Earlier this year I read an article detailing one man's journey into hand cut firewood. He accomplished this for the most part by keeping a bucksaw in his pick-up throughout the year and cutting up downed timber as he came across it. I'm assuming that this was material that he found on his own property or in other areas where he had permission to do so...or I hope so anyway;) In our case, I didn't think that we could cut enough wood by hand alone to cover ALL of our needs...but I did think that we could pad our stack significantly by doing so whenever the opportunity arose! The search for the right tool was on!! I went through a couple of saws with what I considered to be rather limited success before I was introduced to The Shark Saw. Yes, this is one of those "As Seen On TV" products, but after watching several cutting demos (including one showing them cut through rail road ties) I was sold!! These are pull saws and they provide a very accurate cut and require very little effort from the user. You simply provide the back and forth movement and let the saw do the work. The hardest part is keeping yourself from working too hard at the process:) The blades are said to last 3 times as long as conventional saw blades and when one needs to be replaced you simply remove it from the handle and change it out. Also good news, these saws and their blades are very economical in price. I bought the largest of the line, (an 18 inch model), for around $25 at a local tool store and have a full year's guarantee to fall back on if needed. The Shark Saw has made cutting additional wood by hand a breeze, and while I'm not sure that I will ever find myself cutting rail road ties with it...I have to say, I've been impressed!!!
