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Hunting the elusive manpowered dragsaw

Started by Jeff, August 14, 2003, 05:37:43 PM

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Jeff

Lookie here, I heard a rumor,go see this guy. I followed it up, I then bought a raker gauge from the guy and he said, tell ya what, I think I might be able to help you out. Here is my number. Call me if you ever get to Escanaba. I did and he said "Meet me at the Kmart parking lot in escanaba just off of highway 2, near the entrance, I'll be driving a blue Dodge"

Well, Tammy and I followed the instructions and about 10 minutes after getting there Zolton, yes I said Zolton, drove in in his blue dodge. We leaned over the back of his truck and looked at the various wooden parts and the metal castings and the box of bolts that he had gotten for doing some work for a friend. It was hard to say what the whole thing was but the big 6 foot blade that came along with it was a good clue. Zolton? He said I aint got a clue. The guy said it was all there and it was a drag saw.

After a great conversation about this and that and an exchange of very little cash, Zolton and I said goodbye and agreed to meet again at a future engine show.

Fast forward to me back at the cabin scratching my head looking at the same bunch of stuff in the back of my truck. :o :D I spent the last two days thinking about it and then today I set to work. (play!!) Here is the results.





The Manual Dragsaw, The Movie ;D
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

OneWithWood

I think it needs some wax!  :D :D ;D

Is the blade a heavier guage than your powered drag saw?  Mebbe you could switch the blades.  :)

You do own a chainsaw don't you?  ;D
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Jeff

Nope, not heavier and VERY different. bolts holes are different, and a totaly different tooth profile. Yup I got a 'lil husky.

This drag saw flops around to cut trees down! woo hoo! :D
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Fla._Deadheader

Whew !!!!  Glad I know how to hook up gas engines. ;D
  That has to be a tough way to saw.
   BTW, this is the 2nd or 3rd movie that I can't view. It seems to download, them I get a message "file not found", or something similar ???  Got any ideas why ???

   Also, whatever happened to the instructions on how to sharpen crosscut saws that was supposed to get posted ???
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Jeff

Can you beleive that the Darn famous or would have been famous "crooked wax" video file is corrupted or the floppy is screwed. We cant get it off or play it. :-/ :'(
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Jeff

Harold, go up to tools, and click windows update. Update your internet explorer and media player and that should fix the video problem.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

OneWithWood

Oh, no!  The crooked wax vid was priceless  :( ::) :-X
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Fla._Deadheader

All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

chet

Hey dat's purddy low down, come'n to my back yard and snatch'n up da neat toys.  >:(  
Next time we are down yur way we can have Judy wax'm up and we'll have a saw off.   8)   8)    8)
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

whitepe

Cool Jeff,
Keep working that lever and it'll be better and cheaper than
a Nautilus.  I think about 45 minutes worth of that
equals one scoop of ice cream at the Cow Barn in Detour ;)
PEW
blue by day, orange by night and green in between

Jeff

I saw another saw very similar to mine for sale at the Buckley old engine show today. It had an additional doo-dad on it but was obiously the same company as mine. His had original paint. He wanted 700 for it! :o :o  The guy said he had a copy of the original documentation for the saw but it would not go with it at that price. :D

What I did find out was the name of the saw was fold-a-saw but I didn't get a company name. Maybe I'll come across that as I clean mine up. (its cleaning up nice) I'm surprised he didnt try to charge me for the fold-a-saw information. The other thing I found out for free was that I had assembled mine correctly! Or at least the same way this one was.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Jeff

Today was goof off day. I did a little of this and a little of that. I decided to take the blade off my human powered saw and try to sharpen it. It seemed to have a lot of set so I didnt mess with that, but the teeth were quite dull, mostly from corrosion. Just real dull, but not beat up.

Well, I made a difference! I was really quite surprised to find that it would actually cut now. I cut almostclear through a small aspen log with it, at least to the point that I found I was cutting from the wrong direction with it, that the calipers on the end were clamped into the drop piece. :-/ ;D
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

OneWithWood

Good thing you don't do what Chet and Kevin do  :D
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Jeff

I bet it woulda cut better if the wax lady were here. Tammy and I will be seeing Chet and da wax lady this week. Maybe I oughta load it up and take it up to Judy. ;D

I'm like a rd. runner cartoon. the tree would fall and the limb stay up. :-X
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Gus

Jeff,
 Thats quite a find. I"ve never seen one of those 'fore!!! It's way cool.All ya' need now is an axe and you'll be in the firewood'n business ;D
"How do I know what I think unless I have seen what I say?"

Frank_Pender

I sure like that saw.   8)  Jeff, could you take some measurements and make a materials list as well as some close-up photos?  I would be interested in trying  ;D to build one of those machines in the deep dark reaces of the Winter. I am sure the wood portion is out of Oak.  I have enough drag saw blades to perhaps try one of them for the saw itself..
Frank Pender

Jeff

Sure. There are several cast parts for this saw, its a little more complex then it appears. There is a caliper system in the front that grips the log or tree, and there is a tensioning device that is spring loaded up farther on the saw that gives it down pressure into the wood.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Jeff

A short time ago I found something that I would say did not exist and no way would I ever have one. On a search for what-ever on ebay, I found an original owners manual for this saw. It has pictures and parts lists and sections on how to take care ot it , pictures of the tools used to take care of it and even testimonials. It also came with the original envelope addressed to the company to use to send back testimonials. No one else even look at it because it was listed as a sawin machine book.  I typed "sawin" and got it for $4.00  ;D

The saws exact name is Folding Sawing Machine buitl by the Folding Sawing Machine Co. of Chicago Illinois. It is not made of white oak as we suspected but of white Ash.

Here is one of the many pictures in the book.

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Stan

It looks easier than chainsawin, you don't have to hold up the saw.  :D
I may have been born on a turnip truck, but I didn't just fall off.

AtLast

What a fantastic piece of history!!!!!...you are the KING of neat stuff Mr Jeff. You havent mentioned what year it was manufactured and or use from/till...I was curious though...is Tammy gunna let cha put dat in da cabin wit da resta da neat stuff?????? ;D

Jeff

HA!  What do you think is on the mantel of our fireplace?
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

shopteacher

Great find Jeff.  I love old junk, er, pieces of history.  Pretty soon you'll be able to open your own muse-zim.  You really lucked out on the book though, that's probably worth more than the saw.  Paper work is really hard to come by.  I picked up an old star drill from the mines today at the junkyard. Got a few pieces of mining memorbilia now. My favorite is the copper needle and tamper for setting a black powder charge. The tamper has a groove to allow room for the needle while the powder was inserted and the hole tamped with bug dust. The needle was withdrawn and a squib lite that would shoot back to the powder and set off the charge.
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Corley5

Jeff,
You're gonna have to build a bigger house to keep all your JUNQUE. ;D ;D  Don't you love it when someone mis-lists stuff on E-bay?
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

AtLast

Ok...so Im still waiting to know da year dat dern thang was yewzed...from the picture Im guessing the early 1900's?....

C_Miller

That's much better than the dragpowered mansaw I saw on the seedier side of town.
C
CJM

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