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Frequently asked questions:
02-01-2012
So, the caller says the saw is running out and the first thing I
ask is what the teeth look like. Are they sharpened accurately?
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I am hammering a circular saw for one of my customers and I seem to be stuck with a tension problem. The tension feels right when you stand the saw on the floor and shake it. And when I have the saw in the horizontal tension checking position it checks ou
12-27-2011
Although there are very few absolutes in the world of saw
hammering, there is one rule of thumb that you can usually
count on. Remember that a finished saw can be described
as being flat on the log side, with an acceptable amount of
wobble and the right amount of tension (stretch) in the right
location. That means that when working on a saw we have to
deal with both the levelness (straightness) of the saw and the
tension. Most of the things that we do to a saw during the
hammering process will affect the levelness and the tension
regardless of which one we happen to be trying to work on
at the time.
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Today’s politics: Over the past twenty years I have seen American politics becoming increasingly polarized. It has now gotten to the point that Washington, DC is no longer able to get anything done in any sort of reasonable manner that will work for anyon
12-26-2011
The only thing that seems to make sense in today’s politics is all of the politicians’ abilities to blame other politicians for the problem. Well, now they finally got it right because they are all to blame. Apparently there is one thing they sort of agree on.
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Customer Service When we hear the term “customer service,” most of us think about the retail trade. But we all have customers and we all should be using good customer service techniques. This applies to loggers, sawmillers, and even cantankerous old saw d
11-01-2011
The first maxim that comes to mind when you think of customer service is “the customer is always right.” To me, that mantra is right up there with “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
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Would you be able to provide written instructions on how to swage a saw bit?
10-01-2011
I am sure it would be a lot easier for me to show you than to put it in writing, but who ever said life was supposed to be easy? Swaging bits on an inserted tooth circular saw is fairly easy, but there is a certain amount of feel for it that you have to develop that is hard to describe in writing.
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I’d like to get a spare saw for my mill, but at the moment, a new one just isn’t feasible. What should I look for in a used saw?
09-02-2011
Inserted tooth circular saws in one form or another have been in existence now for more than one hundred years. In that time many patterns and styles have come and gone and in some cases, thankfully so.
If you happen to be in the market for a used inserted tooth saw, the first thing you want to check is to make sure that the blade does not have an obsolete pattern.
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To clear up an argument we have been having here at the mill, can you tell me which is better, to feed too slow or too fast?
08-01-2011
The proper feed rate is really derived from a relationship between the speed of the saw, the number of teeth per inch in the saw, the species being sawn, the gullet size, and the depth of cut. That is known as the “feed and speed relationship.”
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The Virtues of Mill Cleanliness:
07-01-2011
One of the things that the most efficient, productive, and profitable mills have in common is that they all look relatively neat and clean.
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I seem to be having a problem breaking shoulders on my saw without hitting any metal. What could cause this problem?
06-01-2011
As usual, for any given symptom in a sawmill, there are always
lots of possible causes.
The first thing to look for is bit creepage.
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I just got a new spider gauge to check the side clearances on my teeth. Do I set it up to a new set of bits?
05-01-2011
If you had a new set of bits that were perfect that you put in a saw that had perfect sockets and no bent shoulders, that would be the ideal opportunity to set up your spider gauge. The only problem is that nothing will be perfect if you measure it close enough. It would be unlikely that any one of those three things would be perfect and just about impossible for all three of them to be perfect at the same time.
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I have an old antique shingle mill. It doesn’t seem to want to feed properly, because I suppose it isn’t cutting properly. What do you suppose is the problem?
04-01-2011
All circular saws operate on the same principles, as do band saws. Shingle saws have a bit of a different configuration as compared to headrig saws, but they are doing essentially the same job as any rip saw.
Many of my faithful readers already know what I am about to say next. Have you looked at the sharpening? As with any saw, that is always the first place to check.
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The only difference between troubleshooting winter sawing problems and summer sawing problems is that the offending winter sawing problem can be much more subtle, and yet still create problems for you. In other words, there are things that can be out of a
02-28-2011
Sharpening
Inaccurate sharpening is always a first on my list of possible causes of saw trouble. Grossly inaccurate sharpening will never work, no matter what the season is, but it is true that during the more forgiving summer months you are able to live with a small amount of inaccurate sharpening. Come winter time you had better watch out because that small inaccuracy that you can’t even detect without your glasses on (if you are over 40) can easily be enough to start causing major sawing trouble.
