No experience here so any help would be appreciated.


Looking to have the capacity to cut firewood by hand not only for emergency situations but I live 20 minutes away from the nearest gas station and sometimes I just don't feel like dealing with it.


Which would be the most practical and are there any brands I should look for?


Also would like to know what tools I would need to sharpen the saw myself.

1. Bowsaw.
2. mill bastard file.

Depends on the size of the wood you are trying to cut. A oneman crosscut will work you to death on big stuff.

To sharpen a saw and do a first rate job you should have a saw vise, triangular file and a saw set.

I used a cross cut saw a lot as a kid. It is back breaking work. To sharpen a crosscut you will need a small file (mill Bastard), probably a six inch and a saw set guage. I have one around here somewhere and if I can find it, I will post pictures. We also had a small hammer, kinda like a tack hammer but it had a slot in one end so you could bend a tooth. It has disappeared and I don't know where it went. miles

You can still find good saws around here at flee markets and such. First thing you have to do when you bring one home is use paint remover to get rid of the stupid picture somebody painted on it.

There are still made in the USA new saws and saw sharpening tools. Look at http://www.crosscutsaw.com/

You can find US and German saws at LEHMANS

We have a smaller saw and my wife and I find it enjoyable work. We plan to offer a weekend class on crosscut saw use and maintenance when we get the school up and running.

A couple of logs cut with a hand saw, will make you rethink that trip to the gas station, very quickly.

R.

Or you could just do it for 30-45min every other day and completely get out of lard-ass mode.

Bow saw and an extra blade, look for standing dead stuff no bigger than about 4", limbs are good too. Downed stuff is usually dirty and will dull the saw quickly.

My twin brother and I kept two fireplaces going with all hand cut wood for about two years when we lived in Minnesota. It will definitely make you appreciate the internal combustion engine, but it's doable. Getting the wood onto something waist high so you can comfortably run the saw is very important, we drug everything back to the house and used an elevated deck to work from.

Get some gloves for your hands.

Good Luck,
Mike

Two people not in a big hurry with a well maintained saw can get a lot done without killing themselves.

I am 62, the wife is a couple of weeks from 59. We can do it so you young and tough guys should be able to do it. Three hundred pound couch potatoes may have a different outlook on the subject but is they had to do it they would in a short time no longer be three hundred pound couch potatoes. A good saw and the tools to keep it sharp and trued should be part of every SHIF kit for long term survival.

Sure I have and use a newer Dolmar chain saw. I used it last weekend and it will get used hard again tomorrow. But I have the tools and the saw should gas and oil no longer be available. I even have enough kerosene to keep the saw lubricated in pitch filled logs.

There is something peaceful when tow people spend a day working together in harmony (a requirement for to man saw use) and looking back to see what they have accomplished at the end of the day. When a saw is sharp, set, and true so that every tooth cuts evenly it is not that hard to pull a good saw.

True. But then it becomes a hobby, and is no longer work.
Cut more than my share of wood and lumber by hand. Still do some, until I remember that there is both electricity and two stroke power availible.

R.

A two man is nice for stuff like this:



Anything smaller, and a one man would be better. But you would also want to invest in a good felling axe either way.

So the big questions to ask yourself:
~What size of tree will I be felling & cutting?
~Will I also need a canthook and/or snatch block to move it?
~Will I be doing this by myself, and if not, how capable is my helper?
~Is there a really good reason why not to use a chainsaw?

While growing up, Dad's old chainsaw finally bit the bullet and money was too tight to afford a new one. Dad got out a couple of old crosscuts, had them sharpened and we cut every stick of firewood with them for several years. Later on in life I worked on Forest Service trail crews tasked with clearing non-motorized wilderness trails with cross cuts. Properly sharpened they work great. They are a work out though and they're not called a misery whip for nothing. If your partner doesn't grasp the subtleties of proper crosscut operation it becomes misery to run one.

Mart

The best way to think of firewood is an investment account: Add to it slowly and steadily over a long time to maximize your investment.

Wasn't meaning to slam anyone! And I'm not 300 pounds (295)!
If its a job, and it needs doing, then it becomes production.
If its a hobby, and creates enjoyment and excercise, then great.
Either way, no one can tell me cutting wood using a powered saw, is the lazy mans way, as it is still damn hard work. Unless I'm doing it wrong. Can't run either saw from a couch.

R.

A good quality tool of the correct type, and properly maintained, is so different from anything which appears similar, that 'night and day' hardly expresses the difference. That is true of every other woodworking tool I have used; I can't imagine the rules are different here. Not saying the relative ease of a chainsaw isn't generally preferable however.

"They are a work out though and they're not called a misery whip for nothing. If your partner doesn't grasp the subtleties of proper crosscut operation it becomes misery to run one.

Mart "

A misery on both ends!!!!!!!!!!

There is the key.

Don't ride the saw and you only pull. NO PUSHING!

My granfather said that all the time. He added that a wood pile was a great measure of a man, either in town, or in the bush.
Still the first we do when a camp is set up. Get that account started!

R.

Yes, there is a reason why professional loggers use a chainsaw.

