The Farmhand: News from Sanborn Mills Farm

Up-and-down saws, also called sash saws, predate circular saws — the original saw in the Farm’s sawmill, which dates b
ack to 1830, was up-and-down. Lumber sawed on an up-and-down saw is distinguished from lumber sawed on a circular saw by distinctive vertical saw marks. Sash saws, so-named because the movement resembles a window sash that goes up and down, are reciprocating. The saw frame is connected by a wooden arm (called a pitman) to a crank on the flywheel and shaft directly below in the lower level of the mill.  As the paddled water turbine in the lower level of the Sanborn Farms sawmill rotates, the saw frame moves up and down. The saw cuts on the downstroke and a wooden carriage with the log moves forward on the upstroke.  

The eight-sided main shaft was sawn on the mill’s water-driven circular saw; as usual with Sanborn Mills Farm projects, the up-and-down saw installation includes as much material as possible that is made at the Farm itself. 

There is still a market for up-and-down sawed lumber: carpenters who restore 18th and early 19th century structures want up-and-down sawed lumber for historical accuracy.