WOW, looks like I started quite the debate. I have used my old saw for a number of years and never really concidered it to be too dangerious in the design of it. But after reading the posts from everyone, I will try to rig up some safty guards. Once the snow goes away, and I can pull it out of the shop, I will see what we can do to make it more safe.
One of the things that you guys got me thinking about and never ever concidered before is the RPMs the saw runs at. My thought was always the faster I can get it going, the better it will saw through logs. How would i measure the RPMs that the blade is running at? I would be courious to know where it is at....
Thanks for all the advice..
Monkeyman, I just found this site and happened upon your thread. Nice saw, we've got several and they work great. Around here we call them cordwood saws. From the time I was a little guy we have used them for cutting stove wood (primarily limb wood) for both the wood stove and the syrup evaporator. Some years we would do 6-10 cord on the cordwood saw. We had both 3 point hitch mounted belt and pto run as well as electric and one-lunger engines. My job as a kid was to take away the wood and stack in the trailer. I hated feeding to my father, so I always stuck my brother with that job. As long as you grab the wood from the end and catch it before if falls, I never had any trouble.
As far as safety, it's like anything else, it's as safe as the person running it. Our shingle mill has an open blade inches from our fingers, our sawmill has a 42" blade that you stand next to, and yes, you could loose a finger, we prefer to keep our fingers away from the blade.
Some people shouldn't run machinery, if your not comfortable with it, use what you're comfortable with.
One trick to the saw that my father and grandfather always taught me was to always stand so that you don't straddle the blade. Keep your right hand left of the blade cut at all times. The edge of the table should be the furthest you ever get with your right hand. If so, you have nothing to worry about.
As an EMT for 20 years or so, I've seen more accidents from chainsaws than from any other saws (and there are a lot of these cordwood saws in this area). I would rather run a cordwood than a chain saw, you stand in one spot, you're off-set from the blade, you never have to move your feet or loose your balance in the cut and the wood doesn't move while your cutting it. I think a lot of the criticizem you are receiving on it is from a lack of knowledge about it and how it works. People who don't run chain saws are scared of them as well.
As far as guards, make sure whatever you do doesn't creat an unsafe condition by jamming wood where it doesn't belong. If a small piece gets bound in between a guard and a saw, you could have a real problem on your hands.
Take care, good luck.