For more proof that the 20th Century just sort of snuck by me when I wasn’t looking I offer the fact that I do not own a power saw. However, I do have three lovely handsaws for wood and two hacksaws for metal and everything that gets cut around our place gets cut by these marvels of modern science.
With those saws my kids and I have built a sturdy little clubhouse and treehouse along with a bunch of other paraphernalia that is needed by the average homeowner. For example, I just cut up an old picnic table into one-foot-long chunks for our fire pit using a handsaw. It was a time-consuming project but I did a bit every day till it was done.
Among the biggest projects was a six-foot-high cedar privacy fence we erected around the back of our double lot. Some neighbours and relatives got so frustrated watching me build this thing (it took me three months) with a handsaw that they started offering their own power saws to help me along. I would just hold up both hands and show them that each of them still sported four fingers and a thumb as my counterargument for using their weapons of man destruction.
My father-in-law insisted I borrow his saw which I did and after two or three cuts, gave it back. For one thing, it made a lot of noise and I didn’t want to put the neighbours through that. The other thing is I am lefthanded and all these saws are made for righties which means the blade, instead of facing away from my body parts, is actually facing into them. So one little slip and I might be walking around on one less leg. We had a power saw on the farm and I used it but was just more comfortable with the handsaws.
My Dad and I would cut logs with a long crosscut saw and I came to like the rhythm and peace that comes from “letting the saw do the work.”
I will admit that sometimes, a good chainsaw or table saw would come in pretty handy but I always look at the size of my project and the cost of the machines and decide it would be cheaper and better for me – exercise-wise – to hack away with my handsaws.
I do own a jigsaw but I hate it. It goes through its little blades faster than my dog Toby goes through kibble and even though it is small, it scares the sawdust out of me sometimes.
So if you have any non-precision cutting to be done, just drop it off and I will get it back to you – some time this century. You’ll know our place when you see it. It’s the one with a very crooked cedar fence.
©2011 Jim Hagarty
