Push sticks or push blocks, which is best for a swing saw?

[Alpha-Dave]

Hand Tool Rescue has fixed up a ~100 year old swing saw. I have never seen one of these before this video, and am amazed that they existed, and not surprised that industry moved on to other machines for cross cutting quickly.

See ~31 min for it in use, and before that for the restoration.

 

[AndyT]

That does look really scary to use!

 

[Trevanion]

Pendulum saws! I think they're still fairly common over the pond in the more outdated sawmills. Not sure whether they really were a thing here at all, I've certainly never seen one but I could be wrong.

How about this one?

This is one of my favourites:

 

[Alpha-Dave]

Ah yes I remember the shingle one now; I really can’t understand why that is still done in that way. Just crazy, and not in a good way.

 

[TheTiddles]

Ah yes I remember the shingle one now; I really can’t understand why that is still done in that way. Just crazy, and not in a good way.

Because the product they are producing is more valuable than the person’s fingers doing it.

If you made the liability for that person’s injury the company’s responsibility to a level that was more valuable than the product they’re producing, a new safe method would be installed (or the business would shut), but then you’d have the usual crowd saying how it’s health and safety gone mad and it was never like that in their day as they cough their way to an early death...

Aidan