Chainsaw Post Pointer

[niemeyjt]

I needed to repoint a few posts and found the chainsaw did a surprisingly good job, if slightly uneven.

This set me thinking - has anyone made a framework / jig for this type of operation?

J

 

[marimus]

I needed to repoint a few posts and found the chainsaw did a surprisingly good job, if slightly uneven.

This set me thinking - has anyone made a framework / jig for this type of operation?

J

I understand every word, but your meaning escapes me

What is it to point a post?

 

[wedge40]

He's looking a for a jig/attachment he can hook to the chain saw to re-point posts. Not sure if one exists for a chain saw, but I would use a cordless saws-all. If you're wanting symmetry a tape measure and pencil would work.

Wedge

 

[schmism]

are you talking about just slashing the top off at an angle so that the tops shed water....

or actually talking about the look you get from putting the post in a gigantic pencil sharpener... were there is a bevel all the way around with a point in the middle.

 

[radioman]

There is a beam make attachment for chainsaws for making straight lines. use a 2 by 4 for guide. Its about 40 bucks the last i knew.

 

[rambler]

(I still have all this in the corners of the sheds....)

Dad had a circle saw - buzz saw - on the H tractor, for cutting forewood. I think most of you here would cringe at the danger of those things. I spent 3-4 days every fall as a kid taking the cut wood away & throwing in trailers & trucks. Life is good when you pay attention or die. You learn to pay attention.

He made an oak plank for it, that would bolt on the side in place of the cradle. He could slide the raw wood posts on the plank, and cut points on one end so they would pound into the ground with a sledge. The other side he even trimmed little miters off, so the post wouldn't split from the maul pounding.

He could shape up 50-60 posts in a short afternoon, looked like factory made posts, most from reused telephone poles or home cut white oak branches.

There was no kickback device, no guides, no guards, no nothing. This was just a flat table on a 3-4 foot rotating blade on the front of a tractor powered by a flat belt & pulley. Pretty much a tractor-powered 4 foot table saw with nothing but the blade.

Life was different back then. You would all be very, very scared seeing this setup..... That one actually got my notice as to what happens if.....

So anyhow, yea I know what you are talking about. Don't have any help for a chainsaw jig tho.

--->Paul

 

[czechsonofagun]

There is a beam make attachment for chainsaws for making straight lines. use a 2 by 4 for guide. Its about 40 bucks the last i knew.

HF carries a cheap one and Bailey's more expensive (and probably better) version. I have the HF one and it works well enough.

 

[smstonypoint]

(I still have all this in the corners of the sheds....)

Dad had a circle saw - buzz saw - on the H tractor, for cutting forewood. I think most of you here would cringe at the danger of those things. I spent 3-4 days every fall as a kid taking the cut wood away & throwing in trailers & trucks. Life is good when you pay attention or die. You learn to pay attention.

He made an oak plank for it, that would bolt on the side in place of the cradle. He could slide the raw wood posts on the plank, and cut points on one end so they would pound into the ground with a sledge. The other side he even trimmed little miters off, so the post wouldn't split from the maul pounding.

He could shape up 50-60 posts in a short afternoon, looked like factory made posts, most from reused telephone poles or home cut white oak branches.

There was no kickback device, no guides, no guards, no nothing. This was just a flat table on a 3-4 foot rotating blade on the front of a tractor powered by a flat belt & pulley. Pretty much a tractor-powered 4 foot table saw with nothing but the blade.

Life was different back then. You would all be very, very scared seeing this setup..... That one actually got my notice as to what happens if.....

So anyhow, yea I know what you are talking about. Don't have any help for a chainsaw jig tho.

--->Paul

Paul,

My Dad had a similar setup for cutting up slabs for use in our wood-burning stove. His rig was stationary and we hauled in the slabs from a sawmill. The rig was powered by an AC WD 45. Thinking about it gives me chills. It's a wonder that he never had an accident.

Steve

 

[SPIKER]

Paul,

My Dad had a similar setup for cutting up slabs for use in our wood-burning stove. His rig was stationary and we hauled in the slabs from a sawmill. The rig was powered by an AC WD 45. Thinking about it gives me chills. It's a wonder that he never had an accident.

Steve

Amish have them at every farm just about AROUND HERE. It is still common and about 10~15 yrs back a 16yr old was caught up in one & he was gone in a flash. took him in two parts across from shoulder to waist on one side to other side. His dad said his coat snagged the blade & pulled him in.

Mark

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have seen one made out of a dish shaped disker blade. The disk was sharpened by hand and mounted to an electric motor on a swing arm. The post was set on a fixture that contained it while letting the operator turn it with their left arm.

The post did not get a perfectly round point like a pencil. It had roughly four cuts to form a crude point. The operator would place a post in the fixture. Pull the saw towards them while cutting the end/side off of the post. Releasing the saw which would retract back via a spring, the operator would turn the post 45 degrees and make another cut.

A few more cuts and walla', you have a somewhat pointed post to pound into the ground.

 

[crazyal]

Sorry for being a little off topic but the talk about these older saws got me thinking of my neighbor's antique shake machine. It was run via a leather belt off of a tractor or other power source. It has no guards to speak of. It has a 4' or larger saw blade, a mechanical ratchet to increment the cedar log out before slicing off a shake. On the side of the blade are 4 planers. There are two stations that you take a freshly cut shake and hand feed it to square the edge. For how old it is it's fun to watch all the mechanical knowledge that went into this thing. It even has different patterns that can be inserted into it so make thicker or different taper shakes. As scary as it is it's a work of art to watch operate.

 

[Luremaker]

I needed to repoint a few posts and found the chainsaw did a surprisingly good job, if slightly uneven.

This set me thinking - has anyone made a framework / jig for this type of operation?

J

The fence installers around here seem to cut their points by hand using nothing more than a chainsaw.

 

[niemeyjt]

are you talking about just slashing the top off at an angle so that the tops shed water....

or actually talking about the look you get from putting the post in a gigantic pencil sharpener... were there is a bevel all the way around with a point in the middle.

Sorry for the delay in replying - been away a while.

In answer to above, the latter - like a pencil sharpened to drive it into the ground.

I was thinking of something that 1) ensures saw cuts in middle of post, 2) cuts at a consistent angle 3) rotates post accurately through 90 degrees and 4) hold post so it does not slip.

J

 

[PILOON]

Pencil sharpener on steroids?

 

[big e]

Speed Racer had those two blades on the front of the Mach 5... bet that would work.

 

[Dave5264]

Sorry for the delay in replying - been away a while.

In answer to above, the latter - like a pencil sharpened to drive it into the ground.

I was thinking of something that 1) ensures saw cuts in middle of post, 2) cuts at a consistent angle 3) rotates post accurately through 90 degrees and 4) hold post so it does not slip.

J

Ive done over 300 of them in the past year as I put in all new horse paddocks. Free hand with a chain saw, 4 cuts per post, works fine when you just pointing them to make 'em go in easier with the post pounder, doesnt need to be pretty, is buried 4' down.

may not be what your after if your looking to have your points facing up (not sure why your want that though, ashethics? watershed?)

 

[studor]

Here is a tool to speed it up -- and do other post work as well


Log Wizard Online

 

[Chilly807]

Ive done over 300 of them in the past year as I put in all new horse paddocks. Free hand with a chain saw, 4 cuts per post, works fine when you just pointing them to make 'em go in easier with the post pounder, doesnt need to be pretty, is buried 4' down.

may not be what your after if your looking to have your points facing up (not sure why your want that though, ashethics? watershed?)

Pretty much what we do, it IS a fence post, after all...