# Firewood Cutting Guide



## jebatty (Nov 16, 2012)

I don't regularly follow this forum, so I apologize if this has been covered or already duplicated. Baileys sells a firewood cutting guide which consists of an over-sized chainsaw bar nut plus 3 plastic guide bars to make easy 14", 16" and 18" firewood lengths. I bought this, and then proceeded immediately to break one of the guide bars. They are not too flexible. Then the idea struck me: replace the guide bars with a new guide bar using a spring at the nut end so the bar will flex.

I bought a spring, made a guide bar out of wood to press into the spring and then fixed the wood bar with a set nail, got a metric bolt that fits the Baileys nut, rounded the head of the bolt to press into the other end of the spring, and then tack welded the spring to the bolt. Now all that is needed is to thread the bolt into the nut, and then the guide bar measures near perfect lengths of firewood, and the spring allows the bar to flex out of the way. Worked so well that I made another one: 16" for firewood for the wood stove and 18" for the gasification boiler. This is really simple and works very well. If you do this, get a fairly stiff spring, strong enough to hold the bar in a horizontal position.

I put the guide bar on my Stihl 028, and then use that to mark each bucking cut. Then the Husky 372xp goes to work to make each cut through the log. As you all know, consistent lengths of firewood make for easy stacking in multiple rows.


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## osagebow (Nov 16, 2012)

Neat - think I  have an old nut from a trimmer head that i could use.


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## Boog (Nov 16, 2012)

Pretty nice Jebatty.  I don't cut to any regular "exact" length currently, something around 18" usually, my Charmaster takes up to 30" logs so just about anything will fit in there.  However, I was going to start cutting some to sell on the side for next year.  I was thinking of rigging up something exactly like this in my mind's eye, you saved me the trouble of exactly how to finagle it.  Thanks for posting this up!


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## bogydave (Nov 16, 2012)

Good idea
Sell the idea to the manufacturer 
Better mouse trap


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## Adkjake (Nov 16, 2012)

jebatty said:


> I don't regularly follow this forum, so I apologize if this has been covered or already duplicated. Baileys sells a firewood cutting guide which consists of an over-sized chainsaw bar nut plus 3 plastic guide bars to make easy 14", 16" and 18" firewood lengths. I bought this, and then proceeded immediately to break one of the guide bars. They are not too flexible. Then the idea struck me: replace the guide bars with a new guide bar using a spring at the nut end so the bar will flex.
> 
> I bought a spring, made a guide bar out of wood to press into the spring and then fixed the wood bar with a set nail, got a metric bolt that fits the Baileys nut, rounded the head of the bolt to press into the other end of the spring, and then tack welded the spring to the bolt. Now all that is needed is to thread the bolt into the nut, and then the guide bar measures near perfect lengths of firewood, and the spring allows the bar to flex out of the way. Worked so well that I made another one: 16" for firewood for the wood stove and 18" for the gasification boiler. This is really simple and works very well. If you do this, get a fairly stiff spring, strong enough to hold the bar in a horizontal position.
> 
> I put the guide bar on my Stihl 028, and then use that to mark each bucking cut. Then the Husky 372xp goes to work to make each cut through the log. As you all know, consistent lengths of firewood make for easy stacking in multiple rows.


Really? Geez, I don't want to come across as over the top here. But, hey guys and girls, we're cutting firewood here! Not finished woodwork or even rough framing. Eyeball it, with some repetitions, you'll get pretty good at cutting it to the desired length. Plus, at the end of the day, if you have some 13" or 15" or 17" does it really matter? You are going to burn it! Any mistakes will soon be ash.

