Today's Job...

[Natty Bumppo]

I only read the first and last pages of this thread, so apologies if this has already been posted.

When I lived in the Florida Keys, Casuarina was known as Australlian pine and was considered an invasive, pest species. There's no shortage of these in south Florida. I assume they're not so reviled in Australlia. Heard at the time they were used as windbreaks on many Pacific islands when the U.S. military was staging there during and after WWII.

Great work, mate. It's more than I'd care to take on by myself!

 

[MCW]

nope they are single taper

Are you sure? The photos you posted look like double tapered wedges to me. Sadly though with my luck I'll chew the end clean off of one 2 seconds after I buy it. When you're running heavy leaners and getting the odd pinch you don't always have the luxury of extra space for wedging away from the chain.
Dammit...

I only read the first and last pages of this thread, so apologies if this has already been posted.

When I lived in the Florida Keys, Casuarina was known as Australlian pine and was considered an invasive, pest species. There's no shortage of these in south Florida. I assume they're not so reviled in Australlia. Heard at the time they were used as windbreaks on many Pacific islands when the U.S. military was staging there during and after WWII.

Great work, mate. It's more than I'd care to take on by myself!

They certainly can be an invasive tree no doubt and some of the species are worse than others. They are good in drought conditions (like most Australian species) and are used in windbreaks a lot because they are fast growers. Unfortunately this excessive vigour has caused issues in these orchards which is why they want them all removed.
As far as work goes I actually class it as paid entertainment It gives me a good break from my pain in the arse day job.

 

[deye223]

unless you are talking about the first 1/2 an inch they stack good just bang a single wedge in to open the

kerf a tad

 

[deye223]

Are you sure? The photos you posted look like double tapered wedges to me. Sadly though with my luck I'll chew the end clean off of one 2 seconds after I buy it. When you're running heavy leaners and getting the odd pinch you don't always have the luxury of extra space for wedging away from the chain.
Dammit...

thats why i hate wedging small trees

that last pic was of a 7.5" and a 10"

 

[Stihlman441]

I made some short fat assed Alloy wedges for small trees.

 

[deye223]

I made some short fat assed Alloy wedges for small trees.

Pics when ya can please

 

[MCW]

unless you are talking about the first 1/2 an inch they stack good just bang a single wedge in to open the

kerf a tad

I know what you mean mate but being double tapered means that they're not actually designed for stacking although you can do it. You'll generally find the single tapered wedges are designed with ridges on one side and "hooks" on the other so one side grabs the wood and the other side slides freely against the other wedge. The alloys are good for opening up closed backcuts where everything has pinched shut like a bank vault as they are sharp and will cut fibres if need be. Then you can get a couple of single tapers in easily for stacking if you need to.
When I say single taper it means one side is 90° to the back whereas a double tapered wedge has both sides angled to a single point. The double tapered wedges are a lot easier to get into tight spots though.
The alloys are good because they don't bend at the tip under heavy loads and they are narrow with good lift. Apart from the alloy falling apart like in my case

 

[MCW]

Oh and here is how I made the bar up. I didn't weld over the bar groove/rails and the ends butted up together perfectly with no gap between the rails. Easier than I thought actually and also left the bar very strong. Nothing fancy used, just a 130A DC arc welder. I'll be using this trick to convert a few Tsumura hard nosed bars I think

I made some short fat assed Alloy wedges for small trees.

Out of a new Ford Ranger alloy head?

 

[deye223]

Oh and here is how I made the bar up. I didn't weld over the bar groove/rails and the ends butted up together perfectly with no gap between the rails. Easier than I thought actually and also left the bar very strong. Nothing fancy used, just a 130A DC arc welder. I'll be using this trick to convert a few Tsumura hard nosed bars I think

yes having a bub in the house has its advantages like all the formula tins i got 3 billy lids so have used heaps

over the years HAHA

 

[deye223]

I know what you mean mate but being double tapered means that they're not actually designed for stacking although you can do it. You'll generally find the single tapered wedges are designed with ridges on one side and "hooks" on the other so one side grabs the wood and the other side slides freely against the other wedge. The alloys are good for opening up closed backcuts where everything has pinched shut like a bank vault as they are sharp and will cut fibres if need be. Then you can get a couple of single tapers in easily for stacking if you need to.
When I say single taper it means one side is 90° to the back whereas a double tapered wedge has both sides angled to a single point. The double tapered wedges are a lot easier to get into tight spots though.
The alloys are good because they don't bend at the tip under heavy loads and they are narrow with good lift. Apart from the alloy falling apart like in my case

got it single taper one side longer than the other

 

[Stihlman441]

Nice one with the bar there champ.
I think ya shed needs a clean out bloke.
I see you have some new package Carlton chain,is the chain as good as the old stuff ?.
Sorry mate but i cant say them new Huskys are very peritty.:msp_smile:

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Matt, and down under brothers. Been awhile glad to see this thread and crowd resurface:cool2: Always enjoy it, and the company. Those hard head wedges posted above. Im really liking em, and worth the extra money. You can beat the hell out of them, and when you hit them they actually move as hard as u hit em.

