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Two-Man Crosscut Saw: Bellied Blade, Scorers and Cleaners
The two-man crosscut saw cuts a log across the grain, a handle at each end. Grimshaw (1882) describes it: the blade is twice as wide in the middle as at the ends, for stiffness and for the wear there; scorer teeth cut the fibres at both sides of the kerf, and slightly shorter cleaner teeth plough out the wood between.
The picture: two men bucking a white pine log with a crosscut saw, about the 1890s.
Advanced
Several days
Instructions
1
1
Shear the bellied plate
Shear the bellied plate
Shear rolled saw plate to the outline: straight back, toothed edge curving out so the middle is twice as wide as the ends (Grimshaw).
Materials for this step:
Saw Plate Steel Sheet1 pieceTools needed:
Plate Shears
Welding Gloves
Safety Glasses2
2
Punch the teeth
Punch the teeth
Punch the teeth with shaped dies in the press: groups of scorers with a cleaner between, the cleaners a little shorter. Cut the gullets near the middle deeper than at the ends.
Tools needed:
Saw Tooth Punching PressWelding GlovesSafety Glasses3
3
Harden
Harden
Heat the toothed plate evenly to a light cherry red and plunge it into a bath of oil, tallow, rosin and beeswax (Grimshaw; his oil was whale oil, ours is lard oil). It comes out as brittle as glass.
Tools needed:
Blacksmith Forge
Blacksmith Tongs
Cutting Oil
Animal Fat (Tallow)
Pine Rosin
BeeswaxWelding GlovesSafety Glasses4
4
Flatten and temper
Flatten and temper
Scour off the scale and press the plate flat between heated dies until it shows blue, the spring temper (as Grimshaw gives for handsaws).
Tools needed:
Heated Flattening DiesWelding GlovesSafety Glasses5
5
Grind thin at the back
Grind thin at the back
Grind both faces, working from the back toward the teeth, until the back is two to four gauges thinner than the toothed edge, so the blade clears its kerf.
Tools needed:
GrindstoneWelding GlovesSafety Glasses6
6
Set and file
Set and file
Set the scorers alternately left and right, file the scorers to points, and file the cleaners square and a little lower.
Tools needed:
Saw Set
Saw File7
7
Handles
Handles
Turn two hardwood handles, drill them, and bolt one upright through each end of the blade with a short iron rod peened over (our fitting).
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Strip2 pieces
Mild Steel Rod0.3 mTools needed:
Pole Lathe
Hand Drill8
8
Plate for a 6-foot cross-cut
Plate for a 6-foot cross-cut
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Materials
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- 2 piecesPlaceholder
- 0.3 mPlaceholder
Tools Required
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