Ripping

I had one plank left to saw from that big log the other month. I had sawn the top of it at a steeper angle to the grain so that I would get some of those characteristic loop patterns, but the plank was still very thick and wedge shaped. I had been thinking of leaving it until I get a carriage made for the big saw, but that will be some time off. Today I realized I could just stand it up and rip down from either end. I stood the thing up on some sleepers and screwed a batten in to triangulate it, then drew in my lines and put in some guide cuts with the smaller saw down the lines on the end of the plank, then stuck my courage to the post and got big willy out. The only problem was having to kick the buckets of shavings out of the way every few seconds, the two cuts ended up about half an inch out of whack at the bottom center of the cut, but that was pretty good just guttering down through. The one thing you want to avoid with a chainsaw is getting its snout in under something as the chain will inevitably dig in and kick the bar up out of there.
It always takes a while to realize how many new avenues of attack are opened up with a new tool. This would have been a half day job with the little saw, and it would probably have ended with a big mess in the middle of the plank where all the cuts didn't line up.
Having got that big plank out of the way, we had a big clear area to dump a load of firewood down into, so we promptly filled it after another trip to the dam yard. The promise is of more weather on the way and there is a stiff wind blowing it in.