Axel Weller and Jack Wheeler teamed up to convert timbers for a traditional building conservation project in Suffolk that featured in Woodland Heritage 2014 (pp 32-35)
Oak trees were felled, hewed and hand sawn on the spot.
Once bucked to length the oak butt was scored and juggled to produce a large rough beam ready for hewing.
The rough beam was then finished hewed to size and finish using a side axe.
Chalk lines were then snapped onto the hewn beam to mark it for saw conversion using a Japanese Maebiki oga (saw).
This is a hand powered saw process that requires sawing first from one side -
- and then the other to ensure that the saw follows the snapped chalk line.
The finished sawn slabs are then ready for use in timber-framing.
This hand sawing process would be ideal for producing cruck blades in the woodland where it would be easy to follow a curved line. This process would produce a very distinctive saw kerf pattern on finished sawn surfaces resembling a herringbone pattern.
The closest modern version of this saw that I have been able to find is the Kobiki Nokigiri and Temagari saws available mail order from Dieter Schmid - Fine Tools in Germany. An article by Adrian Leaman on the use of these saws appeared in the April 2014 edition of the The Bodgers Gazette.
Ken Hume
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Author
Felling, Hewing & Japanese hand saw conversion