Silky Saws!

[chiral.grolim]

Nice picture spread HK-
Especially liked the old school rifle flash hider cover and is that SAK one of the Chiral altered ones?

Yup, not mine but the one that inspired me to have a go at them. AND I am hoping to have a bunch more to offer folk in the near future, so if you are interested...


Back on topic, I am beginning to get saw-envy... But what I really need is a pole-chainsaw to keep me from having to climb so dang high to cut apart the older dead oaks on my property:

 

[Silver Needle]

That tree? You just need a katanaboy and step ladder

 

[Fancier]

It is more fun to just drop the whole thing as it stands.
All you need is a chainsaw, a calm day and a good eye.

 

[chiral.grolim]

It is more fun to just drop the whole thing as it stands.
All you need is a chainsaw, a calm day and a good eye.

That would have been a LOT easier since, the way I had to do it, I climbed that ladder and then climbed the tree with a hackzall and a sack of batteries strapped to me and took it down a limb at a time and I STILL managed to drop one of them against the house that is just off scene in the pic That limb only grazed the gutter and siding with its weaker little branches, no major damage, and the others were fine though I had to disassemble my childrens' playset before I set to work (you can see its green tarps on the other side of the mess of branches). Those orange straps are where I hooked-in my safety-harness. I really really wish that tree had survived the drought a oak-wilt that double-tapped our property a few years back, it was an awesome tree. I actually left a tall segment of the trunk standing to build the kids a tree-house this summer out of the lumber from the deck I replaced last summer.

Here's a short video from when I was working on it: https://goo.gl/photos/vc4gFHRYb3JUsnGJA

 

[Silver Needle]

I almost put this whole post in my favorite Backyard Survivin' thread, but these birch trees that needed to come down were in my front yard. Chiral's post is a tough act to follow, but this is the best I got

Also, my yard work really solidified that I just don't like this Silky saw, I LOVE it. It's such a great working tool that is easy to use and is more versatile than I thought.

Last spring I used my cute, little laplander to take down the first sickly birch. Today was time for the other two. Here are my tools for the job. Please notice the totally sexy and functional carbon fiber blade cover made by our very own Dr. Hale.


I was excited to go all lumberjack on the tree with my Fiskars hatchet, but due to equal parts of poor technique and not having the right size tool for the job, it did not go as planned. Bigboy to the rescue!


This was much easier.


Down she goes.



Through all the use there was some considerable loosening of the blade, but my surge fixed the problem with a quarter turn of the screw.


I can't get over how smooth this thing cuts!


Tonight's fire is brought to you by the dried out top third of the mighty birch.


CruForge reporting for fire duty.


Here are some random thoughts on the Silky Bigboy 2000 after an afternoon of tree felling and processing and how it might relate to actually being out in the wild.

In an urban, yard work setting it felt easier and safer to use than the hatchet. I spent some time on a ladder reaching to cut above my head, which was doable with the saw, but not with a small axe. Not only did the 14 inch saw blade give me extra reach, but swinging a hatchet on a ladder would most likely be my last mistake on this earth. Both my girls were running around "helping" and I had to make sure they were in the other part of the yard when I was hatcheting, but the saw was not an issue when they were near. Previously I had thought the teeth size of this Bigboy were too large for finger-sized branches. I found that keeping the branches absolutely still was more important than the diameter. If I held it down securely, the medium teeth worked fine on pinky finger-sized branches.

For those who spend multiple nights in the woods or do more wood work, does an axe have more advantage to a saw other than splitting or hammering? When we're talking about tools that take up a similar amount of space in a pack, the saw gets more work done for me easier and safer and quicker than the hatchet. When I take into account that the Fiskars weighs 1 lb 8.6 oz and the Silky just 14.7 oz I struggle to find a reason to choose the hatchet over the saw......... for my uses and (lack of) skill set.

Size comparison with 4.7 as reference.