Not meant a a slam to anyone either. Sorry. When I reread I saw where I could have written that a lot better.

I used a saw for about a half a gallon of gas last Sunday. Was I beat at the end of the day? You can bet your booties I was!

No slam meant to anyone.

I use a two man crosscut saw and sharpen my own. They can be purchased new or at flee markets. I actually have one about 6' long that I believe dates to the late 1700's.... based on what I've seen at Colonial Williamsburg. It's an "M" tooth design so there are no raker teeth. This is what I recommend to you if you can find one.... because it's easier to maintain.

I did a demonstration at a historic park a few years ago with a few of my saws. I brought what I thought was enough 10-12" green oak logs to last 4 hours. Well it didn't, the passerbys and I had it cut up and split in 1.5 hours. The ancient M tooth worked the best.

You can still get crosscut saw files. You can use a regular vice and common lumber scraps to hold it. Research a file holder (mill file) for leveling the teeth before filing for sharp. These can be made from a scrap of hardwood also. Remember to deepen the gullet the same amount as you remove from the top. Many old saws suffer from this neglect. Set the teeth 1/3 to 1/2 the thickness of the blade. This can be done many different ways.

Remember to remove the second handle of the two man if you are cutting alone. Cut wood as green as you an get. Fill an old dish soap bottle with kerosene to squirt in the kerf if things get tight. Try to get the logs raised to a comfortable height. I use a three legged stand on each end. Use shims so the cut doesn't pinch the saw blade.

My general experience with traditional tools is that if it's "too hard" you are doing something wrong. IMHO, life for the most part was slower back in the day, not harder. I've worked my arse off with modern tools. PM me and I will help any way I can.

That is the way I feel. That is why we are cutting wood now when we have plenty to last both houses for the rest of the season.

If I had to do a years supply for the farm this Fall I would not be able to do it.

We used to own a 100 year old house in Montana, and we "supplemented" our heat with burning firewood. We averaged 10 cords a winter of beetle killed LPP, that I felled, limbed, blocked, and split almost solely by myself. It was work! And I rarely looked at the woodpile and thought, "That's enough for now."

Log piles grow, and log piles shrink, but 'finished' always refers to the shrink end of things IME.

Notice all the happy faces:

I don't remember why we got a late start that year, but we ended up completely filling up the area back by the cottonwood, behind the garage, the other side of the garage, and a couple of cords on our back deck.

Later on we built a hydraulic splitter, and the kids had happier faces:

Notice also that this is late spring and we are already starting on next winter's wood.

Smiling faces are a good thing!

We do not have a splitter but the grandsons help a lot.

When we sold the house, we left the new owners with @ 2 cords of wood (late spring/early summer), which was probably the most carry over we ever had.

They were ecstatic, and thought that it would take them forever to burn THAT MUCH WOOD!

Bwahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

I could actually split LPP faster by hand with a sharp axe than the splitter, if it was below freezing or colder. Above freezing, and it was a tie.

I think my all time best was something like 4 cords split and stacked in @ 6 hours.

"Split it and you will burn it!" was our motto.

When it got really cold (-40*F) we would go through 3 wheelbarrows a day.

That's serious business for a 20 minute trade off. I guess if you've never done it before the experience will be a lasting one

Perhaps give Jeff_O a call for some advice... I think he's lumber jacking now

If gas was $20/gallon, I'd still be cutting firewood with the chainsaw vs a crosscut.

I spent a couple summers helping my Dad run a crosscut in Black Locust trees as a kid. We were not making firewood, only fence posts, so the cuts were at seven to nine feet.

Most of the trees were about 24 inch diameter, and it was a heck of a work out for a fifteen year old boy and his forty year old Dad to cut through each one several times.

I could have spent a few weeks bucking bales for the neighborhood farmers that summer and made enough money to purchase a Husqvarna chainsaw, and then tackled that pile of locust. We would have been time ahead, and still owned the saw when we were done.

If I never lay eyes on a crosscut again, it will be too soon.

We burn a lot of spruce. Splitting is never fun with spruce. It is the only wood I have stuck a log bomb in and had to saw it back out. I have never seen a spruce break in a wind storm. They all have tipped over roots still in tact. I like to leave then down fr two years if I can so they don't try so hard to stand back up when you are cutting them. Great burning, ugly splitting.

Yes, indeed!! Here's the only answer: http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/

Since I hold a chain saw in my hands, I consider it cutting firewood by hand. If I just want exercise, I'll wander the woods with a .22.

Yeah, we used the splitter exclusively on spruce. It was set up with a 15 ton ram, and while "slow", it could split 24" dia. wet spruce!

I only split spruce by hand one time, and that was when we first moved into the house. We were desperate for wood, and all I had at the time was a cheap Homelite saw that I picked up for $100 at a hardware store (lost money on that one!). A friend told us about a blown down spruce tree in town that we could have for free, if we went and cut it up. Sure enough, it had the root ball intact. Limbed and blocked it with that little saw, loaded it up in the 1970 IHC, and took it home. That was when the work started! I didn't have a wood grenade, but it took a sledge and 3 wedges to split the first block! It took something like a day and a half to split up that one tree......

