Have you ever noticed that when single bucking a larger log that a saw will sometimes cut a little to the left as it cuts down through the log? I noticed that when cutting a 24” log into firewood. At first I assumed that something was wrong with the saw. Maybe the set was more on one side then the other, maybe cutters on one side are dull, maybe then cutters were longer on one side or maybe there was a curve in the blade perpendicular to then length of then saw. I checked the saw and it was good, I switch ends of the saw and I even changed to another saw, all with the same result. If I checked the cut end of the log with a straight edge many times I could see a little curve to the left and never any curve to then right. Not enough to jamb the saw but enough to see.

So why is that? This is what I came up with:

1. When single bucking it is natural for the saw to cut deeper on the push stroke then the pull stroke because there is naturally more down force on the push stroke.

2. All two man saws and most one man saws I have checked have the cutter just beyond the raker on the left side of the saw. That is, when holding the saw in the cutting position and when pushing the saw away from you, the cutter just in front of the rakers is always on the left side of the saw for two man saws and most always on the left for one man saws.

3. Because the way a saw cuts and advances down through the wood the cutter nearest to and just in front of each raker cuts deeper then other cutters in the group. This is true of for both two and four cutter saws.

So with the cutters on the left side cutting deeper then the cutters on the right it seems obvious that the saw may tend to cut to the left when single bucking. This is what I observed. When double bucking the depth of cut in both directions should be the same and a saw should cut straight.

Then you may ask, what can be done to “fix” this anomaly? You may be able to put more down force on the saw on the pull stroke but this is quite onward and probably not an option for larger logs. With a two cutter saw you can do nothing to the saw to correct the issue, it is just the nature of the beast. However, with a four cutter saw you could reduce the length of the cutters adjacent to the rakers. If both the cutters on the left and right sides of the saw were cutting the same depth it would likely follow that the saw would not tend to cut to the left or right when single bucking. If you look very carefully at then noodles you will notice that if they start to show whiskers that they may show on just one side. This is also due to the fact that not all the cutters cut at the same depth. I have not tried filing a four cutter saw with shorter cutters adjacent to the rakers but the idea makes sense to me for a couple reasons.

Maybe the question that comes up is, why do most all saws have the first cutter in front of the raker on the left? With several different manufactures of saws, why are most the same? Maybe they are made for right handed sawyers. In my case that may be part of the issue because I saw about equally with my right or left hand as my primary hand. Maybe if I sawed only with my right as the primary hand it would counter act the natural effect of the saw to cut to the left. I don’t know.

Anyway, if you notice your saw cutting a little to then left when single bucking larger logs, don’t worry it is normal and normally causes no problem.

Jim