Rant over


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## Elderthewelder (Nov 16, 2012)

Adkjake said:


> Really? Geez, I don't want to come across as over the top here. But, hey guys and girls, we're cutting firewood here! Not finished woodwork or even rough framing. Eyeball it, with some repetitions, you'll get pretty good at cutting it to the desired length. Plus, at the end of the day, if you have some 13" or 15" or 17" does it really matter? You are going to burn it! Any mistakes will soon be ash.
> 
> Rant over


 
some of us have small stoves or inserts that wont handle anything much over 16", sucks when reloading with a hot bed of coals and you get the split halfway in stove to find out it is to long and is now catching fire


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## jebatty (Nov 16, 2012)

> ... if you have some 13" or 15" or 17" does it really matter?


 
It does matter, but you are free to rant as much as you want. Random lengths won't work for me.

I stack three rows of, for example, 16" lengths, 4-5 feet high, and 8-10' long. One 4 x 4 on one side of the first row, then a 4 x 6 on the other side of the first row, which also is the first side of the 2nd row, then a 4 x 6 which is the other side of the 2nd row and the first side of the 3rd row, then a 4 x 4 for the other side of the 3rd row. If some of the lengths are 13" and some 17", can't make stacking side by side rows. I keep my rows off the ground to let air circulate underneath.

It's just as easy to make even length cuts as random length cuts.


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## Gary_602z (Nov 16, 2012)

Felt marker and mark your bar if it is longer then then your cut. Lot easier and quicker then having a curb feeler hanging off the side of your saw working in the tops and brush.

Gary


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## jebatty (Nov 16, 2012)

I have my bar marked also, and I use that. On long lengths of logs though, the bar guide is really slick. Do whatever works!


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## jrendfrey (Nov 16, 2012)

i use a 16 in bar on my 290 i just hold the saw paralell with the log eyeball a spot were its 16 inches and run the saw through that spot. whatever works for ya though. at least you dont have to turn the saw sideways can get hard on the back bending over like that.


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## Boom Stick (Nov 16, 2012)

Random lengths are a PITA as far as i am concerned.  I am trying to cut everything at the same length but I would not want that appendage hanging off my saw......could be dangerous


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## Boog (Nov 16, 2012)

Adkjake said:


> Really? Geez, I don't want to come across as over the top here. But, hey guys and girls, we're cutting firewood here! Not finished woodwork or even rough framing. Eyeball it, with some repetitions, you'll get pretty good at cutting it to the desired length. Plus, at the end of the day, if you have some 13" or 15" or 17" does it really matter? You are going to burn it! Any mistakes will soon be ash.
> 
> Rant over


 
Hey Adkjake, I get your rant, trust me. Like I said for myself above, length doesn't matter one bit. However some folks have very restrictive stoves and the wood has to be exactly no longer than ....X. I've been running a "cut your own" business this summer and fall at my place to clean up tops from a timbering operation and one guy in particular could only fit 14" stuff in his stove and was cutting it as such. I think the guide idea is good for someone selling it comercially like I plan to do. That way I can have a 14" pile for folks to load from, a 16" one, and and 18" one. I'm not going to get into delivering and such, just plan to have some fairly precise sized piles to go the next step up from "cut your own". This will be "load your own" ..... for a few dollars more of course.

As for my personal wood, I'm 100% with you on that, would never touch this thing to slow me down. If its under 30" I can throw it in and burn it. And I won't put this on one of my small saws to "mark them to cut off with a bigger saw next", I'll just mount it on one of the bigger suckers and whack them off in one quick precise step.


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## oldogy (Nov 16, 2012)

Interesting way to get equal length cuts but I just don't think I would want anything like that hanging on my saw. I do believe that thing could get a person in trouble in a trimming environment and I don't believe I would want to take it on and off.  I try to plan my cuts from right to left. After a cut, I visually position my 18" bar parallel to the log and make the cut. A long time ago I had a painted stick 18 inches long and went by that but somewhere it got lost. Not claiming to be a pro but I have cut a bit of wood.  Like mentioned earlier, I believe, you get a pretty good idea where to make the cut after a while.


