On Aug 23, 2012, at 11:04 AM, Kirk Eppler <eppler.kirk@g...> wrote:
> Dont' the big a$$ tree felling saws use these teeth too, tearout
> be damned?

Exactly so. They are commonly referred to as crosscut saws, a term
easily conflated with the very different and much smaller panel saws or
handsaws filed for cutting across the grain. A good rundown, complete
with close-up illustration of the tooth-raker-gullet pattern of the
business edge, is here.
<http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/using_a_crosscut_saw>
Click on the illustration for a closeup. For the larger/longer two-man
version, this configuration has the advantage of efficiency: It cuts
equally in both directions, and both men do basically the same amount of
work. Even with shorter versions with a large, usually hornless gripping
handle on one end (and often holes at the tip where a handle can be
attached if you have two operators), used for bucking up rounds with the
saw held vertically, there is an advantage to cutting in both directions
in such rough work. Not what I would want in my miterbox or at the
sawbench in my woodworking shop. Tom Holloway
<http://furfortfunfacts.blogspot.com/>

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