Do you ever de-bark a whole log before milling? Seems like it could be a lot of work, depending on the type of bark.
Philbert
Philbert
Dirt/Sawdust, is a contaminant. I only clean a chain before I sharpen it to eliminate gumming up the file or wheel.I thought would ask the experts. Should one clean his chainsaw chains when one sharpens them?
I have been. First I soak the chain over night in a mixture of 1 cup of ammonia to 1 gallon of water. Remove chain and rinse in WD 40. Hang to dry. Then sharpen. Soak in oil over night, then hang to drip off excess oil.
The chains look and feel like new !
I am hopeing you folks have another way that I would love to hear about. The big question is, is it necessary ?
lumberjackmoe
Once I finish polishing my chains, what lacquer/clear coat would you recommend?
I posted a lot of things you can use in the Chain Salvage Challenge thread above. Sodium hydroxide (lye) works really well whether it is part of a commercial cleaning product ('Super Fast', 'LA Totally Awsome', etc.), oven cleaner, or even food grade powder (yes - used in preserving some foods, making soap, etc.). ***Use with care as this stuff is extremely caustic and will eat your skin or eyes if splashed***Most saw brands have a chain/saw cleaner in a spray bottle, l know stihl offers it.
Do you ever de-bark a whole log before milling? Seems like it could be a lot of work, depending on the type of bark.
Philbert
Most saw brands have a chain/saw cleaner in a spray bottle, l know stihl offers it. l had about 6 bottles of Solo chain cleaner and apart from being a bit toxic to breathe/touch it would just dissolve sap and gunk on a chain like nothing else.
It's a bit like the guy who services your car. If it comes back washed and vacuumed and has clean windows it leaves a good impression. The car is not going to perform any better because it is clean but that doesn't mean it is not worth doing.And for that, you are doing a service. In fact, you are doing a better service than anyone else, hence why he is coming to you. If you and your name are attached to this "product", I would make it represent it well. Why wouldn't you want them to look their very best? Keep on cleaning those chains, I say. And that's just from a business/customer service angle.
I soak it in Rubbermaid degreaser strong solution mixed with water in a Rawlings Baseball bucket. The cleaner is Sodium Hydroxide, (LYE). It gets it all out. No gunked up, caked up sticky pitched covered chain with all those hundreds of moving parts performs as well as a bright blue clean sharp chain with lube flowing in all those clean parts. Not physically possible.
I got the idea for the lye-based degreaser from this dude here. After practicing what this guy said, I won't go back to dirty chain.
That's a lot of work! Seriously.I ran both sides across a brass wire wheel, soaked it in gas for an hour, then scrubbed it with a brush, rinsed...then soaked it in CLR for 2 hours...rinsed, and warmed up some motor oil to the point it smoked and let the chain soak overnight. Pull it out, blew it off...ran ir across the grinder and hung it up on a nail...looks and feels very nice and it only took about 10 minutes and about a quart of gas....
It sounds like alot but, mainly just transferring from one pan to the next. Wheeling and grinding included maybe 10 minutes of my time. I figure im out in the shop fixing stuff...That's a lot of work! Seriously.
I soak dirty chains in a 50:50 mix of SuperClean (water based degreaser containing lye) for about 5 minutes, then clean with an old toothbrush, rinse, and dry in an oven (200°F for 15 min on an old cookie sheet). Takes care of most gunked up chains. If really bad (some chains look like they are coated with tar or asphalt) it goes back in for another 5 minutes and I hit it with a fine, stainless steel scratch brush (like a toothbrush, but used for MIG welding). Hit heavily with WD-40 after repairs, sharpening, etc.
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If a chain just has sawdust and bar oil on it, blow it off with compressed air or wipe it with a rag.
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/philbert-meets-the-stihl-rs3.202969/
If I find light rust underneath, I soak in a mild, organic acid (citric, acetic, oxalic, etc.) and brush. EvapoRust type chemicals work too, but they are expensive. Have to remove all the grease and oil first for these chemicals to work.
Philbert
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