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Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Logging tools a favourite for collectors   List Jim Ross Next   Collector Jim Ross favours collectible logging tools   By Jim Ross In this article, I would like to discuss logging and forestry tools and log building tools.   Why?   Because they are my favorite. About 35 years ago, I used some of them in building my own log cabin. I also had to dismantle an old, fallen-down barn made with hewn timbers.   I have to confess, though: (a) I really didn't know what I was doing - but I learned; (b) I used a chain saw and other labour-saving devices for many tasks; (c) I gained a great deal of respect for the loggers and builders of 150 years ago.   I must have done something right as my cabin in still standing.   Crosscut saw So let's start with the crosscut saw. Until about 125 years ago, the big two-man crosscuts were not widely used as lumbering tools. They were used mainly for bucking (i.e. for cutting felled trees into manageable logs). That is because their design left something to be desired - they would bind in the felling process (cutting down).   In the 1870s, in Galt, Ontario, Canada, the "raker tooth" was born, which immediately revolutionized logging. It raked the sawdust out of the cut (positioned between a set of cutting teeth) which made the sawing smooth and efficient.   The average saw in our neck-of-the-woods (pun intended) is around five to six feet long, although they can go as low as three feet for a one-man version. On the west coast, where they cut the giant Redwood Cedar and Douglas Fir, they can go as long as 20 feet or more. They were the kings of the forest until the chainsaw replaced them just after WWII.   There are a multitude of shapes and tooth patterns for the collector, together with various styles of handles. Tip: if you want to get twice the heat out of your firewood, cut it up with a crosscut.   In early days, pioneers had only trusty axes to clear their newly acquired acres of bush - as did the professional logging crews. There then developed a thriving axe-making industry in Canada, which, over the years, was second to none in the world.   Competition for the market was fierce and the variety of sizes, shapes and uses was legion. There are many collectors out there who collect only axes and their displays are awesome - from the small hatchet to the large felling axes - single bit and double bit.   Unfortunately, many of the manufacturers used paper labels on their product instead of engraving or embossing, so after some use the label disappeared, making it difficult to identify the manufacturer and establish provenance (but a real expert can tell nonetheless.)   Axes are still being made, but there is only one known manufacturer left in Canada. The chain saw (the marvel that it is) has taken its toll.   There are also many interesting auxiliary tools in the logging business that are highly prized by collectors.   Measuring devices There are the measuring devices, i.e. calipers to measure the diameter of a standing tree, a log rule used to calculate the amount of lumber in a standing tree and a board rule to calculate the amount of board feet of sawn lumber. These can be fascinating because there were dozens of different scales used and often they were hand made.   They look like a yardstick with a handle on one end and a hook on the other, with hundreds of numbers etched on the sides. The lumber merchant had to be careful, as some unscrupulous dealers used one scale for buying and one for selling, all to his advantage.   Then we have the lumber stamps. Like a cattle brand, they were used to mark a sawn log with the mark of the owner when the log was dumped into the river, so they could be identified as one company's property at the end of the log drive. Basically, they were a hammer with a distinctive design on the face which, when whacked on the end of the log, left a recognizable symbol or initials.   Collectible? You bet. Over 2,000 were registered with Ottawa. Of course, there were cheaters here too - slice off about half an inch of the log where the stamp appeared and put another new stamp on. Instead of using a lumber stamp, a letter or a number or a design could be cut into the log with a special knife known as a timber scribe or race knife.   They were also used in the log construction industry to mark various pieces of the building framework, so that in raising the building you knew which piece fitted into another piece. The design of these knives is very intriguing and as with many other tools of the early days, were often hand wrought.   Handling tools Of less interest, but still important, are the log handling tools - i.e. cant hooks, peaveys, timber carriers, picaroons and various hooks and chains.   Cant hooks and peaveys are basically log-rolling tools - a long wooden handle with a movable hook on the end to grab a log at right angles. A peavey has a long spike point at the hook while the cant hook is blunt.   A timber carrier is basically a pair of ice tongs suspended from a hefty short pole so that a man on each end can lift and carry the log or timber (assuming the other end of the log/timber is similarly manned).   A picaroon is usually an old axe which has been cut down and ground down to form a hook or claw. Its use was twofold - like a standard axe, you could drive it into the end of a log and drag it to where you wanted it. The other use is to comb logs down from a pile. Very few of these were actually made commercially.   A chain is a chain is a chain, but the hooks, cleats, buckles and tongs and other iron items were a study in early creative blacksmithing. All were used in hauling or grappling logs in one way or another. Beaver tails - about six inches long with a fattened spear face on one end and a ring on the other which, when driven into the end of a log would hold a piece of chain to form log booms on the river.   The ice tong look appears again in grappling devices to drag logs out of the bush together with accompanying swivels, cleat hooks and wedges cleverly designed and crafted by the resident blacksmith.   The broadaxe The mighty broadaxe was also used in the lumbering industry to square up the sawn logs for transport to market (they took up less space that way). You have undoubtedly seen them - huge, intimidating long wide-bladed axes, beveled on one side only, measuring from six to 12-plus inches in length, weighing in pounds about the same number as their inch length, with a short handle curving outward so that the user's hands cleared the surface being worked on.   The squaring was done by using chalk lines drawn on the outside length of the log, indicating a square or rectangular form. An axe then chopped into the log to the chalk and the broadaxe would then clean the side of the log off (hewing the line.) The hewer stood beside or atop the log, shaving one side at a time until all four sides were squared. It is reported that a left-handed hewer could earn a premium pay working opposite a right-handed hewer. Once complete, the logs were lashed together to form rafts and for transporting and, in the early days, some were even towed across the ocean to England.   Omygosh. I've run out of space and haven't room for the second part of my topic - next time for sure. If you want to talk to me about tools, look me up at the Tools of the Trade Show in Pickering. And if you want to talk to a lot of other tool collectors, why not join the tool collectors club. For info on it and how to join, log onto www.thetoolgroupofcanada.com.   Jim Ross is an unrepentant collector. He admits to collecting antique tools of many trades and occupations of yesteryear. He is now past president of a tool collectors' club, the Tool Group of Canada; was president for six years. Also a past member of the legal profession for 40 years. He lives in Toronto for most of the week, then retreats to his country property .     Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2010 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster