Cliff Stamp
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 17,562
I have been looking at various saws for some time. The main goal I had in
mind was to find one that offered a reasonable replacement for a large
chopping blade. Around here it is quite simply not always possible to carry
a decent chopping tool, large knife or axe. An obvious choice which pretty
much leaps to mind is the traditional Swede saw, there are a few collapsable
versions on the market, several of which I have used and they work quite
well, however they are not as portable as I wanted and have several problems
because of their size mainly, while they excell at bucking wood, they
handle felling rather poorly in comparison.
What about the simplest solution which is the wood saw on a decent
multi-tool or SAK? Well while it is possible to fell and buck up wood with
them, that is like saying it is possible to train a cat to sit and roll over
on command much like a dog. In theory it seems perfectly fine, but in
practice the difficulty makes the task more an effort in stress management.
Quite frankly the small saws will not handle wood of any size well. The
teeth are also quite small and will bind up with wood readily. Yes you can
trim small branches with them, but wood of 3-4" class doesn't take to being
cut nearly as readily.
There are a whole class of saws that do not cut nearly as well as Swede
saws, but much better than the small SAK saws, they are of course pruning
saws, most of which cut on the pull and thus have very thin blades. I tried
a couple without much success. The main problems I had stemmed from the
blades being too weak and without a spring temper. Thus if the technique was
a little off then they would take a set readily and the performance then
falls to pot. This isn't a concern if you are out in your backyard on a fine
day calmly trimming off various branches, however if its -10 below and it
starts to rain, odds are you might end up being a little more "hurried" in
your pace and get a little sloppy.
Awhile ago Bugs3x mentioned that he had been using a Felco pruning saw (~6"
blade) and was quite pleased with its performance. I had always found his
posts on the level, straightforward with no hype so I immediately became
interested and dropped him an email. We discussed a few specifics and
shortly after I ordered one. It has no set to the teeth but instead a
tapered blade which means that there is less resistance on the draw that a
saw with a set to the teeth, but that version will bind less on sloppy
draws.
Anyway on to the performance :
In regards to straight on felling the saw works like a charm and will take
down 2-3" class wood in a matter of 10-20 seconds depending on the type of
wood and clarity (Pine, Fir, Spruce and Birch were cut). I worked on many
larger pieces of wood as well, but going over about 4" the performance
dropped off rapidly mainly because the far side of the wood simply doesn't
get enough saw and starts to fall behind, however ~3" class wood is easily
strong and rigid enough for any quick shelter building and was about the
limit of what I wanted anyway. Of course the greater the upper limit the
better, but it was good enough for me.
In regards to bucking or cutting up the fallen wood, this is where problems
set in. The japanese style teeth are very aggressive and thus require a lot
of force to keep the wood in place, the amount of effort I was using was far
in excess of what I would use to chop through the wood. The difficulty
becomes very high as the wood gets smaller and the mass becomes completely
too small to offer any resistance to movement. For small wood I ended up
having to kneel on it to keep it in place.
How does it fare in regards to durability with sloppy technique? It holds up
well indeed. While it is far less durable than the western spring tempered
saws, I have pushed on it a few times and bowed it only to have it return to
true. Like all such saws you can break them quite easily if you wanted to,
but the durability limit on this one gives a decent level of protection from
those moments where your attention wanders elsewhere during the middle of a
cut. If I get a better saw I'll bend this one and see where it takes a perm.
set and where it breaks.
Ok so how does it compare to a decent blade or hatchet? In regards to
felling it is pretty much in the same class in regards to raw performance on
~3" wood. The saw has a couple of advantages based on the smaller range of
motion. You can both cut closer to the ground with the saw than a blade and
you can work in a more confined space. As well because you are not drawing
on such a large muscle group and are not producing large impact shocks,
there are benefits if you consider injuries or excessive fatigue. The
potential for injury is also reduced, which is not really a concern unless
the circumstances are severe.
However for reasons stated in the above, for cutting up felled wood the saw
is readily outclassed by a decent blade. While the saw will go through a 3"
piece of wood in about 15-20 s, the Bruks Wildlife axe will go through that
in three well placed hits. The hatchet thus not only gets the job done much
faster, but also generates less fatigue while doing so and thus can do more
work in a given period. Of course the hatchet (or blade whatever you prefer)
will waste a tremendous amount of wood, however these chips can always be
burnt. And again the hatchet draws on a much large muscle base and requires
the ability to take a decent amount of impact shock.
The biggest downside to a saw is the lack of versatility. A decent chopping
blade or saw has a tremendous cutting potential, the Felco pruning saw can
rip up some material but would suffer badly in any cutting comparison. One
such serious disadvantage for wood work is the extreme amount of effort that
is expended in limbing out felled wood with the saw. What you can do with
one sweep of the blade requires much more work with the saw as you proceed
individually though each branch.
What totally makes it worthwhile for me personally is that I can carry it
with me 100% of the time. I have taken saw, axe and blade to work just to
see the reaction at various times. The saw never gets an odd look, however
the blade and axe are not responded to well at all. A sign of the times
obviously.
(I posted this up here as it is basically a look at a replacement for large
chopping tools and thus felt it was on-topic.)
