1000ths of set.

I have a pretty nice Disston 54" one-man saw that I haven't sharpened yet. I can turn that into my camping saw and leave the 48" for trail work (it packs better).

Are you cutting much dry wood down there? Have you experimented with different raker depths for dry wood? It makes sense to me to have a little higher rakers when using a lance tooth in the harder dry wood. Consider the typical hardwood (Tuttle or Champion) saw with it's two cutters per set of rakers. Those saws may get more psi on the cutters having only 2 teeth instead of 4 per set. That may allow them cut deeper in hardwood. A lower raker on a lance-tooth could compensate for that.
 
Down trees in this area tend to go from green to rotten pretty fast, thanks to abundant rainfall! We do get to cut dry wood, but I have not experimented with raker depth enough to know how much difference green vs. dry really makes.
Almost all of my trail saws are two man, lance tooth four cutter type. I try to find cresent or segment ground saws that have 3 or 4 gauges of taper, which tend to be good "free running" saws when the cutters are set at .010" or .012".
If you are not binding in the cut, increasing raker depth will allow you to remove more wood with each pass of the saw - assuming you have the extra energy to pull the saw!
I have a couple saws on the way to a work party out of Twisp, WA , where they willl be used on some wilderness trails in areas burned by the forest fires in the last couple of years. I should get some good feedback on which one work the best!
 
Trailsawyer said:
I have a couple saws on the way to a work party out of Twisp, WA , where they willl be used on some wilderness trails in areas burned by the forest fires in the last couple of years. I should get some good feedback on which one work the best!
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Nice area. I backpack up the West Fork Buttermilk from Twisp River.

Hopefully they'll axe off the burned material before using your saws. That burned stuff is really abrasive. I did a back country log out up the Duckabush River in the Olympic Mtns. last year. All forest fire stuff. So many trees down it almost looked like Mt. St. Helens after the eruption. I wouldn't want my saw pulled through that burned stuff.
 
Have you tried lubricating the blade? I've never been a fan of oiling my saws when doing trail work because the cutting is not repetitious and I rarely cut pine. But if I was going to cut firewood in the same spot all day, I'd dribble diesel on the blade to keep it slick. It certainly makes for a smoother running saw.
 
Oiling would have helped. I usually keep a small squirt bottle of canola oil with my saw. I've got away from diesel or kerosene because it's not allowed in many areas we work - wilderness areas, National Parks, etc. I've heard that orange oil is very good for sappy or pitchy wood. I might blend some with my canola.
 
Kerosene, diesel, WD-40, and some of the citrus based cleaners (more enviromentaly friendly....) are effective for cutting pitch, as well as reducing friction in the cut. We don't use much on our trail saws for most of trees we cut here in the northwest. Removing bark before making a cut is standard practice on all of our conifirs, as the rough bark holds lots of dirt and ash (especially Mount St. Helens volcanic ash!) which will quickly dull a saw.
 
do those new saws spring back? i'v heard they dont have proper tempers. and i'v always wondered, how do you file a great american tooth saw? and holy heck my hand hurts after putting the set back in a fine tooth saw
 
I came across this in the "The Complete Guide To Sharpening" the other day. Pretty sure it was a full body workout.

P1010022_zpsru3fpuqw.jpg
 
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