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## amateur cutter (Nov 16, 2012)

Spencer logging tape, & a SOG tomahawk to mark with when length is critical. Otherwise just eyeball em, I'm usually + or - an inch at most. A C


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## WhitePine (Nov 16, 2012)

Boom Stick said:


> Random lengths are a PITA as far as i am concerned. I am trying to cut everything at the same length but I would not want that appendage hanging off my saw......could be dangerous


 
+1


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## nate379 (Nov 16, 2012)

Whatever works, have at it. I eyeball it, but use the bar length every so often to keep my eyeball calibrated.

Sold lots of wood this summer and never had anyone complain that I wasn't delivering what I advertised (16" wood, varying split sizes... overnighters to fire starters)


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## Danno77 (Nov 16, 2012)

I don't like to pull out my saw to fix splits that are too long, so I cut everything short and just glue on extra as needed.


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## 'bert (Nov 16, 2012)

I have a 16" chunk of broom handle with a rare earth magnet screwed on to the end. It nicely snaps on to the bar of my saw for marking and will fall off if needed. I mark my 16's then grab it off and throw into my back pocket for bucking. Super convenient and total investment of $ 0.00 (junk laying around) and my wife was nice enough to break the handle on my broom for me to use.   The rare earth magnet is actually out of a hard drive.

Went back to an old post and found a picture...


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## albert1029 (Nov 17, 2012)

pretty slick...


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## jebatty (Nov 17, 2012)

donnest: the broom handle/magnet idea is really good. I'm going to try that one as soon as I find a strong magnet.


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## WhitePine (Nov 17, 2012)

jebatty said:


> donnest: the broom handle/magnet idea is really good. I'm going to try that one as soon as I find a strong magnet.


 
+1

A piece of PVC pipe would be even lighter.


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## BillinTX (Nov 17, 2012)

I use old fiberglass fishing rods to make mine.
I soldered one to a bar nut but it kept breaking loose so I had the same idea as the OP and added a spring.




I also made a couple with hard drive magnets. I used the original hard drive bracket and a 3" toggle bolt to mount the rods to the magnet.


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## MasterMech (Nov 19, 2012)

I've been known to pull out a tape measure and can of golf course turf paint to mark larger trunks.  Seems that my eyeball calibration is only good to about 16" diameter trunks or so, then the cut's mysteriously wind up getting longer.

BTW for the "It doesn't matter!" crowd, if you're gonna post pics of your stacks on Hearth.com, they darn sure better be straight an uniform throughout.


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## Boog (Nov 19, 2012)

BTW for the "It doesn't matter!" crowd, if you're gonna post pics of your stacks on Hearth.com, they darn sure better be straight an uniform throughout. [/quote]

That's why you havn't seen any photos of mine.


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## HDRock (Nov 20, 2012)

Thanks for the ideas. So I went and made something up.
I don't mind too much if my cuts are longer than 16 ,but sometimes I end up cutting them shorter and I don't like that.
I have a bunch of ,amateur band 2 meter, fire stick type mobile antennas, that I got free with an electronics grab box ,they have a tunable whip on the end , I have used them to make flags for off-road, and bicycles , so I took one apart and voilà , the nylon part on the end has a quarter inch Stub and it just so happens it is a 1/4-20 thread, so I grabbed a wing nut ,stuck it in the hole in the bar, and tightened it up , once tightened it will stay tight because the one part is nylon .
This thing is very light weight,and it is flexible .
Painted it red to see it.
I didn't have a magnet on hand so this is what I came up with , takes only about 3 seconds to put on or take off.


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## Kenster (Nov 22, 2012)

I don't like the idea of having something sticking out of the bar and getting in the way. 
I use a 16 inch bar in my MS390.  From the tip of the bar to a notch on the sprocket cover is 19 inches. 
My VC Vig is 22 inches wide so 19 inch splits work great. 
I just put lay the saw in line with the log, placing the tip of the saw at the end of the log or latest cut and then eyeball where the sprocket cover notch lies and that's where I make my cut. 
My rounds come out very uniform. 
This is also quicker than marking your cuts with a tape measure and a can of spray paint. 

But, we've all got to do whatever works best for us.