 

[Fancier]

Axes and hatchets are fun! The same discussion comes up with big chopping knives versus saws.
Splitting (cutting along the wood grain) is easy with an axe or knife. Sawing is more work than splitting.
Cutting across the grain is much easier with a saw if the wood is too thick to cut with just a chop or two.
Those silky saws have a really well designed blade and they cut so very easily and cleanly that the only reason not to use one in most situations is the fun of swinging an axe.
Historically it was a lot easier to forge a good axe head than it was to build a good saw blade.
A saw needs to be longer than the width of the wood it will cut, but an axe can chip away at trunks of any size. This really only becomes an issue if you are cutting seriously large wood.
Edit: Oh yeah, great pictures Silver, thanks for posting them! :thumbup:
That hatchet is pretty small for taking down a six inch diameter tree. A felling axe is quite a bit larger and would do a much better job, but yes, you need to be able to swing and hit where you want with it.

 

[Hard Knocks]

I grew up running chainsaws, axes and hatchets. I've busted many cord of rounds into firewood with a double-bit axe, and a good axe is a great piece of equipment that I'm familiar with running. Having said that, axes are heavy. If I were needing to process several cord of firewood, I'd haul the rounds home where I'd absolutely have an axe in my hand, along with a splitting mall and wedges nearby. But I sure wouldn't pack all of that equipment on my back into the hills. You guys have about converted me over to the silkies for packing, after my experience this winter. I'd still have a larger knife on me for splitting, so the biggest gap that I see in equipment without a hatchet along is the ability to hammer (efficiently). Thanks for taking time for the write up and pictures Silver.

 

[sparky42]

tried a gerber folding saw & nearly tossed it based on how useless it seemed, saved the sheath tho, nice little padded sheath...
considered the bahco, but saw one video comparing the bahco & silky, it was obvious how much better the silky cut, never looked back, it's totally worth the extra money, which isn't much in a comparable sized silky!

my first was the gomboy170 a couple years ago, here it is helping process fuel for my silverfire scout...

by the time i saw the big boy on alone i knew i wanted a bigger saw & that silky was the best, but i wasn't sure about it being SO big, but i found it on sale for around $40 & couldn't pass it up... very happy with that investment!
here it made quick work of the top of this tree for the campfire...

between the big boy & the ontario sp8, it only took a few minutes & we were ready for a nice campfire...

 

[sparky42]

my son enjoyed cutting wood at camp so much with his "my first victorinox plus", this year i got him the bright red handled pocket boy 130 for his 8th birthday... should be helpful with his duty of preparing a fire as soon as we get to camp

 

[Silver Needle]

Fancier and HK, that is some good information. As far as processing a lot of wood or really big pieces of wood, splitting is the way to do it. The production of axe heads versus saw blades and one axe being able to take down as many trees as one could handle are also big ideas. Bladeforums is like free college :thumbup:

sparky, I like your set up! I picture myself with a very similar load out. If I were home steading or splitting a winter's worth of fire wood, yes, I'd need a beefy axe. For my uses, I pictured my bigboy with a large knife like a GSO 10 or 12 for batoning 4-6 inch thick limbs plus a 4.7 or 4.1 for smaller jobs..... all for one good fire, maybe to get through a night.

Also, sparky, solid parenting :thumbup:

 

[Kyle363]

I have the Silky ULTRA ACCEL curved blade 240mm. Its my go to saw for smaller work or when I need something smaller and faster to deploy then what I normally use. I also carry it in my car just in case I need a good all around saw. I prefer bow saws over folding saws when it comes to camping I have the Agawa Canyon Boreal21 with sidney rancher blade that destroys everything.

 

[Silver Needle]

sparky, with your bigboy, have you experienced much loosening of the blade? I was surprised with how loose mine became with the amount of work it did.
Also, how do you carry the bigboy? Any issues with it in a pack?

Kyle, it always seems like the serious saw users go with a bow saw, especially for a lot if wood processing.

 

[Fancier]

The saw blade is stiffer on a bow saw because it is under tension within the frame.
That allows you work them harder (abuse them more?) without buckling the blade.
Since the blade is fixed within the frame you can't accidentally pull the blade out of the cut and ram it back into the wood and kink it.
You can still warp the blade if you let the frame rotate while you have the blade in the cut.
Depending on the frame design you may be limited on the width of the log you can cut by the clearance between the blade and the frame.
I remain a fan of Silky because the blade tooth design is excellent.

