Whip saw is a two man crosscut saw with a narrow blade width.

Pit saw is a two man ripsaw that is used to rip boards and beams from a 
log that has been hewed square.

On Tuesday, November 18, 2003, at 07:39  AM, Rudy Christian wrote:

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> >>Pit Saw / Whip Saw =  all the same thing where I come from.  <<
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> OK I guess we can let Eric Sloan off the hook for this one.
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> >>They were still whipsawing lumber as family businesses here until 
> 1910, and broadaxing ties for the railroad well into the 1930's,<<
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> When we were on the Polish synagogue trip we saw clear evidence of 
> hand rip sawing and hewing in twentieth century structures too.
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> >>Cut nails after the mid 1800's. <<
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> We have yet to find a square nail in a building inOhio, just cuts. 
> Most of our first period settlement is 1820ish plus, with some earlier 
> pockets.
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> Thanxfor the great picture and text Cuyler! Can you forward that image 
> to me ([log in to unmask]) as a .jpg or .tif? I would love to 
> share it with my traditional timber framing cronies.
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> Rudy
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John N. Fugelso, Vice President
Preservation Trades Network
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