A few Questions about buzz-saws

[NELOG]

It seems that the best way to cut firewood to the desired length is with a large circular saw. In looking at a video of the Cord King in action, it seems to just burn through wood with its five foot blade. I know that circular saws take more horsepower to run and they might be a little more dangerous than a chainsaw because they aren't easily stopped, however they seem to have the speed advantage, they require less sharpening (depending on the blade type) and they don't use any oil.

The question is, what type of blade is suitable for cutting firewood. A new five foot blade is upwards of fifteen hundred dollars. I seems that an older sawmill blade, that is not perfectly straight would be a better solution. The problem comes that the blade is ground differently, for ripping instead of cross-cutting. Does anyone know how I would go about re-grinding the teeth on one of these blades, or can it be used, not perfectly, but in an unmodified way? There may be a blade available for purchase in my area, and I haven't looked at it yet. If it happens to be an inserted tooth model, I could probably just replace the teeth, but I don't know where I would buy new ones for cross cutting. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot

 

[Crofter]

Nelog, there are a few users here that run circular saws in mills that may jump in. Generally the cross cut saws will have much smaller closer spaced teeth and the sharpening is totally different. A rip saw would be vicious; too much hook to the tooth profile. Straightening a circular saw and retensioning it to run true is pretty specialized. If you run them crooked they tend to crack around the hub quite quickly.

 

[Patrick62]

large blades

I saw a homebrew thing one time, maybe 36" Diameter. Powered by a old car, I was told it did not power out. It was also very dangerous as there was no guards on it.

I also watched a blade in action at a local saw mill for a bit. This one was around 6 foot diameter. Without a load it had a nice wobble to it. When under load it straightened out very nicely. The quality of the rough cut was pretty good.

-Pat

 

[Marco]

menominee saw and supply company 906-863-2609

 

[dingo]

off bearer

Pole wood used to be cut more than it is now. The community would get together and take wagons, cross cuts and axes to the bottoms and cut pole wood. These poles would then be hauled to the buzz saw. The buzz saw would be powered by a portable engine ,a tractor and belt or the rear wheel of an old car. We had a nice one that hooked to the three point hitch of a ford tractor. Takes a few people to run a buzz saw, not a one man operation. I was usually the off bearer ( the guy that caught the cut piece and threw it where it was supposed to go) If you run a buzz saw and are the off bearer always swing with the blade, never away from the blade.

 

[NELOG]

Thanks for the input.
As far as a ripping saw being too aggressive, could this be overcome by stongly reinforcing around the bearings that hold the blade. Or could the blade just be slowly introduced into the wood, so it is only cutting a little bit at a time?

 

[Crofter]

It is the great hook on the ripping tooth and the large size that I see as a problem. It is made to feed into end grain which is difficult to penetrate. A cross cut blade has finer teeth and usually negative or little hook. It would be grabby and dangerous. A circular saw filer should be able to recut new teeth especially if it is large enough to sacrifice an inch and a half in radius.

 

[paz]

i got something you may be interested in,,,shall try and get a few pics of it for you tomorrow..this thing is what we call over here a power saw,,20hp kohler motor,,belt driven,,,biggest blade i use is about 36"(for cutting big logs in the bush,yeh im aussie)..can be used as a mobile unit or i also have a bench made up for cutting up smaller timber...i cross cut with it and also can rip "lumber"(as u call it)..the blades are all old ones from saw mills that have been wore down from use,,we buy them then use a grinder called a gulloting machine,with this you can cut more or less teeth out,,most of the blades i use now are tungsten tipped,,lots more cuts between shapening..then there is hammering,,it is an art in itself,,this is done to get the blade to run true and not get hotspots in it..sounds all like mumbo jumbo....a few pics tomoz will shed a little light for you...
paz

p.s....i have learnt all of this dying art from my father..i will be a happy man if i only know a tenth of his "old world" knowledge when he passes...