 

[Hard Knocks]

I have the Silky ULTRA ACCEL curved blade 240mm. Its my go to saw for smaller work or when I need something smaller and faster to deploy then what I normally use. I also carry it in my car just in case I need a good all around saw. I prefer bow saws over folding saws when it comes to camping I have the Agawa Canyon Boreal21 with sidney rancher blade that destroys everything.

Do you get many hang-ups with that particular blade? It sounds like you really like it, so I'm guessing no, but it does appear very aggressive. The Boreal21 looks like a serious piece of equipment.

 

[sparky42]

sparky, I like your set up! I picture myself with a very similar load out. If I were home steading or splitting a winter's worth of fire wood, yes, I'd need a beefy axe. For my uses, I pictured my bigboy with a large knife like a GSO 10 or 12 for batoning 4-6 inch thick limbs plus a 4.7 or 4.1 for smaller jobs..... all for one good fire, maybe to get through a night.

Also, sparky, solid parenting :thumbup:

thanks silver needle!
camping with my son is what got me back into the outdoors, & with that came the rediscovery of all the gear & skills necessary, so i'm happy to share all this with him & he has fun too!

i prefer batoning the sp8 over chopping with a hatchet, & combined with the big boy they make fast work of campfire prep... for small stuff my bk16 works great!
something i noticed cutting the wood in those pictures was that i could get a lot more pressure on the pull by using both hands, while big boy performs great one handed, it seemed to work a lot faster two handed!

 

[sparky42]

sparky, with your bigboy, have you experienced much loosening of the blade? I was surprised with how loose mine became with the amount of work it did.
Also, how do you carry the bigboy? Any issues with it in a pack?

i have not noticed any slop in the blade, but will have to check now that you mention it silver needle...
i only got the big boy last fall, so it hasn't seen much use... as such i haven't carried it in a pack or anything yet, my plan is to use fabric from an old og107 cotton sateen army shirt for making a sleeve with flap closure & some webbing for attachment points, this could be carried inside or outside my pack, or possibly even setup for belt carry... otherwise, my idea for when in use is a lanyard with carabiner for simply hooking to belt...

 

[Silver Needle]

thanks silver needle!
camping with my son is what got me back into the outdoors, & with that came the rediscovery of all the gear & skills necessary, so i'm happy to share all this with him & he has fun too!

i prefer batoning the sp8 over chopping with a hatchet, & combined with the big boy they make fast work of campfire prep... for small stuff my bk16 works great!
something i noticed cutting the wood in those pictures was that i could get a lot more pressure on the pull by using both hands, while big boy performs great one handed, it seemed to work a lot faster two handed!

Ah ha! Another bk16 fan!
I'm dreaming of a GSO 12 to use like you use your Ontario. A 12 would baton like a dream and also chop if needed.
I agree about two hands on the bigboy. I was fine one handed at first, but for thicker sections of that birch, 2 hands was better.

Glad you're making it a priority to share your love of the outdoors with the next generation :thumbup:

i have not noticed any slop in the blade, but will have to check now that you mention it silver needle...
i only got the big boy last fall, so it hasn't seen much use... as such i haven't carried it in a pack or anything yet, my plan is to use fabric from an old og107 cotton sateen army shirt for making a sleeve with flap closure & some webbing for attachment points, this could be carried inside or outside my pack, or possibly even setup for belt carry... otherwise, my idea for when in use is a lanyard with carabiner for simply hooking to belt...

You'd know it if you experienced what I did. The blade rattled even when closed and would hang open if I held it upside down. I only needed to tighten the screw a quarter turn, but it came super loose after only an hour or two.

Great ideas for a pouch for it!!!

Pics are mandatory

 

[sparky42]

Pics are mandatory

you got it!

 

[sfrigon1]

I bought a gomboy a few weeks ago to clear out some growth in my new yard and had a lot of fun w my girlfriend so I bought her a pocket boy and we had a ball together , we were taking stuff down that we didn't have to lol

 

[sparky42]

Ultra Accel went on sale & i could not pass it up!
it ripped through these small logs with little effort!