Chainsaw Best for Cutting Logs?

[Julie1970]

There is a mill around where I live that sells mesquite firewood (how neat is that?). I got some and tried to cut it with a miter saw...that didn't work to well.  I don't think the miter saw blade liked cutting through bark. Though I was able to cut enough so now we can smoke/grill food with those pieces.

Is a chain saw the best way to cut through a log that still has bark on it?

If the log has the bark off is there a miter saw blade I can use to cut the mesquite log without any problems? We have a 12" compound sliding miter saw.

Thanks,
Julie

[Walt]

If your mesquite pieces are already cut and you are just resizing for a smoker I use a bandsaw. If the logs are too big I split them with an axe or hatchet to fit under the rollers on the saw. I use whole wood in my smoker and usually cut the hunks to around 6-8 inches long and around 3 inches give or take a bit in diameter. Just the way I do it....Regards Walt

[gspren]

  If your pieces are small enough for the miter saw the bark shouldn't be a problem although small round pieces might try to spin if not held correctly.

[Roxie]

@mesquite buckeye  should be of some help, and welcome to the forum! 

[lumberjack48]

 Pickup a electric chainsaw, use cooking oil for bar and chain oil. It would give you an all around advantage for bucking, slicing and deicing up  Mesquite for smoking.

[bluthum]

A carbide blade should cut it easy on a miter saw unless you hit a gravel or some such. However it is unsafe to cut round unstraight sticks that way. One thing that happens is the work piece may be touching only at points either side of the cut. Once cut in two the cut pieces are free to jerk around and get back into the blade or yank the operators hand into the blade. Not good.  I broke a miter saw fence once and have bent a couple expensive blades this way. It's one of those things where you can be as careful as possible and still wind up needing only 1/2 a pair of gloves really fast.

[Ianab]

Pickup a electric chainsaw, use cooking oil for bar and chain oil. It would give you an all around advantage for bucking, slicing and deicing up  Mesquite for smoking.

That was my thought too.

You will want to rig up some sort of "saw buck" or clamp thing to hold the wood, and make sure you get a sharpening kit. Mesquite is very hard, and tends to collect dust and grit as well. Means it's hard on the chain, which needs to be razor sharp to cut it properly. Not the end of the world as it's only a 5 min job to hand sharpen a small chain on a little saw. It's not hard to learn if you buy one of the file and guide kits.

[Julie1970]

Thanks to everyone for your replies.    Very helpful.  This is such an awesome forum. And thanks for the welcome to the forum.

[starmac]

Have cut up, cook fire, barbeque and smoker wood for many years with a chainsaw, but have never used vegetable oil in one.

[LeeB]

Check with the people you get the wood from. The probably have plenty of smaller stuff the want to be able to get rid of.

[luvmexfood]

A carbide blade should cut it easy on a miter saw unless you hit a gravel or some such. However it is unsafe to cut round unstraight sticks that way. One thing that happens is the work piece may be touching only at points either side of the cut. Once cut in two the cut pieces are free to jerk around and get back into the blade or yank the operators hand into the blade. Not good. I broke a miter saw fence once and have bent a couple expensive blades this way. It's one of those things where you can be as careful as possible and still wind up needing only 1/2 a pair of gloves really fast.

Did something similiar once. Trying to cut a piece of rope and didn't have a knife handy. Thought I would just chop it with the mitersaw. Never again. Still have ten fingers but mitersaw didn't fair so well.