Cleaning chains

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memory

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How big of a deal is it to clean chains if you only use a file? I only sharpen for myself, maybe the occasional sharpen for family but not often. If it is still a good idea, what kind of solvent or chemical do you use? Is gas a good idea.
 
When I buy a saw that has been sitting for years I clean the chain with a degreaser and brass brush then I rinse them off with the hose and dry with compressed air. Lastly I spray it down with wd40. This gives me a chance to really go over it and check for bent or sticking links. Other then that just cutting cleans them up pretty good.
 
It is a grinder thing. Even at that, 3 out of 20 will soap and hot water their chains at night before a grind. If its gathering 'moss' then pee on it. No don't!. A rolling stone may not gather 'moss' but a poorly filed chain will.
 
Using a slight variant of Philbert's chain cleaning method, I just saved two long chains that a logger threw away that had severe rust but almost unused cutters. I soaked mine in vinegar for 36 hours in a shallow pan, threw that out, washed them up with a laundry detergent solution, and then used EvapoRust to finish them off. I also tried next soaking in a concentrated degreaser, and that worked a little, but I doubt it was much improvement. After some final sharpening and local spray lube these two chain loops are ready to mount.

I have run into some rusted chains with good cutters that cannot even be unclogged or unwrapped from a tangle. Those are trashed.
 
Using a slight variant of Philbert's chain cleaning method, I just saved two long chains . . . I soaked mine in vinegar for 36 hours . . . I also tried next soaking in a concentrated degreaser . . .

Rust is a special case of 'cleaning', but sometimes I find rust under the gunk. I always degrease first, so that any rust treatment makes contact with the actual rust:
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/philberts-chain-salvage-challenge.245369/

Philbert
 
Rust is a special case of 'cleaning', but sometimes I find rust under the gunk. I always degrease first, so that any rust treatment makes contact with the actual rust:
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/philberts-chain-salvage-challenge.245369/

Philbert
Not a bad idea. The grease loosens up as the vinegar does its work dissolving the rust, so most of that goes down the drain with some simple brushing. In my case, that would explain why the degreaser had nothing to work on. After brushing the loop off, the rinse water eith laundry detergent was virtually black.
 
Not a bad idea . . . After brushing the loop off, the rinse water was virtually black.
Evapo-Rust instructions state to clean / degrease first (it is a water based product). If you leave the chain in vinegar (acetic acid) long enough, it will turn black - good for 'tactical' use'? Oxalic acid will turn it green - good for camo saws.
 
My saw chain I don’t clean, I just file it, check the raker depth then do a test cut. Then it’s ready for the next cutting day. I don’t want to wash off the lube inside the links on the rivets. But I always thought about using a crank handle like on a well with old wornout rims welded to it, then let the chain hang and soak in a bucket of oil when there not being used.

When I install a bar or service it after it’s clean I coat the rails with moly. It eliminates wear, reduces friction, prevents galling and fights corrosion.
www.tsmoly.com
 
Could be. I tried it after reading some reviews on the Internet. Bought in powder form from Amazon.

More details in my 'Challenge Chain' thread, linked above.

Philbert
I was surprised that the cutters remained shiny on both of these chain loops after the 36-hour vinegar soak. The links darkened to almost black on one of the loops, but the cutters remained shiny. They must have had a very strong chromium coating when made. In the past, I have seen the same vinegar take the chrome polish right off along with the rust. Could be that I was using a better cleaning vinegar that wasn't quite so powerful. Who knows?

Regardless, a couple of bucks worth of vinegar and a cleanup seemed better that throwing away $60 worth of good chain loops that had hardly been used and perhaps sharpened only once.
 
How big of a deal is it to clean chains if you only use a file? I only sharpen for myself, maybe the occasional sharpen for family but not often. If it is still a good idea, what kind of solvent or chemical do you use? Is gas a good idea.

Unless you’ve got a chain that’s super goobered up with pitch, dirt, etc I wouldn’t worry too much. Like several members have said already, after you put a good edge on and do some cutting the chain will clean itself. That is unless you stick in in the dirt hehe. Some brake cleaner and a wire brush works well. You can used wd-40 or linseed oil in rust situations, several penetrating oils are fine actually. This may sound odd but olive oil works well on pitch and won’t hurt the chain at all.


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in the sawmill we used kerosene to clean pitch off the band saws and to clean the plexi-glass in the sawyers booth. Kero works wonders on pitch and stuck on saw dust. However if you run your saw at all the chain is likely clean enough.

I do woodworking, and saw blades get pitched up. Somewhere I heard about cleaning off the pitch with oven cleaner/lye, and it seems to work well – but then I heard that the lye could attack the bronze used to braze the carbide teeth on. So I'm not sure what to say about that, except that oven cleaner/lye ought to work for saw chains, and not be problematic since there's no brazing on them...
 
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