Raquette Lake Winter Carnival 2023 — Crosscut and Chainsaw Competition

Photo courtesy Hamlet of Raquette Lake

The second day of Raquette Lake’s Winter Carnival is focused on the Crosscut and Chainsaw Competition. This is a long-standing tradition in Raquette lake, with both men and ladies competing in this timed event.

So, what’s a crosscut, you ask? Let’s break it down:

•A crosscut saw (thwart saw) is any type of saw designed to cut wood across the grain.

• It can be a hand tool or power tool and vary in size, with small teeth close together for fine work and large ones for coarse work such as log bucking. In this competition, contestants are using the large size for “log bucking,” and it’s powered by pure ADK brawn.

• Its cutting edge has an alternating pattern which allows each tooth to act like a knife edge while slicing through the wood as opposed to rip saws that tear along the grain.

• Some crosscut saws use special teeth called rakers that clean out strips from the kerf (the cut end of a felled tree), while others have smaller teeth than their rip-saw counterparts.

• Japanese and Egyptian-style are designed only for pull strokes, whereas Western styles are made specifically for push strokes.

You probably know what a chainsaw is, so I won’t bore you go into a lot of detail about that. You get the picture.

For information about competing, call 518-624-3077. And check out their Facebook page for the latest updates.