Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Handsaw and Food Crisis

Lin Yu’an wasted no time and immediately began his “new equipment” production plan.

He first carefully inspected the chainsaw chain, which was about sixty to seventy centimeters long. Apart from the broken end, the other teeth were very sharp, with no obvious rust.

The preparation for the bowback was more painstaking. He entered the forest near the shelter again, carefully searching for suitable trees and branches.

Ultimately, he chose a birch tree with a diameter of about four centimeters for the bowback.

“The wood for the bowback must have good toughness to withstand tension without breaking when tightening the saw chain.”

He cut down this approximately 1.2-meter birch rod, carefully stripped off the bark after returning to the camp, and began to shape it with fire.

Slowly roasting it, using the softened characteristics of the wood fibers to gradually bend it into a full “C” arc.

Tied and fixed its ends with a few nylon ropes picked up, then set it aside to cool and settle.

After cooling, the birch rod had formed a beautiful “C” shaped bowback. Lin Yu’an untied the ropes and was very satisfied with the curve and rebound of the bowback.

He carefully carved out a groove at each end of the bowback with the blade of a multi-functional knife, matching the width and thickness of the chainsaw chain.

“These two grooves are very crucial. They will serve as the bases for both ends of the saw chain, ensuring the saw chain won’t easily slip under pressure and forms a tighter fit with the bowback.”

He first embedded one end of the chainsaw chain, steadily into the pre-carved groove on the bowback, with the teeth facing out.

Then he took a piece of treated steel fishing line to secure it.

“I want to use the powerful pull of the steel fishing line and the slight elasticity of the wood to ’lock’ the end of the saw chain on the bowback.”

He threaded one end of the wire through the groove between the last few chain pieces of the saw chain from the outside of the bowback.

Next, he pulled the wire tightly, making it clamp deeply into the saw chain grooves, then wrapped the wire tightly around this end of the bowback wood, securing one end of the saw chain tightly.

The other end was fixed slightly differently. He first took a nylon rope.

One end was firmly tied to the end of the bowback, the other passed through the groove of the last chain piece of the saw chain.

“Now, I plan to use the Spanish windlass method to tighten it.”

Lin Yu’an used a small stick as a winding stick, passing it horizontally through the middle of the nylon rope loop, and began to rotate.

As he twisted the winding stick forcefully, the nylon rope shortened like a braided twist, and the huge pulling force caused the bowback to bend further, while the saw chain was stretched straight as a string.

When the tension reached optimal level, he fixed the winding stick on the inside of the bowback.

Only then did he use wire to carry out the final locking and securing of the saw chain on this end with the bowback. A D-shaped hand saw was completed!

(Two images combined with imagination)

“Perfect!”

Lin Yu’an raised this D-shaped hand saw in his hand and showcased its structure before the camera.

The curve of the bowback was full of power, the black chainsaw chain was taut at the open end of the bowback, and each sharp tooth gleamed a cold light.

“Look at this! A hand saw made from a discarded chainsaw chain by a lumberjack! This is definitely one of the most valuable tools I’ve made since coming here!”

He couldn’t wait to test the combat capability of this new tool.

From the pile of firewood beside the camp, he picked out a dry Spruce Wood Segment, placed one end on a higher stone, and steadied the other end with his foot, forming a simple sawing rack.

Lin Yu’an bent down, stabilizing the wood segment with his left hand, gripping the handle of the hand saw tightly with his right. The tip of the saw chain was lightly placed on the preset cutting line.

“Come on, let me see your performance!”

He exerted force on his arms, starting to pull the saw steadily back and forth.

“Scritch! Scritch! Scritch! Scritch!”

Almost instantly when the teeth touched the wood, a crisp and rhythmic cutting sound echoed in the woods!

Unlike the heavy “thunk thunk” sound from previously splitting with a logging axe, this continuous cutting sound was so efficient and pleasing.

