Full Chisel vs Semi Chisel?

[2dogs]

So the semi-chisel must stand around farting, bragging, and spitting whilst the chisel is out making me a sandwhich.

J/K of course. You have to remember I am the man in my house. I wear the pants! I also wash the pants and iron them and repair them.

 

[sunfish]

Actually, they both cut wood pretty good. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Philbert]

I noticed something cutting mostly clean wood with sc that I never seen happen with chisel, the top plate going concave from the chips honing away the softer metal underneath.

What I think that you are seeing (and you must have good eyes to see it!) is the hollow grind on the underside of the top plate, and on the side plate, from the shaped/profiled grinder wheel.

Actually, they both cut wood pretty good.

That's the key - keeping them properly sharpened! I most always would prefer having a sharp whatever, to a dull whatever-else.

Philbert

 

[J.W Younger]

What I think that you are seeing (and you must have good eyes to see it!) is the hollow grind on the underside of the top plate, and on the side plate, from the shaped/profiled grinder wheel.

That's the key - keeping them properly sharpened! I most always would prefer having a sharp whatever, to a dull whatever-else.

Philbert

No, its not. What I was refering too you can see lookin down not underneath the top plate and this is not in any way to put you down but spend more tIme learning and less time teaching.
As for the hollow grind, you get that from a round file as well as a properly shaped wheel,and it may be that this contributes to the self sharpening lost with square profiles. In other words it may not be that square goes dull faster but that it does not self sharpen as well, in any case when the point is pushed down on chisel it stops cutting, period.

 

[Philbert]

No, its not. What I was refering too you can see lookin down not underneath the top plate and this is not in any way to put you down but spend more tIme learning and less time teaching.

the top plate going concave from the chips honing away the softer metal underneath.

.

Take it easy - You need to describe this better. Are you saying that when you look down at a cutter from the top the flat edge becomes concave? I have only seen this when the cutter hits something.

Philbert

 

[J.W Younger]

.

Take it easy - You need to describe this better. Are you saying that when you look down at a cutter from the top the flat edge becomes concave? I have only seen this when the cutter hits something.

Philbert

I am taking it easy and have no malice towards you , but even tho i'm old there many things i havent seen.

 

[gallegosmike]

I cut dirty little trees for firewood with semi-chisel chain, because filing my chain every fill up is a waste of time. I have to drive a long(140 miles round trip)ways get access to firewood on USFS land. I do not want to spend time sharpening my chain or switching out to another one. That is MY system that work for ME. Heck I would love to cut with square filed chain. But I would last about one good sized tree before all the grit and gunk would dull it out.

I am getting a feeling that this is more of time efficiency discussion then a full chisel vs. semi-chisel.

If I could go on to and cut the nice big white furs in my back yard in national forest land. The trees get alot more rain and are "cleaner" then pinon pine & juniper that I for firewood. That few more inches of rain, plus different type of dirt. Keeps the nasty crud off the trees that eats square and round chisel chains. Be happy if you live where you get lots of rain to keep your trees nice "clean"!

My .02

Mike

 

[SawTroll]

No point in making a science out of this - just try the options yourself, if you are in doubt!

 

[mdavlee]

I do cut mostly clean wood that hasn't been skidded. I do cut some that has been skidded and I don't really notice square getting dull faster than round filed chains. They both seem to go atleast 2 tanks and some have went 6 before it was wood dull.

 

[John Ellison]

No point in making a science out of this - just try the options yourself, if you are in doubt!

Yep, thats the only real answer. There are so many variables in wood, cutting methods, experience and just plain preferences that the best thing is to experiment with the different chains and see what works best for you.

 

[wyk]

I actually enjoy sharpening chain. I stick with full chisel even in dirty conditions. I'll sharpen 3-4 chains per bar at home, take them to work, and swap em out as they dull if they look like they need more than a quick touch up, so very little time is wasted. Oftentimes I will do this even if they haven't gone completely dull if I happen to be on a break or lunch.

