SAW BAR CUTS CROOKED:

[johnlhatfield1]

I believe the saw bar that I purchased recently is bent to the left. It"s a 25 inch Rollomatic ES. The bend is noticable to the eye.
I hope some of you can help me with a way to straighten my problem.
Thanks in advance,,...,,... AS members.

 

[HuskStihl]

Uhhh...if'n it's new and appears to be bent, take it back. If you bent it, you can try to straighten it with a bench vise, but it ain't easy.

Are you sure the chain isn't responsible for the crooked cutting?

 

[Watson394xp]

Uhhh...if'n it's new and appears to be bent, take it back. If you bent it, you can try to straighten it with a bench vise, but it ain't easy.

Are you sure the chain is to responsible for the crooked cutting?

That's what's im thinking.. Has one side of chain angled more or les than the. Other.. But who knows

 

[AKDoug]

Take the bar off and lay it on a flat table. That's the only real way you can tell.

 

[broman78]

he has two really good videos on bar maintenance, not sure if the correct way to straighten a bar is in the second or first video. Linked posted will take you to the second video.

 

[Sagetown]

If you find that the Bar is not bent, then check your chain rakers. They may need filing down below the teeth approximately .025".

 

[old-cat]

A real easy way to straighten bars is to bore cut into the end of a BIG round of log, insert bar to the bend point and push down to straighten. Another way is get a BIG C-clamp, lay two short pieces of 4x4 on your bench top, put the bar on the 4x4s bend up, C-clamp on the bend point.

 

[Big_Wood]

the only way to straighten a bar is to pick a solid stump which was cut level and is large enough to support the bar by straight sections of it and the bend in the center. give it a wack in the centre away from the rails with an axe. i'm not talking a 2lb axe though. i'm talking 4-4.5lb. just use the axes weight at first and gradually hit harder til you see it straighten out. if the bar has a twist hit closer to the high side of the twist while still staying away from the rails. i just had to straighten out one of my cannons becaue of a log rolling and sliding during a bucking cut. i have probably straightened hundred of bars this way and they come back to arrow straight. the problem with a vice or any other method is it will straighten it but it has the potential to go to far and bend the other way. with the stump hitting the bar will indent the stump only allowing it to go far enough to straighten. i was taught by old loggers i couldn't believe how easy it was the first time i did it back when i was 8 or so.

 

[Big_Wood]

if you do it old cats way bore cutting expect your bar pad to break off the case before that bar actually straightens LOL

 

[TRTermite]

the only way to straighten a bar is to pick a solid stump which was cut level and is large enough to support the bar by straight sections of it and the bend in the center. give it a wack in the centre away from the rails with an axe. i'm not talking a 2lb axe though. i'm talking 4-4.5lb. just use the axes weight at first and gradually hit harder til you see it straighten out. if the bar has a twist hit closer to the high side of the twist while still staying away from the rails. i just had to straighten out one of my cannons becaue of a log rolling and sliding during a bucking cut. i have probably straightened hundred of bars this way and they come back to arrow straight. the problem with a vice or any other method is it will straighten it but it has the potential to go to far and bend the other way. with the stump hitting the bar will indent the stump only allowing it to go far enough to straighten. i was taught by old loggers i couldn't believe how easy it was the first time i did it back when i was 8 or so.

When tensioning a circle saw blade / at times you need to place a piece of (leather if you're old school) cardboard between the anvil and blade before you strike the blade. This lets you move the steel without changing (minimize) blade tension...this is why the level stump works so well. You are leveling not tensioning when using the stump or padded anvil. I always seem to have a beer box around for cardboard on the anvil. I use a cross face hammer but a big ball pein with a good face would suffice. Axe would work but with what I do I seldom have one handy and I was comparing similarities to circle saw tensioning vs. the stump and guide bar.

 

[chainsawlady]

I believe the saw bar that I purchased recently is bent to the left. It"s a 25 inch Rollomatic ES. The bend is noticable to the eye.
I hope some of you can help me with a way to straighten my problem.
Thanks in advance,,...,,... AS members.

If your roller nose bar is laminated with three pieces of steel, it is impossible to straighten them. If it was a hard nose made from 1 piece of steel and grooves made for chain, they can be straightened easier. A Homelite salesman once told us that the bar doesn't cut the wood, the chain does and I usually accepted that reasoning.
chainsawlady

 

[Wood Doctor]

Take the bar off and lay it on a flat table. That's the only real way you can tell.

I'm blessed with a table saw and a good fence. I press the bar up close to the fence and compare. That way I can (1) check the curvature, and (2) the bar will lean if one rail is higher than the other.

 

[AKDoug]

I'm blessed with a table saw and a good fence. I press the bar up close to the fence and compare. That way I can (1) check the curvature, and (2) the bar will lean if one rail is higher than the other.

You can also mount a sanding disc to the table saw and true up those rails

 

[singinwoodwackr]

all the issues of cutting crooked I've had were due to un-true bar rails, not a slight bend in the bar itself...in over 30yrs... I use a 1" belt sander (1x30) after making sure the little table is perfectly 90* to the belt. 120 grit belt
works fine, just don't try to take off too much at a time. You can find these things for around $65 if you look hard.

 

[angelo c]

all the issues of cutting crooked I've had were due to un-true bar rails, not a slight bend in the bar itself...in over 30yrs... I use a 1" belt sander (1x30) after making sure the little table is perfectly 90* to the belt. 120 grit belt
works fine, just don't try to take off too much at a time. You can find these things for around $65 if you look hard.

View attachment 470261

Belt side or disk side table ?

 

[nk14zp]

I find a shop press works best to straighten bars. Especially the topping saw bar on delimbers.

 

[TRTermite]

You can also mount a sanding disc to the table saw and true up those rails

My dad used an old table saw with a thin (3/4") grind stone and dressed his bar on the side of the stone. I have done the same and the results are simple and effective More so on a hard nose. Yeah that is against the rules of the safety commissioner but common sense made sure he was somewhere else.
If you do a lot of bore cutting felling grade logs, bars tend to wear where the bar meets the roller nose,
When you are bucking logs in the yard or cutting firewood the rails wear before the bar tip.
Using Used Oil accelerates the rail wear. IMO used Oil is a NO NO buy bar oil to get the most out of your bar and chain.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

Belt side or disk side table ?

belt

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I find a shop press works best to straighten bars. Especially the topping saw bar on delimbers.

that's what my saw shop uses