Biting Like......

Chainsaw safety and use are topics that I speak about regularly. At this recent event, one of the groups had a logger a few years older than me. It's a bit dangerous telling people how to take care of and run a chainsaw when a logger might chime in. This guy had learned to log from his father, but had taken safety courses a few years ago and was my Amen Corner. He uses the open face and bore cut to create a good hinge, and he likes the way he can get away quickly and cleanly from the trees he cuts. During our sharpening discussion he used a great expression describing how he likes his saws to cut. I probably will be using his expression in future talks.

Susan and I worked up a spruce tree over the weekend, and converted some of the wood into cants to stash away in the barn for future use. I put a factory ground ripping chain on the saw, and in just a few seconds figured out that it wasn't sharpened aggressively enough. We stopped and filed, reconfiguring the teeth slightly for better cutting.

Here is the result: it's Biting Like An Old Sow!