A pendulum saw or swing saw is a mechanically powered

circular saw A circular saw or a buzz saw, is a power-saw using a toothed or Abrasive saw, abrasive disk (mathematics), disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an Arbor (tool), arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use ...

with the blade mounted so it can swing into the material.

Operation

A swing saw is used for

cross cutting Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simulta ...

wood in a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

, or for cutting ice off of a frozen body of waters. The saw is hung on a swinging arm, sometimes with a

counterbalance A counterweight is a weight that, by applying an opposite force, provides balance and stability of a mechanical system. The purpose of a counterweight is to make lifting the load faster and more efficient, which saves energy and causes less wear ...

weight. A swing saw is also sometimes called a ''cut-off trim saw'' in a mill for cutting right angle to the direction of the

wood grain Wood grain is the longitudinal arrangement of wood fibers or the pattern resulting from such an arrangement. It has various derived terms refer to different aspects of the fibers or patterns. Wood grain is important in woodworking and it impacts ...

. A swing saw is a very dangerous tool, even with a blade guard. Early models were driven by a belt, usually made of

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

, that was powered by a

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

or later a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

. Today the power source is an

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

or a

gas engine A gas engine is an internal combustion engine that runs on a fuel gas (a gaseous fuel), such as coal gas, producer gas, biogas, landfill gas, natural gas or hydrogen. In the United Kingdom and British English-speaking countries, the term is ...

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival

Swing saws are used to carve ice blocks from the frozen

Songhua River The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea border through China's northe ...

for the

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival The Harbin International Ice and Snow festival () is an annual winter festival that takes place in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, and is now the largest ice and snow festival in the world. The festival includes the popular attraction Ice and Snow ...

each year.

References

External links

osha.gov use of Swing Sawbtsrr.com Model of a Swing Sawflickr.com Swing Saw planswesternscalemodels.com Cut-Off Trim Saw modelThe Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, Volume 29, page 12 gbook, Pendulum saw
{{Woodworking Cutting machines Saws Woodworking machines

Operation

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival

See also

References

External links