Jim and Bill DeMastus compete in Albany's World Championship Timber Carnival in 1982. (Submitted photograph).

By LISA BRITTON

Jim Bob DeMastus started logging when he was 18, and he never, in all his years, used a crosscut saw on the job.

Those saws were the tools of his free time that he made by hand and then, with his brother Bill, used to win five world championships in crosscut saw competitions.

andquot;I made 13 saws altogether trying to get one to cut,andquot; says DeMastus, 71.

When he finally perfected his technique, the DeMastus brothers were off and sawing and on their way to winning five world championship double bucking titles.

andquot;We practiced very faithfully during the summer,andquot; he says.

Bill DeMastus lives in La Grande, and he’d drive to Baker City on Wednesdays and Saturdays for practice.

They won championships in 1974, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.

Their story will be featured on Oregon Field Guide at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday and at 6:30 on Sunday on Oregon Public Broadcasting, Channel 13.

andquot;I assume they’re trying to keep alive the history of crosscut saws,andquot; DeMastus said.

A family affair

Jim’s affinity for crosscut saws and competition spread to his family, and in 1983 his sons, Jim and Bob DeMastus, placed second in the world championships.

They were out-sawed by the elder DeMastus brothers.

andquot;The only time a family group was first and second,andquot; DeMastus says.

His wife and daughter, Barbara and Gwen Everson, have placed in andquot;Jack and Jillandquot; contests (one man and one woman) and his wife and daughter-in-law, Kris DeMastus, were world champs in 1978 in a andquot;Jill and Jillandquot; competition.

Though he still crafts crosscut saws, Jim and Bill no longer enter competitions.

andquot;No, we’re too old,andquot; Jim says.

He’s not, however, done with the woods.

andquot;I still cut longs a little bit. I’m supposed to be retired, but…andquot;

He teaches crosscut filing clases for smoke jumpers and those who have to work in the wilderness.

Oh, and he still fights fire for the Forest Service.

andquot;I was out 56 days last summer. That’s pretty hard on a 71-year-old grandpa,andquot; he says with a laugh.