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Winter Sawing: It’s been a fairly cold start to the winter in the Northeast this year and as a result some of the saws out there are back to their old tricks.
02-04-2011
Let me first say that if your equipment is in
good shape you should be able to saw frozen timber properly.
However, just because your mill was in good enough shape
to saw unfrozen timber properly, doesn’t necessarily mean it
is good enough to get the job done with frozen logs. Frozen
logs are not impossible to saw, but they certainly do present
a bit more of a challenge than the unfrozen ones.
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He said “given the current state of the economy, aren’t you sorry you taught all of those people how to hammer saws?”
01-01-2011
Of course my answer to both of them was exactly the same. I
am glad that I was willing to teach people this profession and
I am especially proud of the ones I taught who have gone on
to become really good at hammering saws. And I am proud
of myself for having a hand in that education.
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Disclaimer: The best medical advice a saw doctor can give you is that if you get your medical advice from a saw doctor, you should see a psychiatrist. That should be all the disclaimer that you need.
11-29-2010
Control is the main key.
Statistics say that the better your control, the less likely you
are to develop the nasty side effects associated with diabetes.
Keep in mind that those are only statistics. There are many
cases where a person with the best control develops side
effects while a person with lousy control remains side effect
free. But you still have to put your money on the statistics
and make sure that you are doing your part to keep the
odds in your favor.
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It seems this is a problem that, while odd for most conventional saw mills, is fairly common with scragg setups.
11-02-2010
Generally when a conventional-head rig sawmill has trouble with a saw, the saw is running out of the log as opposed to running in. Occasionally I will see a saw with reported symptoms of running in. In these cases, the saw appears to be dished towards the log side--either from an operational incident, or from being hammered by someone who subscribes to the old and worn theory that circular saws should be dished towards the log side so that they can stand up straight when up to speed.
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Sometimes when I am trying to figure out what is wrong with my mill, I just don’t know where to start. What is the first thing to check usually?
10-12-2010
When it comes to troubleshooting techniques, there isn’t much of a difference between saw doctors and medical doctors, except that medical doctors “diagnose” instead of “troubleshoot.” Same idea; different terminology.
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Here is an interesting case I had recently.
09-01-2010
Of course the person who brought the saw in knew nothing
about what might have happened to it. But as usual, these
saws have stories to tell if you know where and how to
look.
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Casey Creamer Northern Logger Columnist & Saw Doctor
07-26-2010
Casey Creamer, 56, grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
right outside of Philadelphia. A car racing enthusiast, he
and his friends made their way up to Watkins Glen, New
York
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We’re scratching our heads over alternatives to manually setting saw guides--looking for a safer way.
07-26-2010
The specs I’ve read say 1/32” clearance. Can’t it be set
when the blade is stopped despite the dish in the saw?
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As many of my readers know I am always willing to troubleshoot mills over the phone (or even via email) for free as long as the person on the other end can give me good, accurate data and answers to my questions.
07-01-2010
On the other hand, there are times when either the data
isn’t reliable enough, or I just have to see things for myself
for one reason or another. That is the kind of situation that
calls for me to make an onsite troubleshooting visit to the
mill, which of course is not for free.
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Here is one that had me baffled for a while.
06-01-2010
My customer and I both noticed that the teeth were pointed
off to one side (the board side). The bits were not off center
(like from a mis-manufactured vee groove) and the bits were
not improperly side ground or mis-manufactured in any way
that I could detect.
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Why does the collar line look so weird on that saw and what does it tell you?
05-01-2010
The first thing it tells me is that you have a customer who needs you to educate him a bit. What the picture tells me is that your customer is spraying some WD-40 on the saw when it gets hot, in hopes of cooling it off so that he can keep sawing.
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I have a firewood processor with a big circular saw on it. Do they need to be hammered too?
04-01-2010
Whether they are on firewood processors, or machines that
are designed to cut tree length logs into saw log lengths, they
need to be maintained much in the same way that a circular
rip saw (head saw) needs to be maintained.
