Chapman's Sharp Crosscut Saws

04/27/2025

My crosscut saws last forever but the Stihl 011 chainsaw I bought in 1988 has been declared dead. It is survived by a new bar, 2 new chains and 2 new sprockets. I’d be glad to send them to anyone who can use them for the cost of shipping.

01/18/2025

The 2 cutter perforated lance tooth cut frozen wood easily. I’m glad we aimed the tree where we wanted it.

01/17/2025

I have a few open spots in sharpening workshops coming up in March here in Calpine California. Please email me for details at [email protected]. These 4 day classes are a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet other saw enthusiasts, saws and tools.

01/13/2025

I encounter lots of saws that have poorly filed teeth. The tips I give here will be helpful to someone who wants to file symmetrical teeth for an efficient saw.

07/08/2024

Here’s a link to this year’s Wilderness Skills Institute presentations. I’m in the backcountry skills section talking about care of crosscut saws.

The 2024 National Wilderness Skills Institute will have 4 “streams”: Combined – shared sessions for all participants Wilderness – learn more about wilderness character and minimum requirement analysis Wild & Scenic Rivers – sessions focus on history, river rangering, and restoration Backco...

03/17/2024

Everyone staying busy at the saw filing workshop

02/26/2024

I’ve sharpened some saws with stubby teeth. Maybe the last filers got lazy and only sharpened the tips. Needing to take off lots of metal to get a nice profile, I found it efficient to start with a coarse half round file to remove metal fast, then finish with my nice smooth cut crosscut file. Note: if you are in the part of the learning curve where you sometimes take away metal you don’t mean to, it might not be a good idea to start with a coarse file.

02/22/2024

Here’s another before and after:

02/22/2024

Before, during, and after pointing up cutter teeth. It is easy to get a nice shape if you first establish where the ‘shoulders’ of the tooth will be and then work toward the tip.

01/22/2024

Before and after on some tooth filing.

12/18/2023

Before , during, and after, sharpening teeth that were consistently very asymmetrical.

09/11/2023

Today we cut the big tree that was leaning over too many valuables. Thank you Robert Parks for always making perfect cuts with me and thanks to Gerald and his backhoe for moving the pieces.