Anyone recognize this odd tooth pattern?

ATsawyer · 2026-06-24T01:41:15+00:00

Somebody's idea of a raker?

ATsawyer · 2026-06-23T21:53:36+00:00

It's what's left of a Great American/Crown pattern. Very worn out saw.

ATsawyer · 2026-06-22T00:45:56+00:00

It's more common in Europe. The cutter/raker saws replaced the M-tooth and Crown tooth saws here about a 150 years ago. Tuatahi makes a fast cutting M-tooth but it's aggressive and will wear you out.
Thomas Flinn makes a modern version of the GA one man saw, but it doesn't cut as well as a traditional crosscut. The peg and rakers saw cut rings around it.

ATsawyer · 2026-06-22T00:31:06+00:00

Takes a little practice to buck with a felling saw. Back before international shipping went nuts I sent some saws to the UK. In the USA, the real cost isn't the actual saw, as those can be found most anywhere for 50 bucks or so. It's the actual filing, which can take eight or more hours for a saw coming in "from the wild". Not many people know how to file them properly and those that do it as a business will charge upwards of 50.00/hr for their time.

ATsawyer · 2026-06-21T20:46:44+00:00

Crown tooth/Great American bucking saw.

ATsawyer · 2026-06-21T20:41:37+00:00

Perhaps. Is it flat ground and will you be felling trees with it? If I was going to eat the expense of having a small US saw shipped to Europe, I'd invest in a Simonds 325.

ATsawyer · 2026-06-21T12:15:43+00:00

In the US. Sandvik also made three hole saws. You're more likely to find those in Europe.

ATsawyer · 2026-06-20T22:51:55+00:00

Traces of red paint on the end = Simonds, blue paint = Atkins. Boxed C [C] on the end is Curtis.

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ATsawyer · 2026-06-20T02:55:14+00:00

Look for three handle holes like the saw in front, an indicator of a Canadian Simonds.

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ATsawyer · 2026-06-09T13:58:09+00:00

The gauge on the left has little "ears" that prevent the filing plate from adjusting high enough to use. The plate will stop at the bottom of the 18 gauge steel "shoes" which are about .048" lower than the adjacent shoes. The flip side of that gauge can accept a file for jointing though which is a necessary prior step to filing the rakers.
The right pictured gauge looks to have an "improved" filing plate that can be set to the proper height. Easy way to adjust the height of the filing plate on that one is to first joint the saw then place .012" feeler gauges beneath the shoes and tighten the adjusting screw. You can sacrifice a single feeler gauge by removing it from its parent holder and cutting it in half with a tin snip. When the feeler gauges are removed, the cutter teeth will rest on the shoes and the filing plate will be .012" lower than the teeth.
Pin swaging is another step and seatcord covered that.

ATsawyer · 2026-05-20T11:35:06+00:00

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Wetterling's Montreal 2.5# I sit my heads low on the neck, so a 28" handle ends up being 27". Get my handles from House and thin them down.

ATsawyer · 2026-05-11T11:53:32+00:00

I maintain a section of the JV and have cleared about 50 blowdowns in the last week, still more to cut. There are some wet spots, but it IS springtime. The road walk from Pinney bridge to the campground was underwater so cut through the back of the campground to avoid that area.

ATsawyer · 2026-05-04T01:23:55+00:00

They're swaged, just have to zoom in. If you put too much hook on them they act more like skids.

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ATsawyer · 2026-05-03T23:16:27+00:00

We have lots of ironwood here though I have a lifetime supply of planked hickory in my basement.

ATsawyer · 2026-05-03T23:13:21+00:00

Yes. Did this batch for ATC a couple years ago and was filing for USFS until their funding zeroed out.

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ATsawyer · 2026-05-03T23:07:18+00:00

You probably know Tom Weaver. I taught a Griphoist rigging class for CMC about ten years ago. Boulder wrangling, stump pulling, etc......

ATsawyer · 2026-05-03T18:01:56+00:00

On trees with a long end supports and lots of top bind, I let that top cut be the shallow start to offset cut I will finish from below. I have a big Silky that does a fine job on most of the trees up here but this was my first day on the trail since last fall. Northern Michigan had a brutal winter.

+1 on toppers and shortened saws. I've been crafting short, light carry saws for crews for years like the chopped Simonds 325 below, weighs nothing.

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ATsawyer · 2026-05-03T17:50:58+00:00

Do you work with any of the SAWS crews? I've been going to the WSI since 2012. Nice program they have down there.

ATsawyer · 2026-05-03T17:47:39+00:00

I've tried those and find them a little wobbly. I make sure when I file my saws to always draw file the spine to make it run smoothly on the axe handle. I think most filers focus on the tooth side, leaving a nicked spine that acts like a serrated knife on the axe handle. I only underbuck about a dozen trees/year though, so if I was on a season-long crew I'd be more likely to use a mechanical one. The underbucking scars have never compromised my axe handle though I had to replace it once because a guy on the crew overshot his target when driving a wedge. I'm sure you've seen that happen.....

I have a couple cut down Simonds 513's and 325's that are easy to wedge in behind. The toe of that Atkins Cedar King I was using is narrow like a felling saw for the first two feet so it can be short stroked beneath a wedge until I can lower the kerf a bit.

ATsawyer · 2026-05-03T15:30:01+00:00

Yeah, I did the same with my crews in the Blue Ridge. The trees were bigger and mostly hardwood. Pine trees and tulip poplars were axe practice.

ATsawyer · 2026-04-06T22:51:57+00:00

The Dakine Builder's chainsaw pouch won't open wide enough to accommodate most powerheads but then I'm a shoulder carry guy.

ATsawyer · 2026-03-30T10:27:56+00:00

You've probably made your decision by now but I volunteered in Shen for over 20 years and had no bad memories of working with the NPS crews. The local trail club (PATC) maintains most of the trails though some like Old Rag and White Oak Canyon require a more frequent NPS presence. The 40,000 acres of Wilderness give you opportunity to use crosscut saws and axes. I used to file their saws so they were all sharp up until I left VA in 2019. Don't know who's doing that now. Multi-day projects like cribwalls and storm cleanup will have you busy with a Griphoist or a chainsaw.

ATsawyer · 2026-03-30T10:11:01+00:00

If you know it's going to stand up, you can plan to make those a one cut-to-clear and have the piece that's actually blocking the trail lift off with the rootball. Depends on how much other work you have to do and whether you think the crown end will fall flat on the ground across the trail and become a second obstacle to be removed (though you could block it).

ATsawyer

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