 

[MCW]

Hi Norm

Nice one with the bar there champ.
I think ya shed needs a clean out bloke.
I see you have some new package Carlton chain,is the chain as good as the old stuff ?.
Sorry mate but i cant say them new Huskys are very peritty.:msp_smile:

Yeah mate the shed definately needs a clean out. As far as the Carlton goes it's just the boxes that have changed. Everything else is the same.
I sort of agree on the looks - I think they were trying for the whacked out space type look.

 

[Rudolf73]

Nice job on the hybrid bar there Matt.

Just thinking out loud here... that vertical weld on the bar will create a HAZ (heat affect zone) in the direction of the weld and maybe be prone to bend right there. In that case I would suggest a dog/shark tooth weld as shown in the sketch below. This should improve bending strength in that region, but it creates a bit more work.

Also a fun project: Do up both methods on some old scrap bars and then bend them in a vice to see which one holds up better... just in case you get bored one Sunday evening

 

[deye223]

Matt, and down under brothers. Been awhile glad to see this thread and crowd resurface:cool2: Always enjoy it, and the company. Those hard head wedges posted above. Im really liking em, and worth the extra money. You can beat the hell out of them, and when you hit them they actually move as hard as u hit em.

yes norm thats one of the things i like the most about them

they drive better than an alloy wedge just make sure that you

hit'em square

 

[MCW]

Nice job on the hybrid bar there Matt.

Just thinking out loud here... that vertical weld on the bar will create a HAZ (heat affect zone) in the direction of the weld and maybe be prone to bend right there. In that case I would suggest a dog/shark tooth weld as shown in the sketch below. This should improve bending strength in that region, but it creates a bit more work.

Also a fun project: Do up both methods on some old scrap bars and then bend them in a vice to see which one holds up better... just in case you get bored one Sunday evening

Hey I agree 100% Rudy and I certainly didn't overlook this fact. Sadly shark toothed type cuts aren't possible on the good old drop saw :msp_tongue: However I did stick it in the vice afterwards and trust me, bending it under normal use won't be happening.

 

[Rudolf73]

Hey I agree 100% Rudy and I certainly didn't overlook this fact. Sadly shark toothed type cuts aren't possible on the good old drop saw :msp_tongue: However I did stick it in the vice afterwards and trust me, bending it under normal use won't be happening.

Yeah true, it would take some time with the 4 inch. But it is on the far end of the bar which has less chance of bending.

How about some fine wet and dry and some polish though... :msp_razz:

 

[MCW]

Yeah true, it would take some time with the 4 inch. But it is on the far end of the bar which has less chance of bending.

How about some fine wet and dry and some polish though... :msp_razz:

Never bent a bar in the middle and only ever trashed a tip. As far as polish etc goes I'm not one of those prissy blokes who would polish it up like a mirror then get it diamond encrusted just to impress the masses :biggrin:
Just like my saws. If 120psi can't get it off it's bloody we'll staying there.

 

[tdi-rick]

It may not bend but it can go 'snap'

When I made my modded dogs the standard Makita ones are heat treated/hardened, and I used 4130 annealed sheet for the extended spike and did a (bodgy) oxy weld to join.

They went 'snap' when I dogged them in on the second or third cut as I hadn't tempered them.

Re-welded, and a backyard heat treat/quench/temper and they've been fine since.

 

[MCW]

It may not bend but it can go 'snap'

When I made my modded dogs the standard Makita ones are heat treated/hardened and I used 4130 sheet for the extended spike and did a (bodgy) oxy weld to join.

They went 'snap' when I dogged them in on the second or third cut as I hadn't tempered them.

Re-welded, and a backyard heat treat/quench/temper and they've been fine since.

Don't be silly Rick. The chain will hold it together. Where do you come up with this nonsense?
Oh and I did quench this bar. That's one thing I did do. I'll get back to you after a few thousand trees.