Philbert's Chain Salvage Challenge

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A bit off-topic: might be more appropriate for a grinder thread.

That said, there is a long history of rotary grinders sold to sharpen saw chain: Granberg, STIHL, Oregon, Dremel, etc.

This particular ad even shows it sharpening PowerSharp chain and the triangular teeth of reciprocal saw blades!
View attachment 790370
Typical of the cheap, clone ads that vacuum up and add every photo they can find on the Internet, without understanding (or caring?) if they are appropriate.

Philbert
Sniff.......

Sorry.......

I'll remove it.......
 
!!!
I will be in Memphis this Spring. Might have to look it up!
Philbert

The brewery is in midtown in a trendy area on Broad St. In the back of the building is a good size pub with their wares in bottles and on tap. My favorite is an American Imperial Stout named Astronaut Status. . . and for good reason; the alcohol content is 12.8%.
 
I was gonna start a thread with this question, but probably fits here just as well. Can someone make a recommendation on bare-bones tools for chain breaking and making?

I think I’m gonna start shortening the chains from my primary saw once they get down near the witness mark, and run them until end-of-life on my backup saw.
 
I was gonna start a thread with this question, but probably fits here just as well. Can someone make a recommendation on bare-bones tools for chain breaking and making?

I started this one a while back, which follows my learning curve:

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/baileys-chain-breaker-and-spinner.144859/

The set I would buy today is this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tecomec-Ch...301401?hash=item58e9d6f759:g:d0UAAOSww3tY7Vb7

I tried the Granberg 'Break-N-Mend' but was not as impressed with it as I hoped:

https://granberg.com/product/g605c-break-n-mendbreaks-rivets-chain/

You can use just a chain anvil, punch, and ball-peen hammer, but again, the results are not as good. It IS the most 'bare boned' approach:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pocket-Bre...Repair-6-slotted-Anvil-2-Punches/381873931176

I recommend buying new presets, not re-using old ones that were punched out.

Philbert
 
Philbert I acquired a .325 chain that was ground at about a 45 degree angle.

I’ve sharpened it at a 25 degree angle now but only the first third of the cutter wears the new angle.

I guess I’ll put it into the wood and see what happens. The depth gauges are way low as well. Guessing this was a chain that someone kid at a hardware store got ahold of and butchered it on the grinder.
 
Update: It is way too grabby so it’s going to need to be sharpened back to the point the depth gauges are set properly and the cutting edge has a suitable angle.
Correct. You hate to do it because the chain's life is then shortened, but you really have no choice. The alternative is to throw the chain away because the saw's engine cannot pull the chain through the cut. Really soft wood might allow it to work, but I have watched chains like this bog down in both cottonwood and poplar.
 
Long Time No Post . . .

Have not had any special challenge chains sent to me in a while, but I still use all of the methods described on 'regular' chains, as needed. Ran across this helpful video which explains the chemistry behind most of the rust removal methods described in this thread. Very interesting if you want to understand the 'why?' behind each, as well as what components of Coca-Cola and molasses act on rust!



Philbert
 
I would give it a couple more sharpenings. I think Phibert would too. On occasion I file or grind down the drive links a tad that have trouble making it through the bar's groove. Sometimes all they need is a little TLC. I pitch the chain when it's bent too far out of line. On occasion, that's a hopeless battle.
 
All of my saws are running fresh sprockets. Will those drivers harm my sprockets? That’s my main concern. As I mentioned earlier I’ve got zero into this chain so could pitch it too.
 
These drive links are pretty tortured. Pitch this one?
The cutters have a lot of life left in them. With rounded over drive link tips, the chain might not oil as well, but not a big issue for general purpose cutting. I would run it.

Those rivets tell me the drive links have spent most of their life on a shot sprocket..., probably a spur.
Good eye!

All of my saws are running fresh sprockets. Will those drivers harm my sprockets?
Sprockets are a consumable too. Ideally, you would run a pair of new chains with a new sprocket, and develop a wear pattern. I don't expect that you normally do that (?). Rim sprockets are pretty cheap. You can hold the chain up to the current sprocket(s) and see if the rivets even touch.

Philbert
 
Recently I acquired 8 gallons of saw chain and today I decided to sort it. Long story short, all the chains were tangled, some were rocked, and 5 chains were done for. I’m still playing the “match-the- number-of-drivelinks“ game, but I have an armload of 28 and 36 inch chains with about 10-12 chains of other sizes mixed in. The best part is the only 32x.050 chain was the right dl count for my 048’s bar! And the only .404 chain fit my 075 roller nose bar too!
Winner: Woodslasher
Lesson: Always accept free chain from loggers.
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I ended up with a bunch of 1 time used processor chain (.404x.80) that was found in the dump.
Not sure the story, if they don't sharpen them or perhaps was for a processor/buncher/delimber they got rid of.
Either way, I wasn't going to pass up ~$125 of chain.

Had tons of used chainsaw chain at the shop. Cleaned up and sharpened some, figuring to sell them at maybe 1/2 price as new.

Pretty much anyone coming in just wanted new.

I sent off several flatrate boxes to people on here until I had one guy throw a fit that there were only 4 or 5 loops that were the right size for his saw and some weren't any good.
Yup... complained about ~$80 of chain he got for nearly free.

Last pail I found we chucked. The dumpster doesn't piss and moan.
 
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