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Old habits are as hard to break as the old myths that fed them. Or to almost paraphrase an old Tina Turner song, “What’s Lead Got to do with It?”
03-01-2010
Of all of the things there are in your mill to adjust to keep your saw running properly, lead is not the one you want to mess with.
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Emails, I get emails. To: casey@senecasaw.com Subject: Tolerance in saw mandrel bearings
02-01-2010
I don’t like the knock in the bearing, so it is good that it has
been resolved.
I am more concerned about endplay, than I am about movement
up and down.
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Sawmill Forum - Trends
01-01-2010
Trends from one saw doctor’s perspective.
2009 has been a tough year for the lumber industry, to say
the least. I have seen many of my customers slow way down,
close their doors, or go out of business.
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Sometimes my circular saw just doesn’t seem to run properly no matter who hammered it or when it was done. Where do I start?
12-01-2009
The three most important things to check first when having saw trouble are sharpening, sharpening, and sharpening.
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One of the questions I am asked most is how long a freshly hammered saw should last.
11-01-2009
My standard answer is that if the saw is running properly when
you first put it on after being hammered, then the length of
time it will perform properly is directly related to how you
and your mill decide to treat the saw.
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I just wrecked my best saw. I have heard that you can’t weld more than three shoulders in a row or more than six on the same saw.
10-01-2009
When it comes to replacing broken shoulders by welding new ones on, there are a few things we have to consider.
1. Safety.
2. Accuracy and effectiveness.
3. Cost effectiveness.
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Scragg saw blades both running out of the log.
09-01-2009
Scragg saws operate on essentially the same set of principles that any other circular head rig operates on. You need saws that are sharpened accurately and hammered correctly with the log side flat, an acceptable amount of wobble and the right amount of tension in the right location. After that you need the right amount of lead in the saws and you have to have good collars that support the saws without dishing them one way or the other.
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Sawmill Forum: After close inspection of the log and the blade I discovered that one of the teeth had broken off and embedded in the log long enough for every other tooth to slam into it. On close inspection, the point of the shoulder (that’s where the ba
08-01-2009
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Damaged tip of shoulder.
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My basic philosophy about welding these saws it that it is best to avoid it if possible. It’s not that I mind welding saws or making money, though.
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Sawmill Forum I discovered that the shaft broke right inside of the third of four bearings. Should I have it welded back together?
07-01-2009
Knowing that the pins are supposed to shear first, let’s see
if we can solve the mystery of why the shaft broke.
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Sawmill Forum I had a bit of an accident with my saw.
06-01-2009
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"Two diametrically opposed blue spots."
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The simple answer is to screw up your courage and open the throttle up to your normal speed. You will be amazed when that crazy wobble disappears.
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Sawmiil Forum - One of my saws just doesn’t seem to run right.
05-01-2009
I have checked everything I could think of in the mill.
The track is straight and I had the collars redone and
I still have trouble with that saw. My other saw seems
to run okay. Do you have any ideas?
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A saw doctor’s advice to a good friend who was recently diagnosed with a treatable, yet very serious form of cancer.
04-01-2009
This advice should apply to anyone in that position, but I warn
you, taking the advice of a saw doctor about medical issues
does not relieve you of the responsibility of consulting with
medical doctors. I should also warn you to never consult with
medical doctors on saw related issues.
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Sawmill Forum Working on 60: Saws
03-03-2009
I have been hammering saws for a number of years
now, but every time I do a 60” saw, I seem to have
trouble with it and much less confidence in the results
than with smaller saws. What am I doing wrong? Are
60” saws that much harder to hammer?
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Sawmill Forum - While You Wait
02-01-2009
While You Wait
When I first started hammering saws for a living, it was quite
apparent that the trade of saw hammering was supposed to
be a big secret.
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Sawmill Forum - Trends
01-01-2009
Trends, from one saw doctor’s perspective.
I have seen a number of trends in the past few years that I
would definitely consider to be worth watching in the new year
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December 2008 Saw Doctor
12-01-2008
When it comes to smithing saws, can you do it all with just a stretcher roll? Is there any need for a hammer?
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