Getting the right length when cutting.

Not sure if this is the right forum for this question or not......

Im relatively new to cutting my own wood. I was wondering what the easiest way is to cut your logs to the correct length when blocking them up for splitting? Do you guys actually measure/mark the logs or just eyeball it? Ive tried the eyeballing but seem to get them too long. If I try to force myself shorter, they seem to be WAY short!! Maybe Im just inept at this?? hehe

I tried marking a stick and laying it on the log but that seems to just add a step in there slowing me down. At my other house it was a wood furnace so they could be pretty long and still fit in there.

Thanks ahead for any tips you may have!!

D

I usually use the bar on my saw as a guide. I will hold the saw parallel to the limb and eyeball where the bar ends, using that as my guide.

That's the way I do it, too. I measure the distance from the tip of my bar to as far back on the body of the saw that I want to go, then make a mark or a mental note. Usually it's right around the bar retention nuts.

I measure with a tape measure and mark with a hatchet. That way if the log is not a multiple of 15 I can get relatively even pieces instead of having 4 or 5 inches left over.

Here is what I do when I what to get a little less variation in length.
Just a length of heavy duty plastic strapping. Double over about 2" on one end and wrap with electrical tape, and hose clamp to the handle. The double thickness and tape give the hose clamp something to bite into.
There is a commercial version that screws on in place of a bar clamp nut but that puts it on wrong side of the saw.

I use a measuring stick and lumber crayon. Shorter pieces get sorted out and split up as kindling. It works well and moves fast.

Andre I've noticed you are the jig miester

Start with measuring and marking them out. You'll get an eye for it after a while.

Dtabor,

Pre-cordwood saw, I measured from the tip of the bar and put marks on the chain cover at 18”, 20” and 22” with a permanent marker and then use the MrGriz method above.

Now I have a 1x2 marked off in inches attached to the table of my cordwood saw to measure with. Not only do I get accurate lengths but they are perfectly square which aids splitting and insertion in the stove.

However I like Andre B.’s method quite well for chainsawing.

I buck my wood up in the woods after felling the trees, so the stems are usually a foot or two off the ground. I stand on the left side of the trunk and work my way up it, cutting 24-inch blocks with the top of the bar as I go along. That means I'm holding the saw on the righthand side of the trunk, with the bar tip pointing towards the ground. Then I pull the saw to the left as I cut through the trunk. Measuring with the saw is easy this way, since I line the mark on the side of my saw up with the last cut, and then make the next cut at the spot on the trunk where the tip of the bar meets it. That's handy because you can mark the cutting point with the tip of the bar if you have some housekeeping to do and don't want to cut it right away, but don't want to have to measure again.