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## HDRock (Jan 1, 2013)

HDRock said:


> Thanks for the ideas. So I went and made something up.
> I don't mind too much if my cuts are longer than 16 ,but sometimes I end up cutting them shorter and I don't like that.
> I have a bunch of ,amateur band 2 meter, fire stick type mobile antennas, that I got free with an electronics grab box ,they have a tunable whip on the end , I have used them to make flags for off-road, and bicycles , so I took one apart and voilà , the nylon part on the end has a quarter inch Stub and it just so happens it is a 1/4-20 thread, so I grabbed a wing nut ,stuck it in the hole in the bar, and tightened it up , once tightened it will stay tight because the one part is nylon .
> This thing is very light weight,and it is flexible .
> ...


 
Just an update, after I have used this ,I have found It fits so tight in hole in the bar, the wing nut isn't necessary, mark my cuts, pull it out , cut em up 
I will make another one 20" , which is max length for my splitter


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## Paulywalnut (Jan 3, 2013)

Yep. My bar is 18" I eye up or put the bar up to measure.
I'm very close with 17 and 18 inch cuts.


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## bboulier (Jan 3, 2013)

I highly recommend the following hi-tech item:





This is the pink chalk model, but I have also tried the white and yellow versions and they also seem to perform satisfactorily.


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## Freakingstang (Jan 3, 2013)

interesting idea for those that would use it.. I'm an eyball guy...

For a lightweight suggetsion, how out some of the flexible driveway markers?  should be lighter than a broom handle and easier to see and attach magnet too...


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## bogydave (Apr 13, 2013)

HDRock said:


> Thanks for the ideas. So I went and made something up.
> I don't mind too much if my cuts are longer than 16 ,but sometimes I end up cutting them shorter and I don't like that.
> I have a bunch of ,amateur band 2 meter, fire stick type mobile antennas, that I got free with an electronics grab box ,they have a tunable whip on the end , I have used them to make flags for off-road, and bicycles , so I took one apart and voilà , the nylon part on the end has a quarter inch Stub and it just so happens it is a 1/4-20 thread, so I grabbed a wing nut ,stuck it in the hole in the bar, and tightened it up , once tightened it will stay tight because the one part is nylon .
> This thing is very light weight,and it is flexible .
> ...


 
How's it working? 
Nice idea with the antenna.


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## HDRock (Apr 13, 2013)

bogydave said:


> How's it working?
> Nice idea with the antenna.
> 
> View attachment 99468


Ya know ! I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but wanted to make it and try it anyway and now I gotta have it, works great, I use it every time bucking trunks, mark em, take it off ,stick in back pocket, zip zap cut em up


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## bogydave (Apr 13, 2013)

I do the same with mine.
I get round 17" (+/- less than an inch.  )

Sometimes I have it on the little saw & mark the lengths then buck with the 20".
Good use for a broken fishing pole.

I made  2,  a 16" & a 17".


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## tekguy (Apr 13, 2013)

'bert said:


> I have a 16" chunk of broom handle with a rare earth magnet screwed on to the end. It nicely snaps on to the bar of my saw for marking and will fall off if needed. I mark my 16's then grab it off and throw into my back pocket for bucking. Super convenient and total investment of $ 0.00 (junk laying around) and my wife was nice enough to break the handle on my broom for me to use.  The rare earth magnet is actually out of a hard drive.
> 
> Went back to an old post and found a picture...


 
i know this is old but ya get the best magnets out of hard drives, i got some i swear would hold a encyclopedia to the side of your fridge
just dont stick one in your left pocket and another in your right LOL


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## HDRock (Apr 13, 2013)

bogydave said:


> I do the same with mine.
> I get round 17" (+/- less than an inch.  )
> 
> Sometimes I have it on the little saw & mark the lengths then buck with the 20".
> ...


