A whipsaw or pitsaw was originally a type of saw used in a saw pit, and consisted of a narrow blade held rigid by a frame and called a frame saw or sash saw (see illustrations). This evolved into a straight, stiff blade without a frame, up to 14 feet long and with a handle at each end. The upper handle was called the tiller and the lower one the box, so called from its appearance and because it could be removed when the saw was taken out of one cut to be positioned in another.[1] The whipsaw was used close to the felling site to reduce large logs to beams and planks.
Whipsawing for boatbuilding in Alaska, late 19th century
Sawyers either dug a large pit or constructed a sturdy platform, enabling a two-man crew to saw, one positioned below the log called the pit-man, the other standing on top called the top-man. The saw blade teeth were angled and sharpened as a rip saw so as to only cut on the downward stroke. On the return stroke, the burden of lifting the weight of the saw was shared equally by the two sawyers, thereby reducing fatigue and backache. The pitman had to contend with sawdust in his mouth and eyes and the risk of being crushed by a falling log, although modern photographs[2] show the saw dust falling, as would be expected, away from the pitman, the teeth being on the opposite edge from him.
^Salaman, 426–429
^Arnoult, Annie, La Grande Histoire des Scieurs de Long
A whipsaw or pitsaw was originally a type of saw used in a saw pit, and consisted of a narrow blade held rigid by a frame and called a frame saw or sash...
A whipsaw strike (also called a selective strike) is a strike by a trade union against only one or a few employers in an industry or a multi-employer...
Whipsaw Creek is a creek in the Similkameen region of British Columbia. The creek flows into the Similkameen River from the west and is approximately...
rived (split) and planed, hewn, or more often hand sawn by two men with a whipsaw, one above and another in a saw pit below. The earliest known mechanical...
disparate fashions may also be collectively known as yet-ca mein. In the movie Whipsaw, from 1935 starring Myrna Loy, a character in New Orleans places a phone...
the name for a new school that is under construction. Hanburger hires Whipsaw McGraw, a bowling champion, to train his bowling team. From the city, the...
out like the string of electric lights that is pulled from the wall to whipsaw through the living room". Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four...
handle on each end or a frame saw. A pit-saw was also sometimes known as a whipsaw. It took 2-4 people to operate. A "pit-man" stood in the pit, a "top-man"...
have had affairs with co-star Tracy between 1935 and 1936, while filming Whipsaw and Libeled Lady. Loy recounted in her autobiography that Spencer Tracy...
Global Information
