old saw - age?

[Michiganne]

Yesterday, walking our dog, I swung through our neighbor's woods to browse a tiny dump I found there while detecting. While looking around we flushed a young spotted fawn. Checking out where the fawn had been lying, I found this old saw blade, partially covered with leaves. I rode a bike down later and brought it home.

Any ideas how old this could be? The handles are missing. Chain saws have been around for as long as I remember. I figured it is likely a minimum of 50 years old. Or am I way off?

TIA for any help.
HH

 

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[newbieprospector]

Unfortunately, I could not even begin to guess the age of your saw. I do know that these are called buck saws or crosscut saws, used for cutting logs into smaller pieces. They are still made and used today so unless there are any markings on it I think it would be anyones guess.

 

[greywolf]

That is either a one or two man cross cut saw. They are still around but the chain saw has made them obsolete . they have been in use for probably the last 200 years.. nice find though. Some are still used but not so much any more.

 

[silverswede]

From the size of that crosscut it would probably been used during the heyday of logging the pine forests of Michigan and Minnesota. I'd guess early 1900's. Of course they were used a few hundred years before that in the eastern states. Have you found any old logging camp sites in your area? They're fun to relic search.

 

[dg39]

Examples hanging in the Louisiana History Museum. Early 1900's
DG

 

[River Rat]

Great find! Congrats! I have to agree with the others on the age. Own a few like the ones DG has posted.

RR

 

[Montana Jim]

"The two man saw has been around since the middle ages, but didn't see much use in the woods of America until the 1800's, and then came sooner to the forests of the West with their larger trees. The saws were available in sizes long enough to cut the largest trees, and in many different patterns and sharpened differently, for different species of trees, different seasons, even different nationalities of loggers."

http://www.vannattabros.com/saw6.html

 

[Michiganne]

Thanks, folks, for all the great help and pics, too. I thought it was pretty cool. I want to take the detector back down there and search some more. There was another piece of some contraption I want to recover.

I was thinking of hanging the saw blade on our (white) chicken coop but will it continue to "bleed" rust? Should I put a clear coat of some type of varnish on it first? In the Treasure magazine I've seen pics of relics that look like they have been finished somehow. Does anyone know the best way?

Thank again and HH!

 

[Noodle]

I've seen several of them painted with forest scenes, etc., but don't know with what type of paint. I'd think ... get the rust off first and stop the corrosion, then finish it with some type of rustoleum or such. Are there holes in the ends where the handles went?

Nice find! -Noodle

 

[chipveres]

One possible treatment is to black it with a product that contains phosphoric acid, like Naval Jelly. Then wash it carefully and wax it best with hot parafin wax. This treatment works well indoors but I doubt its long-term stability outdoors.

You could also just sand it lightly & paint with Rust Oleum waterproof primer and flat black paint.

If you do put it on a white wall, put some small pieces of wood behind the handle holes to keep the rusty water from running down the wall.

Chip V.

 

[Michiganne]

I've seen several of them painted with forest scenes, etc., but don't know with what type of paint. I'd think ... get the rust off first and stop the corrosion, then finish it with some type of rustoleum or such. Are there holes in the ends where the handles went?

Nice find! -Noodle

One end has holes, the other end is broken off.

 

[flyinguy]

nice! i love those old tools. don't know much about those saws but i think that one is a two man saw. i'm a kinda tough guy but i don't think i could handle that one alone. at woodsmen's field days they use them to buck off logs for time. my dad, 85, said he used to cut fire wood for people for one dollar a tree with a single cross cut. what a tough guy! he could probably still whoop me! i have two smaller ones that i found t.h.ing also. Bill