Best handsaw to cut 30-40cm diameter wet log? Bow saw?

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What is your intention for after you’ve seasoned them?
I'm not sure. A neighbour cut down the maple-type tree his wife planted more than 50 years ago, she wasn't pleased. I said I'd try and make something for her out of it but I'm not a turner.
 
Is it so rough you can't slather on the end sealer as is? It might take more. Could you use one of the chain saws you have with a sharp chain and only cut the roughest areas off? Or use an angle grinder with 36 or 40 grit paper or one of the Kutzall discs to remove the roughest areas. Kutzall Shaping Disc

Pete
 
It might work. I have never seen the result of anybody trying to set the teeth of a hardpoint saw

There is a good picture of the teeth here:

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/hand-saws/1366006
I suspect it is only the tips that are hardened. Where the set/bend would occur, at the root of the tooth, is the same colour as the rest of the blade so unlikely to be heat treated.

The Screwfix Stanley one is less than 20% the price of this one:

https://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/product/one-man-crosscut-saw-champion-tooth/
I wonder if it would have 20% of the performance.
 
Is it so rough you can't slather on the end sealer as is? It might take more. Could you use one of the chain saws you have with a sharp chain and only cut the roughest areas off? Or use an angle grinder with 36 or 40 grit paper or one of the Kutzall discs to remove the roughest areas. Kutzall Shaping Disc

Pete
I'm obsessive, the type that needs to know the bits you can't see have had as much effort put in as the bits you can see. In my mind's eye I see a nice relatively flat face, the result of a workout with a hand tool.
 
I'm obsessive, the type that needs to know the bits you can't see have had as much effort put in as the bits you can see. In my mind's eye I see a nice relatively flat face, the result of a workout with a hand tool.
The thing is, the more you chop off while it’s wet, the less you may have when it’s dry.

Seal it as is, leave it to dry and then hopefully you will have a minimal amount to remove before in solid wood. If you trim it now you may have to trim more later if your sealing isn’t quite good enough and you get some cracking. If you leave it as is, any cracking may be confined to to the rough area.
 
A bowsaw... if you have one big enough? Anything finer will clog. 24" saw will give you 8" swing, not a lot really?
Can you borrow / hire a longer one (quite hard to handle).
Hardly seems worth hiring a chain saw, perhaps 'suffer' with the central section, keep turning to log so you're
not minimising swing?
 
I’ve found the Spear and Jackson predator saws to be cheap and effective. There’s a blue handled version for under £10 which is 7tpi. There’s often a promotion for buying two together, meaning you could choose another one with finer teeth.
I’ve also found S&J’s saws with resharpen-able teeth very good at dealing with this sort of size log - being a little deeper/stiffer, sharp right out of the packet and not much more expensive than a couple of hard-point saws.
 
This is the only type of handsaw that will be of any use for crosscutting a 40 cm log.
https://www.flobyoverskottslager.se/products/timmersvans-anvand?variant=19417376620641They were used by loggers in the Nordic countries before the chainsaw era.

Then there are two man crosscut saws of cause but you need a man in the other end too.

In log house carpentry I use a 28" crosscut handsaw with 4 1/2 teeth per inch. It is practically speaking useless for cutting anything over 30 cm in diametre. My full size logger's bow saw also from the pre-motor saw era bottoms out somewhere around 30 cm. All those idead about silky saws and ordinary handsaws are outright ridiculous.
 
Skip to 2 mins in on this vid to see the biggest silky in action


I think it’s pretty ridiculous not to consider them as capable saws :D
 
I still suspect that many of those why have replied to this thread have never crosscut a 40 cm log by hand. It is very very slow and hard work if you don't have the right saw.

With enough time on hand anything can be done.
You can cut it with an axe if you want. I have crosscut several logs in the 35 cm range with an axe and it is quite feasible. The oldtimers did it all the time because almost into modern times saws were too expensive to use in the woods. There were actually a few men who lived long enough to both fell and buck with an axe in their youth and later in life see their grandsons do everything by chainsaw.
 
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