Frame saw

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A simple frame saw
A large frame saw being used on trestles

A frame saw or sash saw is a type of

rip saws operated as a hand saw or powered in a sawmill
. Frame saws used for cutting stone were powered saws in stone mills.

When used for different purposes, a frame saw may have other names. For converting logs into lumber, they are also called a pit-saw or whipsaw. For sawing veneer, they may simply be called a veneer saw. It is unknown how early framed pit-saws came into use however there is an Italian fresco from c. 1300 depicting their use.

A more modern development from the 18th Century is the open pit saw which resembled a large hand saw with no frame, a till for a handle at the top and a box for a lower handle. This form of pit saw is still manufactured and in use in rural areas of developing countries as a means of processing timber.

The frame pit saw was the mainstay of resawing before stiff, unframed two-man saws called a muley or mulay saw,

wind mill or other rotary motion through a crankshaft
and connecting rod. Frame saws are now largely obsolete, although woodworkers who eschew power tools still make them for personal use in many sizes and styles of assembly.

References

  • Sloane, Eric (1964). A Museum of Early American Tools. New York: Wilfred Funk. pp. 66–70.
  • Mercer, Henry (2000) [1960]. Ancient Carpenter's Tools: Illustrated and Explained, Together With the Implements of the Lumberman, Joiner, and Cabinet-Maker in Use in the Eighteenth Century. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. pp. 21–28.