thank you for that. we always receive a positive response from hikers who catch us working. even those who may have to wait a few minutes until we stop and make the work site safe to pass over, around or through.


good eye! specifically: N 34 38 03, W 119 16 44.

bsmith,

Thanks for the pictures! I can just imagine the smell of the fresh pine. And thanks for the work, we all appreciate it.

Respectfully,

Jerry

I usually carry my wedges in a piece of fire hose. They get beat up and mushroomed, and cracked edges can snag clothing in your pack. My pack has an outside mesh pocket that keeps them readily available. Don't just reserve your aluminum wedges for hangers, they are great in the kerf and much less likely to spit the way a plastic wedge will.

As for Ben Meadows, I would avoid those Curtis Fastcutter saws unless it was the last saw on earth. The steel is soft, the plate is flat ground (if ground at all), and the saw will arrive dull and unset. That said, they can be made to cut, but why? With all the good used saws out west, no volunteer sawyer should have any trouble finding a good one at auction.

Uh oh, I think I may have gone too negative on my first post. My apologies. The Curtis saw company made very good saws back "in the day". Their modern saws (or whoever is making them with the Curtis brand) are not the same tool. I have filed a lot of crosscut saws and counseled new sawyers on good ones to buy. There are plenty of good saws still available if you look. NGOs and certain US agencies typically don't buy tools on Ebay, so they purchase what's available in the retail marketplace, which is to say, not much. Those "new" saws then make their way into tool rooms, and if not intercepted by a decent filer, are misery whips out of the box.

It's clear that you're intimately familiar with this topic. So I'm curious: what sort of work do you do, what led you here, and why crosscut saws instead of chainsaws?

great idea for transporting the wedges. i've got some coming when available. and i hope to make more use of the hanging wedges than what i've seen in use so far. i have a pair from littco.

and i've got a saw coming ~ disston 6', perforated lance, western handles - may be a bit heavier but worth the weight in hand protection and usefulness.

chainsaws allowed on the at or is your work in a wilderness?

Thanks for the information, even though it makes me sad. I have only used an older Curtis and it was a very workmanlike saw. Maybe not the top, but a good, solid tool.

Respectfully,

Jerry

I'm retired, but I volunteer for an AT trail club. I was doing a search on crosscut saws and saw a link to this site. For firewood and the occasional ice storm or hurricane, I use a chainsaw. All the rest is crosscut saws and axes, as I like the hands-on feel of traditional tools.

I work in both and prefer crosscuts. I volunteer mostly in Shenandoah NP, but I also maintain a trail in Michigan.

Older Curtis' are fine saws. It's the newer ones that require more work. Once filed up they will cut ok.