I found a 48" logger's crosscut saw in the shop I'm renting for my business. It is a one-or-two-man bucking saw with a regular saw handle on one end and an upright handle that can be switched to either end depending on whether one or two people are using it. When the gasoline dries up after TSHTF this type of saw will be the best most people can have for cutting firewood. Furthermore, they are quiet, a plus for keeping a low profile when envy becomes pandemic.
I've been shopping for crosscut saws on ebay but will probably buy this one from the owner's estate. They run over $150 new. I'll offer half that. I spent some time today cleaning it up and oiling it. It's in fairly good condition with some rust but very minor pitting. Most of the rust came off with a fine sanding pad. I'll have to use a small curved stone to de-rust the teeth since they are set at a slight outward angle from the plane of the saw. There are a few slight dents/bumps in the blade that can be flattened with a few hammer taps on an anvil flat. I have not found a name for the specific tooth pattern, which consists of alternating plain teeth and swaged M rakers, perhaps a variety of Champion Tooth pattern.
While shopping for saws on ebay I saw a manual for sale. Before bidding on it I thought I'd better see if I could get one free online. Sure enough, a little googling led me to a PDF file of
Warren Miller's 34-page "Crosscut Saw Manual" (published by the US Forest Service) that explains sharpening, setting, and other steps for optimizing crosscut saw performance. I was able to download and save it. There is also a
how-to slide show video on YouTube that I had to pause on each slide to read and study.
Besides a couple bucking saws I'd like to get a couple falling saws. These are mainly two-man saws with vertical handles on each end. They are quite a bit narrower and more limber than bucking saws and have teeth shaped for either hardwood or softwood. One reason for their narrowness is to allow wedges to be pounded into the cut close behind them to keep the cut from compressing on the blade. A new
German-made 56" two-man saw for softwood lists for $153.95 at traditionalwoodworker.com and I saw a used 72" blade without handles going for $225 on ebay. I'd like to imagine some are bought by serious preppers but I'll bet you anything most of the used ones are bought up by people looking for rustic decor.
A variety of tools are used in sharpening and maintaining loggers' crosscut saws: special swaging hammers, flattening hammers, anvil, tooth sets, flat and triangular files, jointers, raker gauges, straightedges, and saw vise. In addition, torches are used to temper rakers and wood, leather, or canvass scabbards are used to protect the blade when not in use. An even wider variety of tools is often employed in conjunction with their use: fallers' wedges, sledge hammers, oil sprayers, springboards, timberjacks, cant hooks, hookaroons, timber carriers, sawbucks, skidding tongs, ax, etc.
