Saws that Sing: A Guide to Using Crosscut Saws

Wedges, Continued

Bucking Wedges

Wedges used to reduce bind or split wood are double tapered, meaning that each of the broad faces tapers equally from the center. When such wedges are driven, wood moves away from both tapered sides equally.

Double-taper wedges are preferred for bucking, while single-taper wedges are used for felling. Both types of wedges keep the saw kerf from closing. However, the single-taper wedge used for felling performs a lifting function, while the double-taper wedge used for bucking pries the log apart. Crosscut saw bucking wedges are made of metal and are shorter than felling wedges. They are wider at the bottom and have more of a fan shape than a felling wedge (figure 40).

Figure 40--A bucking wedge being used as a hanging wedge.
The wedge kept the cut from opening too quickly and splitting the log,
and also stopped the log from rolling on the bucker when the cut was finished.
-- Now You're Logging, by Bus Griffiths,
with permission of Harbour Publishing,
Madeira Park, BC, Canada

Bucking wedges traditionally were called hanging wedges, or sometimes tie wedges, on the West Coast. Hanging wedges got their name because sawyers carried a lanyard, or cord, with a pair of wedges around their neck. The wedges are used as a pair, one driven across the kerf at the 10 o'clock position and the other driven across the kerf at the 2 o'clock position. Buckers usually sunk their ax on the uphill or least movable log segment tightly above the cord so when the log segments came free, the wedges would not fall onto the saw. I recommend that every crosscut sawyer have a pair of these metal bucking wedges.