Phil,


For the larger, pale logs, I split them with wedges and a 3lb hammer.

For the smaller, reddish logs, I started the cut with a tenon saw; then
used a coarse rip saw to widen and deepen the kerf (about 4 TPI, I think).
Then I used a "converted" one-person crosscut saw, but re-filed to rip
(about 2TPI), to futher widen the kerf -- and complete the cut.

After the initial "cutting in half", I popped off the bark, then set a
marking gauge with a LOOOONG pin (due to the curve of the log) at about a
thumb's thickness, and marked the line.  Then I used the dovetail saw -->
rip saw --> mega-saw to cut into small boards.


Here's a photo of the "regular" rip saw, and the longer one:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7IaLE--BmI8/UbiQ2mT5frI/AAAAAAAABbM/HPTdcJB80
co/s1600/twosaws.JPG">http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7IaLE--
BmI8/UbiQ2mT5frI/AAAAAAAABbM/HPTdcJB80co/s1600/twosaws.JPG


And, for size comparison, here's the long one, in action (photo is from May
2013; I somehow have even less hair, and the remainder is more grey...):

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clkZMUY5sCk/UbiQZFgenHI/AAAAAAAABbE/lDtq7X0ty
RA/s1600/sawng.JPG">http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clkZMUY5sCk/UbiQZFgenHI/AAAAAAAABb
E/lDtq7X0tyRA/s1600/sawng.JPG


As Abraham Lincoln suggested (
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/83633-give-me-six-hours-to-chop-down-a
-tree-and">http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/83633-give-me-six-hours-to-chop-
down-a-tree-and),
I first spent a few minutes sharpening the mega-saw.  The saw is heavy and
long enough that it pretty much cuts by itself:  all I have to do is push
it forwards and back.


The saw is long enough that I get to use a pretty long stroke.  (Example,
also from May 2013; video is only 10 seconds long.)

https://youtu.be/a8HxCmj0850

I'm actually right-handed -- but once the saw cut has been started, I can
saw with either hand.


I think all of the cutting took around 3 hrs -- but I didn't time it.  The
splitting of the larger logs took maybe 30-60 minutes, not sure.


--Travis


On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 12:52 AM, Phil Schempf 
wrote:

> "Stir the pot" - Aussie-ism?  Nope - used also in the US and UK.  Just
> spent an unproductive half hour trying to find its source without luck, but
> "stir" has Old English roots from a German word meaning to disturb so the
> phrase likely goes back a long time.
>
> Back to old tool content - what did you use to reduce your logs into
> boards?  I see the results, but not the method.  I'm guessing a handsaw
> which makes my old shoulders ache.
>
> Also - your pics of stools brings to mind the "staked" furniture that
> Christopher Schwarz is ranting about lately.  At the most fundamental, its
> tapered tenons in tapered mortises just driven together - no wedge or
> glue.  I don't have a link for a good summary, but this gives you the idea-
>
> http://blog.lostartpress.com/2015/01/25/naked-
necessity/">http://blog.lostartpress.com/2015/01/25/naked-necessity/
>
>
>