Heat damaged 18" Stihl bar?

[rallen]

I am restoring an old 026 that was abused and neglected, and looking it over, I realized the chain is quite worn, and the bar shows significant signs of bluing along the edges and the tip. I have never had a bar look this discolored along the edges, and decided to order a new bar and chain, but I wondered if the heat damaged bar is still serviceable, and worth keeping as a spare? How can I tell? The saw appears to oil fine now, so I don't know if someone ran it without bar oil, or if the oiler stopped working at some time.

 

[Franny K]

That coloring is the result of a hardening process. If the new bar is a Stihl product scrape some paint. I suggest the wear of the rails and groove be used to evaluate.

 

[LoveStihlQuality]

Or running dull chain. IMHO, use current bar while trouble shootingg all other issues. If, when all good then get the pretty bar.

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

 

[CR888]

Your presuming many things, presumption not tamed usually encourages poor outcomes. Maybe the bar has just had some normal wear and some paint has worn off revealing the heat treated bar rails that are blue from factory. You have already ordered a new B/C so correct info now is not going to save you any $$ but might be helpful in the future I suppose. Post up a pic of this cooked, dull chain, ridden hard, abused bar & we can offer better advice. Previous owner must have had that saw wound up pretty high to generate enough heat to permanently change the color of that bar to blue, you know how much heat it takes to do that??...neither do I, but I imagine its quite a bit more than Jo-Blo with a his dull chain can generate.

 

[Mad Professor]

Unless the groove is hogged out, you can usually true the rails up using a vertical belt sander. Then smooth out with a draw file and remove any burr.

 

[rallen]

Thanks for the input and suggestions. I don't think I have the chain anymore, but will post a pic of the bar. As to investing in a new bar, I have another burnt 026 I picked up at auction without a bar, so I will use this bar if it checks out.

I moved into the city a few years ago and dont really have a use for my saws anymore, which is kind of sad since I used to enjoy fixing and using them on 50 acres. The 026 is going to a friend who was contemplating buying a throw away saw for some clearing work. Since I have another 026 and an 009l in good shape, and this one has just been sitting, almost but not quite completed, I decided to ressurect my hobby. There is still an 011 and an 012 to complete, and then there is the third burnt-out 026 and an 034 from the auction referenced above to take apart.

I was reminded that this saw-collecting thing is kind of a drug when I couldn't say no to yet another "new" saw, a neglected 025 that cosmetically looks rough but seems to run just fine. The plastic is discolored, and both the starter and handle have small cracks but are completely serviceable. The poor saw does not appear to ever have been cleaned, judging from the build up on the motor and case. I need to get access to an air compressor to blow all the dirt away, and I suspect i will succumb to replacing the cracked plastics for no good reason other than I can.

 

[HarleyT]

Is the paint missing on the edges of the whole bar?

If not, find a spot with paint, and sand it off, and compare the bluing.

 

[Brent Nowell]

One way to tell if it’s worth re dressing is by how easy it is to file off the burrs..

I’ve had a couple of abused bars that I tried to restore and getting the sharp edges and groove out of the rail was an extreme pain in the ass... eventually I had to use a stone dremel bit.. not the best way but it worked and in the end the bar was still usable.

 

[rallen]

I am attaching some pics. The bar doesn't feel to bad other than the edges seem quite sharp; i just have never seen such discoloration. On the other hand, perhaps it is the original bluing from the hardening process, because as noted above, it takes a LOT of heat to doscolor steel like that.

 

[HarleyT]

How is the sprocket nose?

 

[rallen]

Seems to move freely

 

[heimannm]

The teeth on the sprocket nose are worn, they may be O.K. for a while, make sure the teeth are long enough to lift the chain off the bar as it goes around the nose.

Here is a photo of a used sprocket nose setting on top of a new sprocket nose.



The bluing you see is normal Stihl heat treatment.

Mark

 

[rallen]

Thanks to all for the education. I will save this bar for my next project.