Anyone homemade a lightweight bar

Why cant I holesaw some parts of my bar and put some annealed aluminum discs in the holes and squash it in a press ? Seems to me it would lighten a bar and not lose too much strength just not sure how big to try and what pattern would give best tradeoff between weight savings and strength.

Good topic. I am going to try the same thing. i am going to use an old bar that is on its at legs. it never hurts to try.

???? What a waste of time and effort.

But have fun,

Sam

I thought about it once, I think there would be flexing issues though. It has been done in the aircraft industry for years in rib components of the wings and tails but they are always part of a larger structure and not stand alone like a chainsaw bar.

Walt41 said:

I thought about it once, I think there would be flexing issues though. It has been done in the aircraft industry for years in rib components of the wings and tails but they are always part of a larger structure and not stand alone like a chainsaw bar.

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Thats how Stihl makes their ES Lite bars with all steel construction and ribs down the middle. Those that make the lightweight bars using slots or holes with some filler like aluminum or epoxy is just a fail waiting to happen, and won't stand up to the abuse like a Stihl ES Lite bar will. I have bent those ES Lite bars into hard C's and they have straighted right back out on their own. In fact, I have only bent one that didn't straighten back out in the field and I sent it away for straightening and that bar now has probably 150,000 board feet on it. They are the toughest Lightweight bars made.

If someone thinks that they can just take a hole saw and not waste epic amounts of money and time drilling that thing though a chainsaw bar is not using a quality enough bar to even bother with it.

Sam

Slamm said:

I have bent those ES Lite bars into hard C's and they have straighted right back out on their own. In fact, I have only bent one that didn't straighten back out in the field and I sent it away for straightening and that bar now has probably 150,000 board feet on it. They are the toughest Lightweight bars made.



Sam

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What method do you use to straighten them in the field? Pictures if you have them, please. Before and after if you can.

And the bar you sent off for straightening...could we get a name and address...sounds like they do good work.

Chainbar is one place I remember. They're in oregon. There was another place but I can't remember the name of them.

Stihl has successfully marketed a laminated bar in a way that they make more money per inch than they would selling the solid bar.

Freaking brilliant almost evil brilliant.

jeepyfz450 said:

Good topic. I am going to try the same thing. i am going to use an old bar that is on its at legs. it never hurts to try.

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I agree. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Stihl didn't hit the idea without cutting a few holes in a good bar. Besides, this will give you more respect for all the time and money they dumped into their light bars. :msp_smile:

Take a look at the serious lightening-holes in the bar of the McCulloch 3-25, the original "all-position" (diaphragm carb) saw, as shown in McCulloch 3-25 Chain Saw Owners Manual w/parts list | eBay

Being heavily involved for years in making parts for target drones, McCulloch was aware of the importance of weight and the need to reduce same.

IMHO, the whole idea of smashing aluminum inserts into the lightening holes is a waste. At least they won't destroy chain teeth when they depart the bar.

Gologit said:

What method do you use to straighten them in the field? Pictures if you have them, please. Before and after if you can.

And the bar you sent off for straightening...could we get a name and address...sounds like they do good work.

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Gologit, the minor bends that get straightened in the field are just slight, only enough to see it and bend it back in the next slot bored or cut. I don't even take it off the powerhead.

If I bend a bar to the point of needing to use MacGyver like skills and tools, I just go get another bar, I'm not wasting my time out in the woods with rocks and sticks straightening a bar or fixing a saw, I just go get another one ..... thats what inventory is for, LOL.

Now for situtations where professional straightening is needed, I send them to Chainbar.com and they come back in great shape. But there is a story about the Lite Bars with him. He hates any and all Lightweight bars of any manufacturer. That said until my Stihl Lite Bars, he had never seen or heard of one from Stihl. I had already mailed him several bars Lite and regular ES, and then I called him to let him know they were coming. He told me he would not touch the Lite bars ........ I said well crap, that was a waste of shipping, as I just assumed he could handle them.