 

[056kid]

i just cut trees with axes and cross cut saws.



BECAUSE they don't go dull as fast. . .

 

[Andyshine77]

I do cut mostly clean wood that hasn't been skidded. I do cut some that has been skidded and I don't really notice square getting dull faster than round filed chains. They both seem to go atleast 2 tanks and some have went 6 before it was wood dull.

I agree. I've used both and the only difference I noticed is full chisel cuts faster. I will add that Stihl chain seems to hold an edge longer than any other brand of chain I've used.

 

[Gologit]

Yep, thats the only real answer. There are so many variables in wood, cutting methods, experience and just plain preferences that the best thing is to experiment with the different chains and see what works best for you.

Yup. It just takes a minute or two to change a chain.

 

[Chris-PA]

Learning about chain has been my main focus recently, and this thread has been helpful. You notice all my saws are cheap homeowner saws, and It's become clear to me that as long as they are running properly then having the appropriate chain and keeping it sharp are the most important things I can do.

After reading this thread I looked carefully at the chain on my Poulan 2775. It's got a 20" bar with Oregon 33SL chain, which is full chisel. Now I know it's said that saw has no business with a 20" bar, but in fact it rarely bogs, it just cuts real slow. So I downloaded Oregon's sheet on that chain and sharpened the it as carefully as I could, paying attention to getting the points very clean. It really helped a lot, but it still seems slow and the saw does not sound or feel like it's working very hard. Kinda like me and the saw are bored and just standing there waiting for something to happen.

So I've decided to change to a different chain type and I'm trying to decide what to try.

 

[slowp]

i just cut trees with axes and cross cut saws.



BECAUSE they don't go dull as fast. . .

That is next weekend.

 

[Philbert]

Learning about chain has been my main focus recently, and this thread has been helpful. You notice all my saws are cheap homeowner saws, and It's become clear to me that as long as they are running properly then having the appropriate chain and keeping it sharp are the most important things I can do.

It sounds simplistic, but I think that you are right on. Having a properly sharpened chain, using whatever method that works for you, is the most fundamental thing in cutting efficiently.

We get all testosterone poisoned; focusing on more horsepower and longer bars on our Binford saws, but a lot of wood gets cut with Craftsman, and Poulan, and WildThing saws using sharp chain.

It reminds me of when I was learning about woodworking, and getting all caught up in bigger table saws and power tools, milling wood into submission, etc. After a while, you start to appreciate those comments your 8th grade shop teacher made about the importance of understanding the wood grain, and keeping your cutting tools sharp.

It's nice to own the nice tools, but it helps to keep those fundamentals in mind.

Philbert

 

[eriklane]

Skip Tooth chain

Sounds like you'd benefit from a skip tooth chain. I've just purchased one for my 33" bar on my Husky 394 that simply doesn't pull as good as I believe it should with a regular chain. we'll see...

 

[Huntand Fish]

You will cookie cut faster with Chisel Chain, you will cut more wood faster with Semi-chisel as you don't/won't have to stop nearly as often to sharpen and it stays sharper longer, although it is slower/duller to begin with when compared to Chisel.

Think of Semi Chisel as a big round wave on a line graph with lower peaks and higher valleys. Where as, chisel is more peaky with higher highs and lower lows.

Or another way is semi-chisel is a man and chisel is a woman, it has its points, but its emotional, with associated highs and lows. The semi is just steady, always trying to work without the drama, headache and fuss.

Or chisel is faster and slower, Semi-chisel is in the middle always working.

Sam

Damn that was deep. That definitely cleared up my thoughts about how the link actually looks. I’m glad you answered he question. I sharpen by hand and have only used SC to my knowledge. I had read in the past, a chisel was for clean dry hardwood. While SC was for dirty, frozen wet wood or softer wood like pines.

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

I think semi chisel is more common on small saws as it’s easier to pull as well.

Full chisel or bust for me. We get a lot of river sit in our trees and I haven’t found it to be a issue. The semi chisel just cuts too rough and slow for my liking.