Yes, we were desperate for wood.

Didn't know you were a masochist, Rex.

I see the appeal of being prepared but man, considering how far a gallon of gas goes in a chain saw, I'd just keep some stabilized gas around instead. Which is what I do. Stabil or Seafoam and buy premium gas.

I'm strong like ox <grin> and still willing to work the ol' bod BUT hand-cutting firewood would get brutal quick. If you mess your back or shoulder up you will be of little use in said emergency anyway.

Now? No way hoser! Been doing it over 20 years.


I'd welcome a call from Rex anytime but I doubt I have much advice for him. He seems like a pretty capable dude.

My small saw is a Stihl MS290 with a 20" bar. My medium saw is a Husky 268 with a 28" bar. I won't ever get rid of either saw.

The 268 is nice because of the incredible amount of torque it has, but it has no where the fuel efficiency or the ergonomics of the Stihl.

My small saw is a 20" Husky. You can do a lot with a good 20" saw as you know. It's ideal for the understory hardwoods I cut lots of.

I've owned 3 Husky's. Love them. Sample of one, but my buddy went Stihl and has had nothing but trouble from it.

I am still looking to pick up a nice one man 36"-42" crosscut saw though. Just trying to find the right one. That, and a good double bit axe.

This all reads like work to me.

This 215 pound couch potato Faerie Dwarf will leave this work to REAL men.

I've owned that Stihl for close to 10+ years now, and have never had any problems with it as long as I keep the plug and filter clean, and make sure the filter is set up for the appropriate temp./season.

My first couple of years cutting all those cords of wood was exclusively with the Stihl. I ended up getting the Husky because it was a screaming deal ($200), and it was the size I needed.

I firmly ascribe to trying have @1/3 of your bar clear while felling a tree. But I did use that Stihl to take down some trees that were over 32" in dia.!

Friend of mine had an old 42" Stihl that I truly coveted....

I use a one man crosscut saw for my line cabins and a Stihl Saw at my main camp. My big wood burner will take 6' logs so it is less cutting on the trees. Small stoves will work you to the bone.

Hence why so many people have gas fireplaces.

Making wood is hard work, no matter how you go about it. People ain't getting rich selling it at $200 a cord, split and delivered.

Funny how my kids miss stacking wood now that we live in a big city.....

Me, I feel naked without a couple of cords stacked in the yard somewhere (I am pretty sure the HOA would frown on that).

A remote wood fired boiler is the way to go, as long as it's chimney is properly stacked.

Stihl have a great reputation; I think he just got a dud.

My larger Husky was a screaming deal like yours. It hadn't been run in 6-8 years so I bought it cheap thinking a carb overhaul might be in the works. It was a little balky at first but runs like a champ now!

I too have cut some stuff up with my 20" saw that was way bigger than 20" across. Not ideal, and you better have a bar/chain that cuts straight, but doable.

I just ran into several really hard teeth on my bigger saw. WTF? A file won't touch them.

I am not a saw expert, but if the oiler ran dry/ quit working the heat would work harden the teeth. Could be what happened with yours.

Chains are cheap.

Are you sure it isn't a safety tooth that you are trying to sharpen?

I believe that Scott F could probably offer a better analysis....

I've run into the odd hard tooth before but this chain has several. Oiler seems fine... I can't remember what I last cut with it last summer or whatever. Something sure hardened a few teeth! File skates over them like glass.

Chains are cheap, it's true, and this one is half used up anyway, and I've got a new spare waiting in the wings anyway. It's no big thing, just a curiosity.

I keep several crosscut and buck saws around as "what if" backups. Put up about one cord a year just to review the mechanics and give my relatives something to talk about.
As shown buck saw on bottom, oneman or twoman, left and two man crosscut on right.


Granddad and Dad passed on to me the knowledge to keep saws sharp and in good working order. Some of my saws are set for hardwood and others for softwood.

That one man CC saw looks great; exactly what I am looking for!

My FIL lives on the old family farm in WI, north of Eau Claire. He has all of the old hand tools, and more importantly, the knowledge of how to maintain them. Like you mentioned, different woods require a different set for optimum use.

My wife still insists that the proper way to build a fire is to start with white pine kindling, then red oak, and finally to bank it with either walnut or maple! As a westerner, I cringe at the thought of burning those hardwoods!!!!

Could have been amber in the wood. Fire kill is notorious for that, but it can also be found in live and standing dead, especially beetle kill.

Lehmans will get you a good saw. I just look around and find axe heads at junk stores and rehang them. 99.99% of the axes in stores today are cast in Mexico. If you want a good forged axe you have to find an old one or get one of the high dollar Swedish axes.

That looks like a picture from my childhood. We had similar saws and cut firewood with all of them. Dad always took the saws out to a local guy to sharpen. He did good work and the saws always cut well. I always preferred the two man but could cut well with the one man saw also. I never got along well with a bow saw though, even when it was sharp.

Mart

Son in law.

Jim

The woodshed at my hunting cabin. When I look at it, I see money in the bank! I cut all of that by hand, assisted by a Stihl!