-Cliff
mind was to find one that offered a reasonable replacement for a large
chopping blade. Around here it is quite simply not always possible to carry
a decent chopping tool, large knife or axe. An obvious choice which pretty
much leaps to mind is the traditional Swede saw, there are a few collapsable
versions on the market, several of which I have used and they work quite
well, however they are not as portable as I wanted and have several problems
because of their size mainly, while they excell at bucking wood, they
handle felling rather poorly in comparison.
What about the simplest solution which is the wood saw on a decent
multi-tool or SAK? Well while it is possible to fell and buck up wood with
them, that is like saying it is possible to train a cat to sit and roll over
on command much like a dog. In theory it seems perfectly fine, but in
practice the difficulty makes the task more an effort in stress management.
Quite frankly the small saws will not handle wood of any size well. The
teeth are also quite small and will bind up with wood readily. Yes you can
trim small branches with them, but wood of 3-4" class doesn't take to being
cut nearly as readily.
There are a whole class of saws that do not cut nearly as well as Swede
saws, but much better than the small SAK saws, they are of course pruning
saws, most of which cut on the pull and thus have very thin blades. I tried
a couple without much success. The main problems I had stemmed from the
blades being too weak and without a spring temper. Thus if the technique was
a little off then they would take a set readily and the performance then
falls to pot. This isn't a concern if you are out in your backyard on a fine
day calmly trimming off various branches, however if its -10 below and it
starts to rain, odds are you might end up being a little more "hurried" in
your pace and get a little sloppy.
Awhile ago Bugs3x mentioned that he had been using a Felco pruning saw (~6"
blade) and was quite pleased with its performance. I had always found his
posts on the level, straightforward with no hype so I immediately became
interested and dropped him an email. We discussed a few specifics and
shortly after I ordered one. It has no set to the teeth but instead a
tapered blade which means that there is less resistance on the draw that a
saw with a set to the teeth, but that version will bind less on sloppy
draws.
Anyway on to the performance :
In regards to straight on felling the saw works like a charm and will take
down 2-3" class wood in a matter of 10-20 seconds depending on the type of
wood and clarity (Pine, Fir, Spruce and Birch were cut). I worked on many
larger pieces of wood as well, but going over about 4" the performance
dropped off rapidly mainly because the far side of the wood simply doesn't
get enough saw and starts to fall behind, however ~3" class wood is easily
strong and rigid enough for any quick shelter building and was about the
limit of what I wanted anyway. Of course the greater the upper limit the
better, but it was good enough for me.
In regards to bucking or cutting up the fallen wood, this is where problems
set in. The japanese style teeth are very aggressive and thus require a lot
of force to keep the wood in place, the amount of effort I was using was far
in excess of what I would use to chop through the wood. The difficulty
becomes very high as the wood gets smaller and the mass becomes completely
too small to offer any resistance to movement. For small wood I ended up
having to kneel on it to keep it in place.
How does it fare in regards to durability with sloppy technique? It holds up
well indeed. While it is far less durable than the western spring tempered
saws, I have pushed on it a few times and bowed it only to have it return to
true. Like all such saws you can break them quite easily if you wanted to,
but the durability limit on this one gives a decent level of protection from
those moments where your attention wanders elsewhere during the middle of a
cut. If I get a better saw I'll bend this one and see where it takes a perm.
set and where it breaks.
Ok so how does it compare to a decent blade or hatchet? In regards to
felling it is pretty much in the same class in regards to raw performance on
~3" wood. The saw has a couple of advantages based on the smaller range of
motion. You can both cut closer to the ground with the saw than a blade and
you can work in a more confined space. As well because you are not drawing
on such a large muscle group and are not producing large impact shocks,
there are benefits if you consider injuries or excessive fatigue. The
potential for injury is also reduced, which is not really a concern unless
the circumstances are severe.
However for reasons stated in the above, for cutting up felled wood the saw
is readily outclassed by a decent blade. While the saw will go through a 3"
piece of wood in about 15-20 s, the Bruks Wildlife axe will go through that
in three well placed hits. The hatchet thus not only gets the job done much
faster, but also generates less fatigue while doing so and thus can do more
work in a given period. Of course the hatchet (or blade whatever you prefer)
will waste a tremendous amount of wood, however these chips can always be
burnt. And again the hatchet draws on a much large muscle base and requires
the ability to take a decent amount of impact shock.
The biggest downside to a saw is the lack of versatility. A decent chopping
blade or saw has a tremendous cutting potential, the Felco pruning saw can
rip up some material but would suffer badly in any cutting comparison. One
such serious disadvantage for wood work is the extreme amount of effort that
is expended in limbing out felled wood with the saw. What you can do with
one sweep of the blade requires much more work with the saw as you proceed
individually though each branch.
What totally makes it worthwhile for me personally is that I can carry it
with me 100% of the time. I have taken saw, axe and blade to work just to
see the reaction at various times. The saw never gets an odd look, however
the blade and axe are not responded to well at all. A sign of the times
obviously.
(I posted this up here as it is basically a look at a replacement for large
chopping tools and thus felt it was on-topic.)
-Cliff