billb3 said:
the bar on my saw works pretty good.
good for +/- 1/2 "
or so
This ^^^
Measure the length of wood you want, now measure from the nose of your bar up to that measurement. Is there any visual indicator on the side of the saw that is near that measurement? Examples would be, on my short saw the mark I shoot for is the back of the sprocket cover, on my bigger saw it is right where the bucking dawgs meet the sprocket cover.
If there isn't a good visual indicator like that then make one, take a sharpie and draw a line. Now, you can measure logs with the tool that is already in your hands. Turn the saw sideways with the nose of the bar and your last cut and see where the "mark" falls. Now, mark that spot visually in your head (focus on a certain piece of bark etc) and turn the saw back and make the cut right on that visual indicator you're focusing on.
Voila, you just used a single tool to do that job of many tools.