Cryogenically treating chains

[esshup]

I forget what thread it was in, but someone asked how much it cost to have them frozen.
I picked up my chains from the welding shop that does treating yesterday. I haven't had any done for 3-4 years and I really didn't remember what it cost then. This time it cost $8.31 per pound. I was suprised when I got the bill, I thought it'd be a lot less. Next year I'll be doing a lot of cutting, so I'll try and remember to keep tab on how long a treated vs. non-treated chain lasts. To be honest, at that price I don't know if it's worth it.

 

[Marshy]

Care to explain the benefit of freezing the chain has?

 

[blades]

freezing has similar benefits as heat treating in as much as the molecular structure is slightly altered. it can be useful particularly when traditional heat treating would cause undue warpage or too much scaling. temps iirc are somewhere in the area of negative 400 degrees F. In some cases it is used more as a tempering process after heat treat than a hardening process. pros and cons abound.

 

[troylee]

I turned a factory onto this. They sent a 5 gal bucket of cutters to 300 below in Decatur IL. They averaged a cutter a shift. After treatment he got 2 shifts out of the cutters. They purchased my next go kart motor for me.

After treatment of my motors we got 3 rebuilds and no boring of block. We went .010 on every rebuild before treatment.

 

[sawfun]

GB had some bars known as Frostbite, which had this done to them.

 

[7sleeper]

I used to have unlimited access to a liquid nitrogen tank(-198 C)! Sure am unhappy that I don't anymore!

7

 

[Zale]

Never hears of this for saw chains. Sounds like snake oil.

 

[troylee]

I don't know how it works on chains, but it made blocks harder and valve springs held their tension longer.

 

[Zale]

I don't doubt it has its applications, I've never heard of doing this to saw chain. What exactly would be the benefit?

 

[troylee]

The cutters on the machines my buddy used lasted longer, stayed sharper longer. Maybe that is the benefit we would see. They do this to aluminum bats and they hit a ball farther, try and figure that out! Back in the day, it was 50 dollars for a 5 gal bucket. Anything you could fit in it. It was a 48 hr process then. Slow and steady up and down the thermometer.

 

[Zale]

If you make the chain "harder", wouldn't it be more difficult to sharpen by hand?

 

[troylee]

Harder was a bad choice of words on my part, and I don't have the technical expertise to explain it

 

[HuskStihl]

Just ship them up to DSS in Canuckistan. He can leave them in the truck overnight for cheap

 

[HuskStihl]

Actually we should ask Stihl Sawing if it works. He was cryogenically frozen for several epochs after the last extinction level event

 

[esshup]

The chains seem to stay sharper longer, but I can't put an exact "how much longer" figure to it. Sandy soils here, and it's everywhere. Squirrels must have sand stuck to their feet as I've seen small sparks when cutting at dusk in a tree trunk that was 20'+ off the ground and not skidded out (no dirt in the bark).

The local Amish sawblade sharpener service, who also sells chains, only sells cryo'd chains now. With as frugal as I know them to be, if it didn't work they wouldn't spend the extra $$ for it.

The guy at the shop where I had it done said there were 6 or 8 spools of chain along with my spool in the batch that they just did, so it must help.

Long story short:
I had a piece of steel welded, and it kept cracking at the weld junction. After the last weld job, I sent it to be frozen and it hasn't cracked since, and it was frozen in 1996 or 1997.

 

[StihlRockin']

I don't think using the term "harder" to explain what happens to the metal after the process is so far off. For simplicity sake it fits. Some of your best knives are made from hard steel. Harder steel last longer and needs less sharpening as it keeps an edge longer.

For those who say "I love this knife because it sharpens so easily", don't realize it sharpens "easily" because the metal is softer. Softer equates to losing it's edge faster staying sharp for a lesser amount of time.

I question how the new cryo'd chain would sharpen after the process? A common hand chainsaw file may not work efficiently taking too long. One may have to consider using an electric sharpener with the diamond in the stone.

StihlRockin'

 

[cre73]

I have access to dry ice if I were to place my chains in a bucket full of it for a couple days do you believe that would work?

 

[blackdogon57]

Wonder if a cryogenic chain would have helped me out here yesterday ? Don't know if this chain will ever be the same !

 

[KiwiBro]

rx?

 

[blackdogon57]

Oregon 16H harvester chain. - 404/063