Numero oggetto
52/93/2
Descrizione
This is the handle of a pit saw. Pit saws are used for sawing large logs into planks by hand. The museum holds little information about this handle.
Descrizione fisica
1 saw handle: wood
Storico archivio
MERL 'Catalogue index' card – ‘… // DATE ACQUIRED: // GROUP: // NEGATIVE: // PERIOD: // PLACE OF ORIGIN: // NUMBER: // DESCRIPTION: …‘ Saw pits were once very common in England and are still in use in some parts of Europe today for sawing large logs into planks by hand. The pit might be 18 ft long, 6 ft deep, and 4 ft wide, usually brick lined and frequently covered in so that work could go on in all weathers. The log was supported above the pit on 2 wooden rollers, mortised at each end so that an iron bar inserted into the mortises might lever it about and move the tree into the position required. Two men were required to work the saw. It was held vertically between a top sawyer, standing on the log, and a pitman standing beneath in the pit. The cutting lines were made on both upper and lower sides of the log by string soaked in lamp black. Usually several parellell cuts had to be made in each log, and these were each cut in turn as far as the first roller. The lowere handle of the saw, called the BOX, was detachable so that the blade could be moved from cut to cut. The roller was then shifted and the cuts prolonged until they reached the end. The top sawyer had the hardest job as he had to lift the saw at every stroke but the bottom sawyer had a most uncomfortable position. The saw as a rule had a a simple broad metal blade with a T-shaped upper handle called the TILLER and a small lower handle, either straight or curved, which fitted on to the end of the saw. //
Nome oggetto
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