Sawbuck Plans

[Thomas McCurnin]

Well, its getting that time of year that I have to think about firewood. And thoughts of firewood brought to mind a lingering project of building a small "X" frame sawbuck. I've looked a number of videos and they're all pretty much the same but I have questions for anyone who has actually built one. My firebox is small, the ideal size of firewood would be 14" x 6". The sawbuck would be no longer than about 48"

--Leg Numbers. My assumption is that three "X" legs would be enough
--Leg Spacing. The ideal wood size is about 14" x 6" so my assumption would be to place the legs 14" OC except for one "X" leg slightly closer to support smaller limbs
--Leg Joinery. Most plans call for carriage bolts or nails. But to me a half lap joint would be stronger.
--Keeping Logs From Rotating. Screw in an old saw blade to the inside of a couple of the "X" legs? Or grind off some 16p nails?

Any other ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jim Koepke]

My main saw buck has been around for about a decade.

Some pictures will be taken later to show it and my little sawbuck.

My next one may have some changes in design.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Now with pictures!

My main sawbuck:

Old Sawbuck.jpgOld Sawbuck 2.jpg

This is made of 2X3 lumber and is ~36" long. The bottom rails have 3/4" pegs mounted for using a rope to secure a piece. There are two on one side and one on the other. Hooking the rope on the one peg and then using the other two to wind the rope around makes for fast work.

My thoughts on changes are to possibly mount the top rails a little lower, possibly on the outside to keep the log above the rails so there will be less sawing into the rails. Another thought was to add legs in the middle to have an opening in the rails for the saw. This could be positioned to be a gauge for cutting firewood to length.

For field work there is a simpler sawbuck:

Lil' Sawbuck.jpgLil' Sawbuck 2.jpg

It is about 20" tall. one of the 2X4s has a lap cut into it. The support is a 2X3 and it is all held together with a couple of 3" deck screws.

In the early days of paper currency the ten dollar bill had a pair of large exes on the back:

Bill - Sawbuck.jpg

Lots of folks, not being familiar with Roman numerals, thought it looked like a sawbuck. That is how "Sawbuck" became slang for a $10 bill.

jtk

[Scott Winners]

What exactly are you wanting to cut up? I get firewood and 14x6, but the third dimension is not specified. Before my Aurthur Itis got really moved in I used to process about ten cords per year. I was only burning 8 cords myself, I buy my cordwood already split now and have it delivered.

For birch smalls, the pieces out of the top too small to really "split" I would unzip them, or zip them, with my chainsaw while they were still attached to the tree top. Just cut a groove through the bark down to "wood;", and then hack them off the tree top in whatever length up to 10 feet or so. In my salad days I would harvest down to branches about 1.5" in diameter.

My sawbuck looked like two combs like for hair, but for a giant. It was 8 feet long (wish I had a picture) with 4 foot uprights, and a bunch of drywall screws. The uprights at the corner were offset down about 4" to keep the other uprights up off the ground.

4 eight foot 2x4, the bottom pair as stretchers, the upper pair as aprons. I had a 16 inch bar on my saw, I think the depth of mine was 14 ish inches. I measured from the teeth of the saw dog to the tip of the blade and made my saw buck not quite that deep to reduce kickback.

Aprons and stretchers were 12 -16 inches spread vertical. I used a lot of 2x4, but these paid for themselves within one year, 8-10 cords. First upright at the end, zero inches, and offset -4 inches to be feet. Then another pair of uprights at 15 and 17 inches, with the bottom end of each board flush with the bottom of the stretcher, another pair flush with the bottom stretcher at 31 and 33 inches, middle pair flush with the bottom stretcher at 47 and 49 inches, then repeat from the other end.

To hold the aprons together, the table top, I used more 2x4 to give me a 3.5 spread between the table top and the aprons.

In practice I would load it justified to one end more or less flush. My wood stove can handle wood up to 20" long, but 16 inch firewood is much easier to sell or give to LOVE Inc. Once it was pretty much full I would start by trimming the overlength branches off one end, and then drop my blade more or less on center in the gap at 15-17 inches, repeat at 31-33 inches as so on. When I got to the bottom of the branches in the buck my blade would be 3.5 inches (nominal four inches) above the 8 foot 2x4 apron.

I never remember cutting all the way down one of the slots. I pretty much had to plan on applying the blade brake and then reach into the buck to push some pieces out before I could finish the bulk cut. Often I had to cut say the first 16 inches in each slot, push all those pieces out and then go back and start over at one end.

But, I built one, used it, gave it to the best man at my wedding and built another one. When you have a wet paint brush in your hand you are about to clean, walk out to the sawbuck, kick it over and get some paint on the exposed end grain of the feet. Once those are sealed get working on the end grain on the tops of all the verticals with other paint brushes.

If you are talking wanting 14 inch long rounds 6 inches diameter, I would split those. Six diameter birch rounds will rot (left unsplit) before they dry, and six inch diameter spruce rounds take _forever_ (>2 years) to dry, Split once, either will be ready to burn (< 20%MC) with one full summer stacked off the ground and top covered. I don't have ready access to other trees up here. Six inch diameter birch rounds with two zips about 180 degrees apart will dry in probably three years.

Six inch rounds are a pain in the neck to buck off a long log. They are too heavy to lift into my 52" tall sawbuck and too small to buck easily on the ground without chain dulling touchdowns. Can you load them in your truck as four footers (42 inchers, sorry), chalk your cut lines and then use a couple cinder blocks and a woodchuck or similar (pickaroon) to hold them down while you cut them on the tailgate of your truck?

