Been doing a few end grain bowls recently and had some small branches that had to be pieced together. Sooo, I had to come up with a way to cut larger branches evenly.

 

After a few Youtube videos, I came up with this.

 

The last pic is some of the slices I got before it got too dad-gummed hot to cut anymore. Much better than I could ever do freehand! Spalted ash from a tree that died in our big ice storm a couple of years ago.

 

 

Man, that is sweet!

 

Gonna share this on the Woodturning forum on Wednesday, if that's OK with you.

Very clever design. Functional but not overly complex. Is the balance such that the saw over-center keeps it in the up postion? The only upgrade I'd consider would be the addition of a spring over the guide rod to return the saw in the up position. Maybe you've already done something similar at the hinge point?? Regardless, very cool, Tony. Thanks for sharing a great idea.

 

Not to hi-jack your thread, but what do you think of the 40v Ryobi saw? I see yours has the 18" bar? Power OK? I have the smaller 10", 18v. I love it. Wish it had an automatic oiler, but it is so handy. Also have the 8", 18v pole saw. Haven't used it much yet due to back issues. 

Lew -  Be my guest. Only indirectly related to turning but ya' gotta start somewhere.

 

Dave -  That short rod is just there to hold the saw up while I adjust the log for the next cut. It gets taken out when I get ready to cut. Other than that, it is all manual on moving the saw. Good thing about the battery saw is that you don't have to pull start it every time you want to make a cut.

 

As for the saw itself, this was the first use. I'm impressed with it so far. Good power and light weight. It cut through these 9" logs in about 15 seconds or so. Only took about 25 - 30% off the battery.

 

I've also got a 10" pole saw that I've used quite a bit. The only problem I have with it is the pole is too short. I need to get another extension to reach up into the trees I need to prune.