Hard Chrome vs. Nikasil Bores?

shop deals on amazon
Treestuff
Rugged made
Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Its got to be one of those no loose arguments...because all three (Nikisil,Chrome, and Iron Liners) have been used successfully for years and years. If longevity has any merit..I have a bunch of old Homelites and one McCulloch from the sixties with god only knows how many hours of running that still are within tolerances.....so I know for a fact that both chrome and iron liners stand up to saw duty!

I like the fact you can work with a iron liner where a chrome liner is a go/no-go situation...I am going to explore the idea of having a place like Kuston Craft stuff a liner into a Homelite cylinder for kicks..(Waiting for my $5 eBay C-5's for exploritory surgery)
 
Iron liner

As I've said before,an iron liner is not that big of a deal to make,just real time consuming.The picture shows the method I used to press in the liner.Crude,but effective.
 
Heated the block to 300,in an oven,froze the liner,to 0.Parts cut to standard "press fit"[ 001." per inch.or about .00275" over].
 
I wasn't second guessing you but.......well I'm sure you wouldn't be suprised at how many people overlook the details.....but then again you are a Navy man so attention to detail is probably tatooed on you somewhere.:)
 
Juat a 'tech tickler'

A Vickers Harness test was done between cylinders of hard chrome vs. NikaSil
Hard chrome was approximately 600.
NikaSil was about 1180. Almost twice as hard.
 
Didn't know that.I still like iron,but may have to rethink about Nikasil .When I tore down my friends 038 Mag ,it had blown the piston.Aluminum in the crankcase,in the flywheel side bearing ,and blown in the top of the cylinder via the ports.Not even a scratch on the cylinder,I couldn't believe it.
 
It's a big wonderful world full of new learning experiences everyday.
Some of the things that seem way out today are tomorrow's reality.

Ben is right, even though it may seem far fetched.

There are two reasons for the oil retention:
1. The physical surface structure of the coating helps to "hold" (retain) oil.
2. Molecular Affinity is the ability to 'attract' other substances. NikaSil actually 'attracts' petroleum based oils when comparing it to hard chrome.
Ergo, it helps retain (hold).

One of the physical examples I'll do at at service schools is to take a competitors hard chrome cylinder and NikaSil cylinder, coat them with oil let
excess drain off for a few minutes, then on clean white paper let them stand.
The oil spot grows faster, and larger from the hard chome cylinder.
 
Yep,chrome delaminates,and the saw doesn't like it .It's probably a moot point,because these were 30 yr old saws.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top