32" bar Chain snaking in the wood

[poulson01]

Am I not sharpening good enough? It was a while ago but by the look of cutters, I'd say I did it on the grinder. They look pretty close to me.
I miked the drive links and I get .042". Is that too much wiggle room?
What usually makes long bars start to bind in the cut?

 

[blsnelling]

Either the chain isn't sharpened correctly, the rails are worn unevenly, or the rails are spread.

 

[smokinj]

Either the chain isn't sharpened correctly, the rails are worn unevenly, or the rails are spread.

+1 or a combo of the 3 but......chances are the chain sharpen incorectly

 

[Burvol]

Take off your bar and sight down it. Might have a bent bar or crooked cutting chain.

 

[rob066]

Could also be wrong guage chain for bar.

 

[Bremen]

What kind of chain, are there numbers stamped on the drive links? I assume .050 gauge bar?

 

[madhatte]

Wait: snaking? As in not pulling to one side, but wandering back and forth? That sounds like either spread rails or wrong chain pitch.

 

[rubberducky]

The most common problem is that the chain isnt sharpened the same on each side......bending a 32 inch bar is pretty hard to do....and you would definetely hear the difference, let alone see it.

 

[poulson01]

What kind of chain, are there numbers stamped on the drive links? I assume .050 gauge bar?

Yeah the chain is Oregon. 72.
The bar is Oregon. O think off a Husky 372. .050"

Wait: snaking? As in not pulling to one side, but wandering back and forth? That sounds like either spread rails or wrong chain pitch.

Snake-ing...Like the ends of the bar go left and the center goes right.
I don't know how else to explain it.

I don't run big bars. I really don't need anything bigger then 20'
" around here.

What I think is happening is that the harmonics of the chain and bar are making the chain "snake" through the wood.

The "72 stamp is worn off some of the drive links but I'm not buying a new loop. These cutters have plenty left.

 

[poulson01]

+1 or a combo of the 3 but......chances are the chain sharpen incorectly

I'm pretty proud of my chains. They cut fast and straight. My longest bar is usually 20" though.

Take off your bar and sight down it. Might have a bent bar or crooked cutting chain.

I layed it all on the table and it's flat.

Could also be wrong guage chain for bar.

Or excessive wear? It feels sloppy and the micrometer don't lie. I have had shorter bars that feel loose but cut straight though.

This is 3/8 pitch. I've run 36" bars but in .404

 

[ray benson]

Am I not sharpening good enough? It was a while ago but by the look of cutters, I'd say I did it on the grinder. They look pretty close to me.
I miked the drive links and I get .042". Is that too much wiggle room?

Replace the chain, too much slop.

 

[MCW]

I'd near bet my left nut it's a sharpening issue which is why it hasn't shown up on your shorter bars. No matter how bad at sharpening you are it's pretty hard to get a 20" bar wrong, particularly in smaller wood. When you hit bars like 32" or over everything has to be spot on to get straight cuts.

Could be a bar problem as mentioned but I'm betting your sharpening angles are inconsistent from one side to the other. There is a fair bit of load placed on a chain cutter and if the cutting angles are out a fair bit of uneven side load can be imparted on the chain and bar. I've seen this sort of thing before with my own saws on long bars and it was always inconsistent cutter angles, thanks to my POS MAXX grinder which is now sold...

 

[poulson01]

I'm gonna put it on the grinder one more time and get the angles cut in again. If that don't fix it, there's gonna be a 32" bar in the trading post! It's overkill for what I do anyway.

 

[swamprat46]

Are you running full or skip? Skip clears chips better.
Bent driver?
Rakers set low enough?

John

 

[WoodChuck'r]

Either the chain isn't sharpened correctly, the rails are worn unevenly, or the rails are spread.

Had that with the 7900 at the last GTG. It was NOT cutting the way it should. Walt (weimedog) noticed it immediately. The rail was really bad, and the saw was walking all over the wood. And I don't mean that in a good competitive way either!!

S'from milling mostly - that's how I use the saw, so I didn't get a chance to notice. Dan dressed the bar for me quick and I threw on a brand new Stihl chain - the difference was night and and day.

Later on I had Cale grind my couple of chains I use exclusively for milling. He said the one side on each chain was down much more than the other. S'too bad you can't flip the chain along with flipping the bar!!

 

[MCW]

I'm gonna put it on the grinder one more time and get the angles cut in again. If that don't fix it, there's gonna be a 32" bar in the trading post! It's overkill for what I do anyway.

Another thing too mate, make sure your grinder is accurate

 

[poulson01]

Are you running full or skip? Skip clears chips better.
Bent driver?
Rakers set low enough?

John

Semi. i'm not clearing old growth timber here. just the occasional ugly maple trunk. once in a great while, i find a 40" oak.

Another thing too mate, make sure your grinder is accurate

my grinder is a cheapo plastic thing. i like it because it's so flexible. i can bring the wheel to ~the ~chain> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i"m ~having ~~~~~~~~~~some ~keyboard ~~~~~trouble ~here>my ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~daughter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~spilled ~apple ~juice ~in ~it ~~last ~night>

i"m ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~pretty ~sure ~~~~~the ~chain ~problem ~~~~~~~~~~~isn"t ~me ~though>


hold ~on
i ~need ~my ~laptop:monkey:

 

[poulson01]

OK where was I!:monkey:
I've looked at the bar closely. It's flat and the rails are even and smooth. The depth on the rakers is right for hardwood.
The only thing I see is the 72 is worn right off some of the drivers and they mike almost .009" too thin.

I like my cheap grinder because I can set the top plate angle semi accurately and then bring the wheel down just in front of the chain. Then I bend the whole grinder over the 1/16" or whatever, and just touch the cutter. I give it a zip zip zip and it's done. Unlike most people who use a grinder, I re-set the chain stop when I flip around to do the other side of the chain. I just got a Dolmar delivered today that I got off ebay. The chain was obviously done on a grinder the popular way:
Put chain on grinder.
Set top plate angle.
Set chain stop.
Grind one side of chain.
Flip top plate angle.
Grind other side.

If you do it this way, you get your left cutters shorter then your right.

I'm pretty sure my problem is the drivers of the chain. There's just too much slop and the chain is too long and has too many drive links and too many cutters. It needs to fit tighter to work

If it was a .404, it might be OK.
If it was full skip, it might be OK.

Bottom line, I don't want to buy a loop and find out it's not the problem.
I'd rather get a 24" bar and a couple loops and call it a day.
32" is kool but not necessary for me.

 

[Grande Dog]

Howdy,
Take your bar and stand it on edge on a good hard surface like a table saw top. It should be square to the surface. Stack some feeler gauges and check the groove.
Regards
Gregg

 

[poulson01]

It stands on edge perfect. I'm tellin ya....the bar looks really good.
I tried to fit a .058" drive link in the groove. It fits in the sprocket tip but not in the bar. It'll start but won't go in more then 1/16".

So I'd say it's less then .058" but tapered.