Vintage tools for survival: after the apocalypse.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, Maine

From time to time, I like to just surf around on YouTube at random, following whatever piques my curiosity (amazing the things you can learn). Tonight’s wanderings took me into survivalist videos, what to do when civilization crumbles around you, that sort of thing. Not that I’m planning on holing up with AK-47s or anything, but it got me to thinking. If worst came to worst, what vintage tools would I grab out of my inventory of restored tools on my way out the door?.

The survivalists argue over which guns are the best, I think a good set of tools are a LOT more important to surviving in some sort of comfort. That said, here are my picks.

1. Axes

First up would be the double bit WWII vintage Plumb Victory axe. With a 4 1/2 lb head and 36″ handle, this is a serious felling axe and the ability to fell trees efficiently is an important part of creating any permanent shelter. Keep in mind, only carry an axe you can handle safely. If you weigh 98 lbs wringing wet, opt for something a bit lighter.

Second is the single bit Craftsman “boy’s axe” poll axe. This one is a general purpose axe with a 2 1/2lb head and a 28″ handle. This axe is light enough to pack and carry easily, but it’s also one of the best splitting axes I’ve ever seen, even compared to poll axes with much heavier heads.

I wouldn’t carry a crosscut saw unless I had a one man 36″ long. A 42″, 48″, or two man saw is going to be far too long to carry easily.

2. Saws

Definitely a good crosscut and a good rip saw. Most of the saws in my stock (Disston, Atkins, Simonds) are adequate for this purpose. I’d pick a pair of 20″ panel saws for this, since they’d be a lot easier to carry.

3. Misc tools

A good, light, nail hammer and a decent mallet (use the mallet for driving wooden pegs to substitute for nails). One or two sizes of wood auger bits and the lightest bit brace you can find. A dowel cutter (to make pegs). A 1″ wide general purpose, millwright’s, or framing chisel (to cut mortise and tenons). A plumb bob and a light torpedo or spirit level.

4. Sharpening

A 6-8″ mill file (axes, chisel). A handful of properly sized files for the carpenter’s saws and a saw set. A hard Arkansas oil stone in a fine grit.

No electricity, no gas, no oil, no problem. These vintage hand tools can mean the difference between living in misery and living in comfort.

Working with vintage tools: Top 5 mistakes using crosscut saws.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

A sharp one man or two man crosscut saw can be a great tool for working up wood without the pollution, cost, and safety issues of a chainsaw. There are a lot of crosscut saw videos to be found on YouTube, unfortunately, most of them are better at showing how NOT to do things. Here’s a list of the things I’ve seen in YouTube crosscut saw videos to AVOID!

1. Pushing on a two man crosscut saw.

Never ever ever push on a working two man crosscut saw. Pushing can result in jams, bent or twisted blades, or even snapped blades if the saw is cold (which can lead to injury). So, how to the people in the YouTube videos get away with pushing? Most of those saws are competition style saws with much heavier and stiffer blades.

2. Single man bucking with a two man crosscut.

I don’t know why the competition guys HAVE to use a 6′ long two man crosscut saw with one handle for one man to buck with (I guess they never heard of a one man crosscut). Trying to handle a 6′ blade with one man is difficult at best and possibly dangerous at worst. Use the right saw for the job, if you only have one man, use a one man crosscut.

3. Using too short a saw.

It was a great video of two guys using a one man crosscut with an aux handle in the toe position to make it a short two man saw. Unfortunately, there’s no sawdust showing up and they aren’t getting anywhere because the saw is far too short for the size of log they’re cutting, leaving the saw unable to carry the sawdust out of the cut. The saw MUST be at least twice as long as the log is wide, otherwise, the saw will NOT work.

4. Not using the handles right.

If your saw has western style handles, where the handles extend both above and below the hardware that attaches the handle to the saw, your hands belong one above and one below to make best use of the handles. Also, if your handles are supposed to have knuckle guards on them, USE THEM. It’s no fun to get your knuckles jammed into the log when the other end pulls.

5. Bucking without wedges.

If the cut is being made between two points supporting the log, the log WILL close up and pinch the saw when it’s cut part way thru. A couple of cheap plastic chainsaw wedges will work wonders to hold the kerf open so the crosscut saw blade doesn’t get pinched.

(Bonus mistake)

6. Not lubricating the blade.

For most cutting work, the saw blade should be lubricated with old fashioned paste wax or bees wax or even kerosene (the old timers used kerosene to lubricate the blade and cut the pitch from the wood).

Avoid these mistakes and your YouTube video will stand out from the legions of yahoos doing it wrong.

Vern

On the road with the mobile saw sharpening shop: Temporary schedule change.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

This post is just a brief announcement of a scheduling change for the mobile sharpening operation!

I’ll be adding a stop tomorrow, 9/14/11, in Arundel ME at the Arundel Flea Market (corner of Rt 1 and Log Cabin Road) from 7am to 3pm with full sharpening services and restored vintage tool sales. This is a test run for adding a permanent second day at Arundel, so, if you’re in southern Maine tomorrow, drop by and visit me at the Arundel Flea Market or drop me a note and let me know what extra days you’d like to see me in the area.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sharpening tales, questions and answers: warped saw blades, sickle bar mowers, and more!

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

It’s time again to answer some burning questions that have shown up in search engine searches to this blog and the sharpening shop website!

1. Is a cordwood saw of use?

Absolutely! Aside from the fact that at least one company I know of is making brand new cordwood saws (Vermont Woodsman), I’ve done a lot of cordwood saw work for customers, ranging from classic saw blades to sharpening to complete cordwood saw setups! It’s apparent that, far from being dead, cordwood saws are still finding a lot of use out there.

2. Is my warped saw blade useless?

If it’s a circular saw blade, dump it in the trash immediately. I can straighten many bent handsaw and crosscut saw blades, some are recoverable and some are not, depending on the way that they’re bent.

3. (This question is about sickle bar mower sharpening.)

By far, the best tool for sharpening a sickle bar mower knife is the classic hand cranked or foot treadle grindstone. Some things it’s hard to improve on .

Observations from the trenches: teaching the old vintage tools to a new generation.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

For the last couple of months, my mobile sharpening rounds have included one day a week at the large community flea market, held every Sunday on the Fryeburg Fair Grounds, Fryeburg ME. Today I finished up with the last market of the season (they’re getting prepped for the huge Fryeburg Fair coming up!).

I was a little surprised by the day. A day that started off completely dead finished up being one of my best days ever. In addition to wall to wall sharpening, I sold almost out of stock of restored vintage hand saws, some dating back to 1870, including saws from Disston, Simonds, and Richardson Brothers.

I had an odd request from a father and his daughter for hand saws to take with her to school (try finding that at your usual back to school sale!). Turns out she’s attending the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Not only do the students build the things they design themselves, they also have to build their own desert shelter.

I thought it was interesting that, not only is this school teaching the hands on practical side of things, they’re doing it with the classical hand saws and kicking the modern power tools to the curb. Now the next time someone looks over my restored hand saws and ponders whether anyone is really still using those anymore, the answer is YES! Pick up a good quality old hand saw today and come back to the light side of the Force!

Vern

PS I set her up with a nice matched set of Disston D-23 saws in coarse crosscut (7 tpi), fine finish crosscut (11 tpi), and rip (5 1/2 tpi), basically a very standard carpenter’s set of saws, with custom finished and highlighted handles. I don’t know if she’ll have the best saws there, but she’ll have the best looking ones .