Making something out of stuff I have lying around, that works as good or better than store bought ,just tickles the $hit outa me 
Made a 3ft,next a, 6ft pipe hookaroon
Grade 8 bolts not cheep though $26 for 2, 6in bolts + nuts


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## bogydave (Apr 13, 2013)

tekguy said:


> i know this is old but ya get the best magnets out of hard drives, i got some i swear would hold a encyclopedia to the side of your fridge
> just dont stick one in your left pocket and another in your right LOL


 
Earth magnet a good idea. 
May try one


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## HDRock (Apr 14, 2013)

bogydave said:


> Earth magnet a good idea.
> May try one


Ya a magnet would be best n fastest, I figured I would do that as son as I got around t picking one up.
It wouldn't take much to hold that whip ant. on , it's very light.
After I made mine ,I was thinking of using a collapsible antenna, would be adjustable length, I have one with a clip on the end for lighting ,pilot lights.
But IDK if U bumped it  could change the length.
Working on a way to make the one I have adjustable


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## billb3 (Apr 14, 2013)

tekguy said:


> i know this is old but ya get the best magnets out of hard drives, i got some i swear would hold a encyclopedia to the side of your fridge
> just dont stick one in your left pocket and another in your right LOL


 
Don't let them get anywhere near your cc or anything with a magnetic strip on them either


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## bogydave (Apr 14, 2013)

billb3 said:


> Don't let them get anywhere near your cc or anything with a magnetic strip on them either


 
Wonder if a strong magnet on the tip of the bar would cause wear issues with the roller tip or the bar chain groove.
Mines is on & off easy with the wing nut.
Just take a few extra nuts with me, should paint them flo orange/pink


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## HDRock (Apr 14, 2013)

bogydave said:


> Wonder if a strong magnet on the tip of the bar would cause wear issues with the roller tip or the bar chain groove.
> Mines is on & off easy with the wing nut.
> Just take a few extra nuts with me, should paint them flo orange/pink


All this talk about putting maggots on the guides ,I picked one up at HF today ,40mm dia, about 1 1/2" 15lb pull, and it's plenty strong enough for the tiny weight, had to drill a bigger hole in the steel part but the 1/4" nut fit right down inside the hole that comes in the magnet, to attach my guide .
It will be quick but won't be able to stick it in my pocket any more
They can't call me a wing nut any more 
I have 13 more if the antennas but don't need that many guides 
I the pic it looks like the whip on the ant. is hard to see but, it isn't next to a log


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## bogydave (Apr 14, 2013)

Did you notice any movement when running it.?
I was thinking a 1/4'' stud sticking out to fit in the 1/4" hole in the bar might make it more secure

I think you are onto something, better get a patent


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## HDRock (Apr 14, 2013)

bogydave said:


> Did you notice any movement when running it.?
> I was thinking a 1/4'' stud sticking out to fit in the 1/4" hole in the bar might make it more secure
> 
> I think you are onto something, better get a patent


 Nope it didn't move a muscle.
Patent Pending, adjustable length 
They had stronger magnets, were bigger diameter ' 25,65,95lb pull strength , not sure I could buy the 95 cuz I couldn't get just one off ,all of em hanging there were stuck together big time, standing on my tip toes, I could not pull em apart, I didn't want to destroy their rack


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## tekguy (Apr 15, 2013)

HDRock said:


> Nope it didn't move a muscle.
> Patent Pending, adjustable length
> They had stronger magnets, were bigger diameter ' 25,65,95lb pull strength , not sure I could buy the 95 cuz I couldn't get just one off ,all of em hanging there were stuck together big time, standing on my tip toes, I could not pull em apart, I didn't want to destroy their rack


you bars upside down


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## firefighterjake (Apr 15, 2013)

HDRock said:


> *All this talk about putting maggots* on the guides. . .


 
Hmmm . . . how do you get the maggots to stay on . . . and how long do they last before they turn into flies?


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## HDRock (Apr 15, 2013)

firefighterjake said:


> Hmmm . . . how do you get the maggots to stay on . . . and how long do they last before they turn into flies?


It's very tricky, Just have to wait n see


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