You might think about a timberjack instead of a sawbuck, that would store on a wall easily in the off season. Also cheaper to buy than materials for my sawbuck.

[Jim Becker]

You might think about a timberjack instead of a sawbuck, that would store on a wall easily in the off season. Also cheaper to buy than materials for my sawbuck.

I was thinking the same thing...nothing I've ever cut up for "firewood" (everything I cut goes down by the road for free pickup by anyone who wants it) is small enough to lift onto something like a sawbuck. I have a timberjack if I want to do the manual thing, but often use my sub-compact Kubota's backhoe to lift the log up so I can cut pieces off at "firewood" length. (I move them with the loader bucket for the same reason...heavy, heavy, heavy...)

[Ole Anderson]

Tom, could you enlighten us as to what kind of saw you will be using and your source, length and type of the logs? I can't imaging wanting to lift logs to place them on a sawbuck unless they are only 4 feet long and under 6" in diameter. You need to be a diehard to want to cut up firewood anymore with a hand saw of any type with all of the powered options out there. I cut mine just off the ground (cut, roll, finish cut, or roll a small log underneath) with a Stihl 018 with a 14" bar, bigger stuff with my 290 and a 16" bar. That is just my occasional branch I need to do something with. I used to buy my firewood split but now I help my son fall and split some from his woodlot.

And a sawbuck only works if the log hangs off the end, and you still have that 4' length to buck. Am I missing something?

[Thomas McCurnin]

Logs are fallen logs in the Forest and will be in the 4-8” range. This is un-logged Federal wilderness and I grab long dead longs and cut them to size on a regular sawhorse which is a pain. It’s a small cabin up an inaccessible seasonal road. I have no interest in splitting larger logs and can buy decent firewood at our town $50 or even free for a pick up truck load which will last me as long as the road is passable. However, the stuff I buy is too long. I don’t want to be splitting logs up there with a maul and wedge. Nor do I want to invest in a lot of equipment. Forest Service probably wouldn’t allow it anyway.

Cutting firewood to size on a saw horse is dangerous for me, hence the need for a cradle to support it. So to recap, this will be firewood of a proper diameter ( 4-12”)but too long for the fireplace insert, either found on site (most likely) or purchased in town (maybe). The stuff will be no more than 4’ long if found on site and about 20-30” if secured in town.

I have propane up there but do like to conserve it as the trucks can’t get up our road in winter.

[Jim Koepke]

Tom, it sounds like my main sawbuck design would suit you well. For heavier logs it is often set on end at one end of a log. Then the log is raised up against it. Then they can both be tilted back to level together. It has been used on logs in my yard from ~3" to a bit over a foot in diameter.

2X3 lumber has gone up in price since my last purchase. An eight foot piece is now in the $3 range. A four foot sawbuck would take about four 2X3X8' pieces.

jtk

[Thomas McCurnin]

Yep, that's what I thought too. I would add an X leg offset in the middle, and probably another pair of braces right below the "X". You actually took the time to half lap those joints, another feature I would do.

[Jim Matthews]

I use a Peavey with a lifter for this purpose.
It's adequate to about 18" diameter logs.

It's high enough to keep my 20" bar out of the dirt.https://www.shopcomstocklogging.com/...TEM_p_685.html

[Jim Koepke]

Yep, that's what I thought too. I would add an X leg offset in the middle, and probably another pair of braces right below the "X". You actually took the time to half lap those joints, another feature I would do.

The half lapping didn't take too long. There are only fourteen of them.

One of the bottom rails was replaced. It broke when a log was dropped on it.

jtk

[Tom M King]

I can see where they would be good for a person's back if you are using a muscle powered saw. I use a chainsaw, and would never consider going to the trouble to use sawbucks.

One type of tool I do suggest, for any type of saw is a pair of, what we call around here, "wood hooks". There are many variations of these. They save a lot of the effort. https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p...=75098&redir=Y

edited to add: While looking for a link to a wood hook, I stumbled on another tool I recommend for wood handling. A Hookeroon. I keep one of these in the back of my truck all the time. It's handy for getting to all sorts of stuff without having to get in the back of the truck, like bales of hay, or an empty bleach bottle that ended up under the toolbox. https://logrite.com/Item/48inch-Hookaroon

[Scott Winners]

I use a chainsaw, and would never consider going to the trouble to use sawbucks.

Horses for courses. When I was dropping trees I wanted every stick I could get once it was one the ground, felling was both exciting and scary for me. Branches four inches and under were, for me, a lot less effort to btach process to length.

One type of tool I do suggest, for any type of saw is a pair of, what we call around here, "wood hooks". There are many variations of these. They save a lot of the effort. https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p...=75098&redir=Y

edited to add: While looking for a link to a wood hook, I stumbled on another tool I recommend for wood handling. A Hookeroon. I keep one of these in the back of my truck all the time. It's handy for getting to all sorts of stuff without having to get in the back of the truck, like bales of hay, or an empty bleach bottle that ended up under the toolbox. https://logrite.com/Item/48inch-Hookaroon

I may have to get a wood hook, I can see a couple uses for that. I do carry a hookaroon in my truck year round as well, super handy tool. I have a wood chuck brand one, but the handle is round, so I have to look to see which way the hook on the end is pointing. My next one will have an oval handle.

[mike stenson]

I have a wood chuck brand one, but the handle is round, so I have to look to see which way the hook on the end is pointing. My next one will have an oval handle.

Cut a corner notch.

[Tom M King]

That 48" aluminum Logrite is the easiest to use that I've ever had. I've had the ones with axe handles too, but those didn't have long lives just laying in the back of the truck. I've never even thought about the round handle, but the axe handle type end is nice.