GTP
ArboristSite Member
I love this site..great minds in here !
Cleaning chains
- Thread starter BobL
- Start date
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Wow - never been called that before!
Here is a sampler.
Good - cos I get a lot of ideas from everyone else here
Well I can type on a keyboard OK but I still favour the two least damaged fingers.
The real awkward thing is I have lost most of my left hand strength so I have practically no left hand handgrip so even just holding onto things while I carry or work with them is difficult. I have to do gripping exercises but i keep forgetting to do them
I have to ask...why do you clean chains? I get chains all gooped up with sap, but the files don't mind as I sharpen them, they cut just as well and I don't think the saw really cares either. If you have a claggy chain, the next run through wood will clean it off, and then probably add new clag.
Nice work (as ever!)....but why?!
Nice work (as ever!)....but why?!
Yeah I know the idea of clean chains does not concern or worry many people. I also wash my saws to get the crud off them about every full week of use but I know some operators who laugh at that as well.
Sometimes there is a reason to clean chains with some trees we have, like Tuart where the resin bakes on so hard and can build up so thickly that it even places an extra load on the saw. When cutting stuff like Tuart my dad used to throw his chains into a bucket of diesel overnight and this softens up most of the gum so that most of it would come off on the next cut but he was alway handling black greasy smelly chains and the gum used to clog up his files and I remember him cussin' every time he had to cut tuart. I soak my chains overnight in simple green or oven cleaner and used to scrub the chains by hand to get them clean before sharpening. I just find my gizmo makes it much easier to scrub the chains.
I guess I just like to handle clean chains. Same as I like using clean saws.
BTW I was cleaning some chains from my 60" bar this morning a shot 90 s of vid showing the setup if anyone is interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c4WzRExtc0
I'm not a clean freak - I only wash my Van about once a year if that.
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Bob,as always I am very jealous of your work. One comment though, Simple Green extreem is NOT friendly to aluminum. Read the label. Simple Green sells a product called "simple green aviation" designed to be around aluminum and magnesium without causing major deterioration. Both work well one may not leave you rusting away. Yes I am splitting hairs but it matters to some of us.
Keep up the good work.
Actually it's not simple green - It's a green degreaser that looks like simple green. The vapour from simple green takes my breath away and constricts my airways so I have stopped using it some time ago. Thanks for the tip though - I will do some tests with some scrap ally and mag and see what it does to them
BlueRidgeMark
Addicted to ArboristSite
An ultrasonic cleaner will do that for you while you sleep.
Nice rig, but smacks of reinventing the wheel, to me.
Wild Knight
ArboristSite Guru
Well done!
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Nice work their Bob
One problem however...
Your contraption seems to contain not one piece of fencing wire, bailing twine, electrical tape, or even any Tec screws. Even your Irwin clamp looks clean and pretty (mine are all filthy and hammered!)
Is this some type of joke?
Next time can you please do a redneck version that some of us may actually be capable of making. Maybe even include a pushbike to drive the rim sprocket or a treadmill type setup so that the dog or pet hamster can power it up (OK I know a Hamster may struggle spinning a 60" at the required rpm).
Just a thought
One problem however...
Your contraption seems to contain not one piece of fencing wire, bailing twine, electrical tape, or even any Tec screws. Even your Irwin clamp looks clean and pretty (mine are all filthy and hammered!)
Is this some type of joke?
Next time can you please do a redneck version that some of us may actually be capable of making. Maybe even include a pushbike to drive the rim sprocket or a treadmill type setup so that the dog or pet hamster can power it up (OK I know a Hamster may struggle spinning a 60" at the required rpm).
Just a thought
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The shoe fits Bob...you always bring a fresh an insightful angle to tired topics.
dingeryote
Blueberry Baron
That's just SICK!!!
I like it. It works, it's an elegant solution to what would otherwise be a challenge, and Kept Bob from going crazier than a ####house Rat while waiting for his paw to mend. LOL!!
Now, there might be less involved methods to get gorp off of a chain, but none allow for the full blown anal retentive scrubfest, and subsequent white glove inspection, quite like this.
Nice Job Bob!!
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
I like it. It works, it's an elegant solution to what would otherwise be a challenge, and Kept Bob from going crazier than a ####house Rat while waiting for his paw to mend. LOL!!
Now, there might be less involved methods to get gorp off of a chain, but none allow for the full blown anal retentive scrubfest, and subsequent white glove inspection, quite like this.
Nice Job Bob!!
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
That setup would also be great for breaking in a new race chain, bar and sprocket if the bar tip was in a bucket of oil with a shield so the oil isn't flung all over. A married chain, bar and sprocket is much faster than a new one.
John
John
Nice work their Bob
One problem however...
Your contraption seems to contain not one piece of fencing wire, bailing twine, electrical tape, or even any Tec screws. Even your Irwin clamp looks clean and pretty (mine are all filthy and hammered!)
Is this some type of joke?
Next time can you please do a redneck version that some of us may actually be capable of making. Maybe even include a pushbike to drive the rim sprocket or a treadmill type setup so that the dog or pet hamster can power it up (OK I know a Hamster may struggle spinning a 60" at the required rpm).
Just a thought
Sorry - I agree not enough wire or baling twine was used although the wooden bits are held together with 3" chipboard screws and the ally bearing blocks are screwed to the wood with 1.5" chipboard screws, does that count?
I'm sorry I didn't take a photo of the redneck version - I had a rim sprocket bolted/jammed between two large washers to a 1/2 bolt sticking into the bare drill (no stand) which I was just holding onto. T'was "entertaining" to see what happened when the grip on the washers failed and the rim went out of centre - STAND BACK.
Oh yeah - and the hamster wouldn't cooperate, it kept making the chain move only in a forward direction all the while giving me the evil eye!
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If the gizmo is used with degreaser and water it does fling stuff around a bit so I'd originally planned to use a tube type shield made from a 6ft length of PVC drain pipe and cap with a side hole for squirting stuff - but instead I figure I'd do it outside and just run it a bit slower.
audible fart
MS390 OAK CZAR
How about kerosene? Does it damage chainsaw chains? I used to clean bike/motorcycle chains with kerosene and it worked great.
Slamm
Addicted to ArboristSite
That is awesome .............. I just cut trees to clean my chains. Your idea smacks of a much easier way of keeping my chains clean without all of the loud noise and wood chips flying around. Simply amazing, LOL.
Good work,
Sam
Good work,
Sam
BlueRidgeMark
Addicted to ArboristSite
It's steel. How could kerosene hurt it?
Should work pretty well on tree sap, come to think of it.
