‘In the Totomi Mountains’ by Katsushika Hokusai (1830-1833)
From the series – Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji
I gave a series of experiments one day in my lecture-room before the governors of the province and a large number of people who came in from mere curiosity. I wanted to show the officials my model saw-mill, having a small circular saw run by a diminutive steam-engine.
I told them it was a pity to see dozens of men and boys with long hand-saws sweltering and working the whole day in sawing boards from a single log, as I had seen them do in building my house, when a modern saw-mill could perform ten times the amount of work in half the time.
They watched my little machine as it cut rapidly through small sticks of wood, and then said it was very wonderful; but, if they were to establish such a saw-mill in Shidzuoka, it would be mobbed or raise a riot among the workmen.
Edward Warren Clark
Life and Adventure in Japan – 1878 (more…)
Image from ‘Ackerbau der Morgenländer’ (Agriculture of the Orientals) – 1772
“ The Indian carpenter knows no other tools than the plane, chisel, wimble, a hammer, and a kind of hatchet. The earth serves him for a shop-board, and his foot for a hold-fast; but he is a month in performing what one workman will do in three days.”
“ The sawyer places his wood between two joists fixed in the ground ; and, sitting carefully on a little bench, employs three days, with one saw, to make a plank which would cost our people an hour’s work.”
Robert Mudie
The Picture of India: Geographical, Historical & Descriptive, Volume 2 – 1830 (more…)
In China, the sawyer’s, the carpenter’s, the joiner’s, and the sashmaker’s trade are all exercised by the same person. There are no saw-mills, planing machines, or sash factories, and in sauntering about the streets of the cities, at the door of a shop, or new building, may be seen one or two men sawing boards from the logs, and inside other workmen manufacturing them into the different forms for constructing or finishing a house. (more…)
Sawing planks and boards is his employment, at which ſome will earn three or four ſhillings a day. There are great numbers of them, which is given as a reaſon why we ſhould not erect ſaw-mills as the Dutch do, and by the help of which one man will do as much as fifty can by their labour. Thus the Dutch run away with moſt of the trade of Europe for planks and timbers ready framed for building ſhips and houſes, But ſurely a publick good ought to be preferred to that of any private men. And if we ſtill want hands, as ſome ſuggeſt, theſe men might find employment in other branches of buſineſs.
The General Shop Book: or, Tradesman’s Universal Director – 1753
—Jeff Burks
“Le travail” – Villagers depicted in various activities, with two men sawing a large plank of wood. French (1720-1765). Print by Anne Claude Philippe de Tubières, Comte de Caylus.
My Dutch tool chest isn’t big enough to hold full-size handsaws, so I’ve been on a long search for the right panel saws that fit the chest and suit the work I do on the road.
After searching three tool-swap meets without success, I grew tired of the hunt and asked Matt Cianci at the SawWright.com to find some panel saws for me and fix them up so they were good to go.
I’d met Cianci in person for the first time last year at a meeting of the Early American Industries Association (no good panel saws there, either). There I watched him sharpen a few saws and tried out several of the saws he had sharpened or made. The guy is dead serious about saws, and his filework is both crisp and precise.
The panel saws arrived this week, and I’ve been breaking them in. For those who are curious about the configurations of my saws, here are the details of what I like in toolbox saws.
Crosscut Panel Saw: Matt found a 22” Disston D8 that he restored for me. The saw is taper-ground (.035” at the toothline; .025” at the spine). Matt filed it as an 8-point with 15° of rake and 25° of fleam. That is a good general filing configuration for a crosscut saw – a filing I also have on my full-size handsaw.
The saw was made during the early years of the 20th century – check out the Disstonian Institute to learn a crazy amount of information on dating Disston saws.
Rip Panel Saw: Spear & Jackson No. 88, also with a 22” blade. Matt estimates it’s circa 1930. This saw is also taper-ground, though not as much as the Disston. Matt refiled this one with 7 points, 0° rake and 0° fleam. That is a fairly standard filing for someone who is comfortable with rip saws. If you are a new sawyer, you might like 3° to 5° of rake to make the saw easier to manage.
I file my own saws and am good at it. But Matt is embarrassingly better. If you have some old saws that need to be refiled or restored, I highly recommend you drop Matt a line. I am a satisfied customer. Matt’s filing job will be an excellent foundation for me as I file these saws in the future.
Thanks Matt – not only for digging up these saws for me, but for making sure the “art manual” of saw filing isn’t lost. After Tom Law died, I was worried. Now, not so much.