Then a few weeks later, I get all the bars back and was only charged for the regular ES and old GB stock I had. He straighted the one Lite ES and narrowed the rails on both of the Lite ES bars, and never charged me a dime???????? I don't know why. He wrote "PE?" on both of them. The only reason, I think he didn't charge me for the Lite bars was because he beat the ever living crap out of them with a hammer and collapsed the hollow core in several places on the bent one, but its straight and cuts just fine, there are many photos of it in my Sawing, Logging, Skidding thread.

I can see why he doesn't like the slotted bars, as I have tried to straighten such things when I worked in a machine shop and that sucks, but the STihl bars "act" like a solid bar, not a slotted bar, so don't know why he has a problem with them, as his work was fine with me and I thought it was a success.

All that said, if there is someone else or someone that doesn't mind working with Stihl ES Lite bars, unlike Chainbar.com, I would like to know about them, as I have about 10 Lite bars, and I am going to use them until the .050 rails have been narrowed several times and are needing .063 chain, LOL.

Sam

For you guys that can't sleep at night and have bent bars, there is a way if you have a press handy, first you must have a perfectly flat surface, like thick glass or granite, I have an ugly chunk of machined granite I got free, next you must have two suitable pieces of LVL to sandwich the bar, finally you need shims and lots of time to shim, press, reshim, cuss, press, cuss, press, cuss, reshim, press, cuss...you get the idea but it can be done, I would never hammer on a bar.

Just curious. How much do you actually save sending a bar into a shop over simply buying a new one? I imagine the shipping charges both ways plus the cost of rehabbing the bar could be somewhat costly. What would an average cost be to say rehab a Stihl 20" ES with badly worn rails? Only asking because I'm sure most of us just throw them out and get new ones.

If trying to straighten a laminated bar, pressing is a better choice than pounding. The problem being that some laminated bars will not hold up to be flexed pass straight so the process takes muuuch longer. Bars that are laminated with a series of spot welds will tear the welds will repeated over flexing or pounding. Not unusual to straighten a mid bar bend only to have the heal or tip part open.

If the tip cannot be removed then pressing is the best option.

A severe twist is a pita as well for the same reason.

Solid bars are much easier in general and way faster.

That guy at Chainbar.com is pretty cool. I guess I'm lucky since he's only about a mine and a half from me. If you want t lone bar he'll make it in standard 3/16' or he offers them in 1/4' thick. And his prices for big bars were a good bit below Cannon's. What the guy does is amazing and his prices are very reasonable.

roostersgt said:

Just curious. How much do you actually save sending a bar into a shop over simply buying a new one? I imagine the shipping charges both ways plus the cost of rehabbing the bar could be somewhat costly. What would an average cost be to say rehab a Stihl 20" ES with badly worn rails? Only asking because I'm sure most of us just throw them out and get new ones.

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Grinding rails people get hit for $5.00 around here. Beyond that no one that I am aware of will re-groove, straighten or weld bars anymore because the general shop rates are to expensive.

I worked in a machine shop for many years

All this can be done with a press but it just takes time it is alot easier to just go buy a new bar; if you want to do it go for it

Ive made many bar studs for a few saws; it would have been cheaper to go and buy them with the time I spent making them

You wouldnt believe some of the stuff Ive been ask to make and do

Justsaws said:

If trying to straighten a laminated bar, pressing is a better choice than pounding. The problem being that some laminated bars will not hold up to be flexed pass straight so the process takes muuuch longer. Bars that are laminated with a series of spot welds will tear the welds will repeated over flexing or pounding. Not unusual to straighten a mid bar bend only to have the heal or tip part open.

If the tip cannot be removed then pressing is the best option.

A severe twist is a pita as well for the same reason.

Solid bars are much easier in general and way faster.

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My "extensive" bar straightening has only involved 7 bars, four were minor curves, one was pinched and twisted and one was bad due to the fact that I had the saw in the bucket of the tractor and scooped up a bucket of clay....pure genius. I never had any welds break and all bars were Oregon sprocket tip. I think if I ever break one I'll try a couple of plug welds to fix it because I am composed of equal parts stubborn and cheap.

must be a good holesaw you're gonna use to cut them holes:dunno: every bar i own is hardened,flat out drilling a hole in one