The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-12-04
SAWEUCkS.
How They Compare with the oid-fash'
Toned, Home. Made Article.

$500 $50
Toned, Home. Made Article.
A Vesey street hardware dealer was
asked about the demand for sawbucks
in this city. where wood costs more by
the pound than the best coal, and will
not burn a quarter as long. He wrinkled
his brows, with the wrinkle running
cros.ways. as they always do on a mans
face who enjoys life, but looked offover
his desk as if at something a good way
off, and said:
The sawbucks We sell are made in
/ Cleveland. OHIO. was an Ohio boy
myself. and lived in the swamps Of the
Maumee whore the trees, and the ague.
and the com, and all products attain an
enormous size. Why. the sawbuck that
we had in our back yard was twice rs
big as those that are for sale here.
though nobody has been able to inn
prove on the old form. Ever see an old
fashioned saw buck? Well. ours was
made out of Il white-oak rail. Father
:ook a rail Off OF Deacon Jones stake
and-rider fence. Just out of town.
one day. and brought it home. He cat
of four lengths Of IL feet each. and
then squared them with the axe till they
were about - by four inches large in
cross section. With the old-fashioned
wood saw he cut notches in them so
they would fit together two and two in
the form of an y. and bored a hole
through the joints of the Y with an
inch and a half augur. A piece of a
two-inch hickory hoop pole two fee.
long was tapered at each end 50 that it
would fit in the holes. Each end was
spi'. down two or three inches and then
the rs were fitted over the ends, Adry
hickory wedge driven into thu split
ends of this c~rosspiece served to hold
the rs to their place for a long time.
| wa just y years cd that fall. |
watched the making Of the new saw
buck with interest, When it was done
my father pointed to a ten-cord pile Il
four-toot maple and beech. dry and
hard Is 4 bone. and sad:
My son, you must saw enough wood
every day to keep kitchen fire a-going,
and on Saturday enough for the parlor
stove, too.
The merchant rubbed the small of hia
back t~houghtfully for a moment. 1t
was pretty tough for 4 boy. and good
skating on the creek in prospect; bat l
did it. The old buck was just as good
as this one for the purpose, but It
wouldn't do now. Both that and this
n we sell are too high for a twelve
year-old. but jus. right for a well-buils
man. 1t took my father Just four hours
to make that old saw-buck. Tbs one is
sold for thirty cents. But then his time
wasn't worth much. He made it on a
rainy day. 4 man who should try TO
make his own now would BE- foolish, /
for time is worth twenty cents an hour,
even TO a day .aborer when out OF a Job,
if he only knew how 10 use it. The
buys its lumber in the log, saws
it into ? l-2-incl plank, and the plank
l 5-S-inch strips. These strips are
run through a planer, and then saw ed
into pieces : feet G inches long. These
pieces are notched SO that they will fix
together y fashion by a ma ehine made
for the purpose, and 4 l-4-inch hole is
through them bv a steam aga
Instead Of one old-fashioncd hoop hole
crossp.cca. We have a patent arrange
nent. l. is a round bit of oak an inch
and t~hree-luarters in diameter and
10 - long. with a quarter-inch hole
through it lengthwise. A quarter.inch
iron bolt, with a screw at the end. runs
through the KS and the crossp.ece, with
nut on one end. that can be set I'D by
hand. Take off the nut and remove the
colt. and your buck packs into q bundle
? - feet long and SKA inches large.
Another patent buck is hinged at tho
to admit of close packing. We
10 not sell many-two or three dozen a
month at retall-but the factory. with
whole country for a market. turns
nut hundreds of them a day in spite of
he ease with which a rail may be had
rom Farmer Jones fence and the
'heapness OF the villagers time on a
Amy day.'--M. y. San.