The sharp chainsaw teeth bit into the hard spruce wood easily like a hungry beast.

With the back-and-forth motion of Lin Yu’an’s arms, the fragrant pine wood shavings fluttered down like snowflakes from the saw cut.

He could clearly feel the saw chain progressing steadily and smoothly through the wood fibers, encountering almost no resistance.

The elasticity of the bowback and the tension of the saw chain complemented each other perfectly, every pull was full of power!

In less than two minutes, he easily split the arm-thick Spruce Wood Segment into two!

“Amazing, it truly specializes in the art, much more efficient than the logging axe.”

“I previously felt a bit regretful for not choosing to carry a saw. I didn’t expect to accidentally acquire the key material for making a saw and successfully produced it!”

“The appearance of this saw can be said to have completely compensated for a huge shortfall in my tools! Preparing a large amount of firewood for winter will see a geometrical increase in efficiency!”

After testing the new saw and briefly planning the subsequent wood processing plan, Lin Yu’an carefully hung this precious saw on a nail on the wall inside the shelter.

It was still early, and he remembered another important task—checking the stinging net he set up yesterday.

“Guys, the new tool test was very successful. Now let me check the situation of the fishing net.”

“I hope there’s some harvest today. My reserve of smoked fish is not abundant.”

Lin Yu’an paddled the “Pioneer” canoe, heading quickly to that familiar river bay.

However, as he approached the area of the stinging net, Lin Yu’an’s brow furrowed slightly.

The floats he made with light wood were only gently swaying with the weak water flow today, showing no signs of being dragged significantly.

“Hmm? Doesn’t seem like there’s much movement.”

He steadied the canoe and caught the end of the stinging net near the shore, starting to retrieve it slowly.

The wet lines were gradually pulled up from the cold lake water, hanging with some aquatic plants but otherwise empty.

Lin Yu’an quietly felt for a moment, neither did his keen Sixth Sense detect signs of fish activity underwater. It seemed this area indeed was temporarily void of fish.

“Alright, seems like the Goddess of Fortune didn’t stand by my side today.”

“The stinging net had no harvest. Perhaps due to the recent cooling weather, the fish’s activity patterns have changed.”

He paddled the canoe again, carefully searching a circle near the river bay, tried a few new potential fishing spots, and carried out fly fishing with his feather lure, but still returned empty-handed.

By evening, when he returned to the shore, Lin Yu’an sat on a rock next to the canoe, his expression somewhat solemn.

Lin Yu’an opened his food reserve bag, inside were only the last few pieces of smoked fish meat and some dried berries collected earlier.

“These smoked fish, if eaten sparingly, might support for three to a maximum of four days. That means, if I don’t gain new food in the coming days, the situation will become somewhat tricky.”

The previous ease of gathering Jerusalem artichokes, catching rainbow trout, pike, trapping beaver, and shooting grouse led to a temporary sense of abundance and an inexplicable Sixth Sense that made him somewhat complacent with food acquisition.

A long-lost sense of food crisis began to quietly spread in his heart.

“It seems I was previously too fortunate, not worrying much about food. From now on, I can’t rely solely on fishing and small traps.”

“I have to take proactive measures to find more reliable and larger sources of food! Hopefully, I’ll find opportunities to hunt larger prey.”

“Luckily, there’s good news today—I now have this hand saw! It allows me to process wood more efficiently and gather fuel, saving more valuable time and energy to invest in hunting.”

As night fell, the flames flickered in the shelter, and Lin Yu’an began to think about the next hunting plan.

(Seek monthly votes, seek monthly votes, seek monthly votes, got short notice for success in three rounds of recommendation, preparing to charge into Sanjiang!)

(P.S.: It’s not that I’m unwilling to write more, in the new period, we need to eat the flow of recommendations. If we can eat another round of recommendations, let’s eat another round.)

(Rest assured, once listed, I’ll write fiercely! Even more fiercely than that little Teddy!)

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