The Crosscut Saw

By Lanny Hall
Published on October 1, 1999
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When buying a used saw, examine it carefully. More than likely it will have some rust. Also, it will probably need to be sharpened and have the set adjusted correctly. All of these things can be done without too much trouble; the only real deal-breaker is a broken tooth.
When buying a used saw, examine it carefully. More than likely it will have some rust. Also, it will probably need to be sharpened and have the set adjusted correctly. All of these things can be done without too much trouble; the only real deal-breaker is a broken tooth.
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The designs for a DIY sawbuck.
The designs for a DIY sawbuck.
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There are several types of tooth designs on these saws, but the most common are champion (or tuttle) and lance. The lance tooth is best for softwood and the champion best for hardwood, but they are always interchangeable in a pinch. If you find a saw with a chipped tooth point, don't worry, it'll eventually be sharpened away.
There are several types of tooth designs on these saws, but the most common are champion (or tuttle) and lance. The lance tooth is best for softwood and the champion best for hardwood, but they are always interchangeable in a pinch. If you find a saw with a chipped tooth point, don't worry, it'll eventually be sharpened away.

Before electric and gas powered engines, no homestead could have existed without a good crosscut saw. Indeed, saws have been essential to woodworkers since biblical times, aiding in all manner of construction, from sailboats to horsedrawn wagons to frontier trading posts. Continual improvements over the centuries in steel technology and tooth design made the saw a vital tool all the way up to the 1920’s. But then came the faster, more efficient buzz saw and chain saw, and the old crosscut just couldn’t keep up. Sadly, this once indispensable tool now hangs by the thousands on workshop walls around the country, souvenirs from a fading past. My old saw was no exception, until about eight years ago, when I found a reason to bring it back from retirement.

I was trimming logs for a cabin project and the cumbersome chain saw I was using just wasn’t getting the job done. The cuts were too rough and unfinished. So I dug out my old crosscut from the tool shed and found that it gave me a much smoother finish. I was so impressed that after I’d finished trimming out the logs I took the crosscut saw out to the wood lot and sawed some firewood just for the fun of it. It went so well that I put away my chain saw and have hardly used it since.

Buying the Right Saw

The saw I have is a three-and-a-half-foot champion tooth, one- or two-man crosscut saw, and if you buy a saw like this one in an antique store you can expect to pay $30 to $40. A new one will run you $120 to $185. An old one-man saw like mine probably won’t come with supplementary handles, but I recommend you buy a couple extra so that you can mount one on the saw tip to make it a two-man saw and a second one near the handle to improve stability for the operator.

When buying a used saw, examine it carefully. More than likely it will have some rust. Also, it will probably need to be sharpened and have the set adjusted correctly. All of these things Can be done without too much trouble; the only real deal-breaker is a broken tooth.

There are several types of tooth designs on these saws, but the most common are champion (or tuttle) and lance. The lance tooth is best for softwood and the champion best for hardwood, but they are always interchangeable in a pinch. If you find a saw with a chipped tooth point, don’t worry, it’ll eventually be sharpened away. But if a tooth is broken off completely, don’t buy the saw. Also, avoid buying a saw that is so rusty it is pitted. Even after you clean it, it’s not going to slide easily through the wood.

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