homemade firewood chop saw

[smiley]

I have a load of wood that was cut for a different stove than I'm going to use it in now, so have to chop a few inches off each piece. Having somebody set and hold chunks on the sawbuck and me hanging on my big saw, through 6 cords, didn't sound too appealing, so I got thinking about setting up my little electric chain saw like a chop saw. After looking it over and drawing a couple plans, I wasn't sure I wanted to pull down on a handle, with that chain spinning inches away. Poked around the net a little and found a dandy set up on Mother Earth News, but it was a lot more sophisticated than what I needed, for one load of wood.
The photos are pretty much self explanatory. I originally intended to have a spring loaded return and a foot pedal to operate the saw, attached to the J bolt holding the saw down, but got it this far and it works so great, just from the weight of the saw, I may leave it like this. Since these photos were taken, I added a short chain under the J bolt to prevent any possible kickback.
This rig could also be easily set up with an adjustable stop, so you could feed in limb wood and have them all the right length.
Smiley
PS Again, I don't know what happened to the first 2 photos but you can probably make it out.

 

[elkimmeg]

I like the thought process behind what you are trying to accomplish. I have a stud gig where I can cut every stud the same lenght
In the fall and spring I burn the cutoffs. I have a similar situation of varried lengths some to long to fit in the stove
nothing gets wasted

 

[smiley]

What's a stud gig???
Smiley

 

[elkimmeg]

when I cut 2/4 wall studs I made up a gig where I pass the stud in and setup my skill saw to pass thew the guides
I can consistantly cut studs all day the same length with out measuring them or marking them
I'm a builder remodeler

 

[smiley]

OK gotcha.
I once had a jig set up for cutting the studs, then we'd throw them in another jig and nail plywood to them, to prefab wall sections.
Smiley

 

[Sandor]

I have a load of wood that was cut for a different stove than I'm going to use it in now, so have to chop a few inches off each piece. Having somebody set and hold chunks on the sawbuck and me hanging on my big saw, through 6 cords, didn't sound too appealing, so I got thinking about setting up my little electric chain saw like a chop saw. After looking it over and drawing a couple plans, I wasn't sure I wanted to pull down on a handle, with that chain spinning inches away. Poked around the net a little and found a dandy set up on Mother Earth News, but it was a lot more sophisticated than what I needed, for one load of wood.
The photos are pretty much self explanatory. I originally intended to have a spring loaded return and a foot pedal to operate the saw, attached to the J bolt holding the saw down, but got it this far and it works so great, just from the weight of the saw, I may leave it like this. Since these photos were taken, I added a short chain under the J bolt to prevent any possible kickback.
This rig could also be easily set up with an adjustable stop, so you could feed in limb wood and have them all the right length.
Smiley
PS Again, I don't know what happened to the first 2 photos but you can probably make it out.

MaGuiver.... or however the hell you spell his name.....

Clever.

 

[smiley]

Sandor,
Thanks and I'd be flattered to be compared to Thomas Edison, Alexander Grahm Bell or even Mr. Fixit or
Wyl-E- Coyote (genius), but Mcguiver......NEVER.....! If being chased by 15 bad guys, I would never be dumb enough to throw away a perfectly functional firearm, in favor of a politically correct paper clip, or even his trusty Swiss army knife, to go to a gunfight....

I made a couple modifications to the saw today; I added a foot pedal (board wired to the anti kickback chain) and the handy dandy grid that lets the sawdust drop into a box and the cutoff pieces fall into the coal skuttle.
As crude as this thing is, it works great. I think I'll go ahead and make a decent stand with spring or counterweight return, foot pedal downpressure and switch for the saw. When it happens I'll post the new improved model.
Hopefully these photos will go through correctly this time.
Smiley

 

[begreen]

Nice prototype. Kudos for your imagination and wilingness to put it to the test smiley.