Old Saw Ripping Some Ash

[Jim Koepke]

I have been trying to decide just how to rip a bunch of ash.

My band saw is a bit wimpy at just 10" and a quarter horse motor, but it could do it slow and easy, but maybe it would be a good idea to buy a spare blade or two just in case.

Thought about using a hand saw so one that was left to me by a friend was tried out. It worked, but was a bit slow. A look at the teeth showed that half of them were not as tall as the others. You can see some of the etch if you know where to look. This saw plate is in pretty bad shape for something that will still cut straight.


197743

I decided to keep it at 6 ppi. Measuring the teeth indicates it has 6 ppi. A look at the heel shows that it has been changed over the years. Originally it was 4-1/2 ppi. While the teeth were being filed, one flew off. I didn't want to take time to redo all the teeth, so there is one gap.


197740

Yes, the teeth could be a bit better. I will have to look through my saws and see if there is another candidate for a 4 ppi rip saw or if this is the one.

This saw looks like it may have been robbed of its original nuts. The holes in the saw plate and the handle line up, but the holes are small where there aren't any nuts.

197744

Working through ash is some hard work.

197741

Sawing a 4/4 by 10 foot board took me 15 minutes with the saw freshly sharpened. That included a minute break to go get my wife to take some pictures and to take a short rest by doing some easy sawing.

197739

The light sawing goes slow, but it is not much work, exertion usually equals production.

197742

Gee, that saw looks almost as tired as me.:D

jtk

[Jim Neeley]

Jeeze, Jim.. after that rip it sounds like it's time to go saw some logs! Zzzzzzz.... <g>

[Chris Fournier]

I don't use my rip cut panel saw much but one time I did use it to break out some 10/4 livesawn white ash that I had. I was in an ornery mood and needed to "walk it off". The flitch was about 10 feet long. I enjoyed the process and swore that I would never do it again. I did not put my crotch in harms way as you seem to have; my talents in that department are already humble enough.

As an aside, I bought the ash log and had it livesawn and I remember lifting the flitches to sticker them and actually seeing stars. That stuff was heavy when green. I did not move it for a couple of years after that light headed experience.

Nice work Jim.

[Jim Koepke]

Hopefully today I will be able to rip through another one.

There is Lakeside L-8 in my small pile of saws that looks a lot like a Disston D8. It has a few teeth missing. My plan is to recut the teeth and make it 4 ppi with a bit more aggressive rake and see if the time it takes to rip through a board can be reduced.

More later.

jtk

[john brenton]

Hillarious commentary Chris. Gives new meaning to "I cut it twice and its still too short".

There is a picture online of a big ol guy ripping like that and it makes me cringe. I don't know what google image search it comes up on, but I know I've seen it many times.


I don't use my rip cut panel saw much but one time I did use it to break out some 10/4 livesawn white ash that I had. I was in an ornery mood and needed to "walk it off". The flitch was about 10 feet long. I enjoyed the process and swore that I would never do it again. I did not put my crotch in harms way as you seem to have; my talents in that department are already humble enough.

As an aside, I bought the ash log and had it livesawn and I remember lifting the flitches to sticker them and actually seeing stars. That stuff was heavy when green. I did not move it for a couple of years after that light headed experience.

Nice work Jim.

[jamie shard]

Gee, that saw looks almost as tired as me.:D


I got a good laugh from that one. :D (Owner of a very pitted 4 or 5 ppi rip saw, which my grandpa used to build his first house.)

-j

[Zahid Naqvi]

There was a saw? I couldn't get my eyes away from the rainbow colored suspenders to notice anything else ;)

[Pedder Petersen]

Thank Jim for the entry. It is good to see some tools working actually. Best wishes Pedder

[Frank Drew]

I bought the ash log and had it livesawn...

Chris, is "livesawn" the same as sawing through-and-through (or boule cut)?