My neighbor has the Worx saw and has cut up a few pieces for me. It's worked great and seems pretty safe as your hands don't need to go anywhere near the blades. He held it one-handed and cut the branch I had down into decent chunks for me to throw in my WSM, though I usually split them in half with a hatchet before using.
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CaptainMike I assume that you have seen your share of severed fingers during your career as well, verdad?Comment
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Among other parts. A little dark humor: a lad was using a giant clamp to remove a Macpherson strut from his car and as he was taking it out the clamp failed capturing all of the fingers of his right hand in the coils. Ay carumba, that dude was in PAIN! Got him to the ER and considered many options, including RSI. The old school Ortho strolled in, gave him a few locals and we pried his hand out with zero damage! K.I.S.S -
That guy was high fiving all of us on his way out of the ER (with his left hand, of course and a big snootfull of morphine 🤪). It seems the rental company neglected to provide the all important safety device that prevents that sort of thing, whoopsie!
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I will have to say, that while I have cut a few logs down carefully with my miter saw from 16 to 8 inches to use in my offset as mini-splits in the past, I am in the camp of those who recommend against using a miter or chop saw for this task. If I were doing it regularly, I would want something else. Why? Kickback and safety issues.
I had a 10" miter saw kick back on me one time while cutting pressure treated lumber, and a portion of what I was cutting broke loose due to I guess an unseen crack in the wood, and ended up completely shattering the plastic blade guard mechanism when the chunk flew up into it. That was cutting milled lumber - I can see the possibility of stuff flying off split logs as being much greater. And if the blade guard doesn't catch it, your face just might!
When that happened, I called Ryobi asking to buy a replacement part for the blade guard, and they ended up providing a new blade guard completely free, even though the saw was out of warranty. Then even paid to ship the saw to their N.C. facility, and shipped it back to me all good as new.Last edited by jfmorris; July 12, 2021, 10:39 AM.Comment
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After acquiring a half cord of Post Oak and cutting up a large Red Oak that got blown over (about one whole real cord, 4x4x8), I rented a splitter ($150 for a whole day) and my workman/best friend had it all split in two hours (he knows how to handle the logs through the splitter). So we split the post oak into roughly 16 inch lengths, 1 to 2 inches square. Too long for my fire box basket. Well then, we just dragged a chain saw through the stacked wood splits...a boatload of perfect splits for my smoker.Comment
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Man, you guys are awesome. Thanks for all the responses.
After reading all of them, I decided to try out the B&D alligator lopper. I mean come on, it just looks like fun. No doubt I'll get yelled at by the wife for cutting a bunch of stuff that probably didn't need cut...
Thanks again, and happy cutting/smoking!Comment
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I use my old Bosch miter saw. It works great for cutting those logs down to size.Comment
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I nearly killed myself cutting splits in half with my 12†miter saw. Tried the reciprocating, and it sucks. I ended up with an Ego 16†chainsaw. It’s the perfect tool for the job. After I get them to size, I can use my Kindling Cracker for the rest.Comment
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Unloaded all of this macadamia today and started knocking it into 300mm lengths. (12" for the metrically challenged). The electric chainsaw works great.Attached FilesComment
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you guys are all crazy - craig's list it... ($ 40.00)
on a serious note - wouldn't a band saw be safe?Comment
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Of the tools I currently own, the bandsaw is probably the safest choice, but that still requires the best TPI and curf, and for my saw that's a $200 blade. I'll take one of those gator saws, please...Comment
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A bandsaw can bind and kick back too, especially when cutting short lengths of irregular or round wood. Only time I ended up in the emergency room was when my thumb tangled with a bandsaw and lost.
I guess the bottom line here is "pick yer poison." There are hazards with any power tool, whether it be a bandsaw, miter saw, chainsaw, whatever. Some might be safer for the average shmuck to use, and some might be more hazardous, but none of these tools are going to be 100% perfectly safe.Comment
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Yep, sawing irregular pieces of wood on anything with a table or fence is asking for trouble eventually. There's several ways unmilled wood can present "bind", and it can be quite unforgiving. -
But, the alligator cutters, whether the B&D or the Worx, are infinitely safer for cutting irregular 4-6" splits or branches into KBQ fuel. You would have to lie on the ground and place your forearm into the path while also standing up and operating the saw.
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Good topic!Comment
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Thanks for starting this thread. I have admittedly done the compound miter saw thing numerous times without getting hurt, although I did manage to break the fence when a split got caught in a bind. I'm announcing my retirement with an undefeated record vs the saw (and all of my fingers), effective immediately.Last edited by Steve R.; July 13, 2021, 01:07 PM.Comment
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vtkess02 It depends: Can you work a keyboard with your toes?
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vtkess02 Let us all know what you finally purchase, and how it works out for you. You can even post photos of severed digits! (Start a 'Show us What You're Missing' forum.)Last edited by Dr. Pepper; July 14, 2021, 09:09 AM.Comment
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This thread has guaranteed that if I ever get a cooker that requires small splits, I will make sure to cut the logs to the required length first with the chainsaw and then split them afterwards! As a side effect it may cause me to get one of those alligator gizmos...Comment
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