When do you noodle?

[hardpan]

I think good oil flow is especially important when noodling. They are long cuts, the thickness of the wood is the same from start to finish, not as much soft bark and sapwood, and the heavy flow of wood chips/noodles probably cleans off the oil faster. 3/16" sounds like a sizable increase. Did it help a lot? I wonder if an angled drill hole in the direction with the chain movement would eliminate some of the "snagging" of saw dust as it shoots past the hole? I took off the oiler from my MS460 last night to install the HD version of pump and adjuster screw. Damn that is a little roll pin that secures the adjustment screw. I hate dry, crusty, hot chains and the wear that comes with it. Thanks Icehouse and Wood Doctor for you input, good stuff.

 

[Woody912]

I'm noodling my stuff right now, I've got a lot of big hackberry rounds cut 18 in. long. I put 2 or 3 long slices in 'em, but not all the way through, it still remains a round. Then I use a maul to split them up into stovewood. The larger the round, the less likely it is to turn over sideways when I hit it. This works much, much faster than any hydraulic splitter. It goes whack, whack, whack, whack and my round quickly turns into what I want with a minimum of handling. No stooping down, loading and rolling rounds to a hydraulic splitter. I use a 77cc Husky with a 20 inch bar to noodle these. Works great for me. For 2 ft. long rounds, I'll use the 288xp or even the 076. When I'm done, I've got huge piles of noodles everywhere.

pretty much the same for me, I use the saw to start a notch I can drop a 5# wedge into and then start with the sledge for the really bad boys

 

[Preston]

I think good oil flow is especially important when noodling. They are long cuts, the thickness of the wood is the same from start to finish, not as much soft bark and sapwood, and the heavy flow of wood chips/noodles probably cleans off the oil faster. 3/16" sounds like a sizable increase. Did it help a lot? I wonder if an angled drill hole in the direction with the chain movement would eliminate some of the "snagging" of saw dust as it shoots past the hole? I took off the oiler from my MS460 last night to install the HD version of pump and adjuster screw. Damn that is a little roll pin that secures the adjustment screw. I hate dry, crusty, hot chains and the wear that comes with it. Thanks Icehouse and Wood Doctor for you input, good stuff.

Maybe it's just me, but cutting with the grain really heats things up as apposed to against. So I want plenty of oil on the chain.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Hardpan said, "3/16" sounds like a sizable increase. Did it help a lot?..."
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Ans. Yes. It solved the problem, but chiseling that misaligned groove wider at the top so that it resembled a small gutter also helped. Actually, some of the old bars Stihl sold in the '90s had standard 3/16" oil holes. Some say they reduced them at the turn of the century in response to over oiling complaints by environmentalists. Many saw operators were stunned when that occurred and a new volley of under oiling gripes emerged. As you can see from the bar pic above, the small oil hole AND the groove misalignment ruined this saw's ability to oil the bar. Add cold weather to that and it was toast.

Here's the final oil groove after chiseling in an effort to capture the oil hole in the bar:

 

[Deleted member 83629]

when time permits which means not very often. i just split the logs and not noodle.

 

[hardpan]

Hardpan said, "3/16" sounds like a sizable increase. Did it help a lot?..."
--------------------
Ans. Yes. It solved the problem, but chiseling that misaligned groove wider at the top so that it resembled a small gutter also helped. Actually, some of the old bars Stihl sold in the '90s had standard 3/16" oil holes. Some say they reduced them at the turn of the century in response to over oiling complaints by environmentalists. Many saw operators were stunned when that occurred and a new volley of under oiling gripes emerged. As you can see from the bar pic above, the small oil hole AND the groove misalignment ruined this saw's ability to oil the bar. Add cold weather to that and it was toast.

Here's the final oil groove after chiseling in an effort to capture the oil hole in the bar:

You have another interesting point. I have heard several times of the intentional reduced oil flow to be environmentally correct. I assumed it was done mostly with weaker pumps. Now I wonder if all the old saws gaged oil flow by sizing the port in the bar. Way back when, we just knew both tanks should run dry at about the same time. Now I don't have a saw that will use more than 1/2 tank of oil to a whole tank of fuel.

 

[super3]

I broke my back several years ago, so I have to be careful. When noodling large rounds I get usually down on one knee. The older I get, the smarter I try to work.

and.............. the harder it is to get up off that one knee.

 

[Preston]

and.............. the harder it is to get up off that one knee.

I've gotten the wife to sew patches over my knees. And I thought it was just me.

 

[hardpan]

Protect that back. Isn't that what noodling is all about? Well, me anyway. My back is OK but my younger brother has already had 2 back surgeries. I don't want that scene. OK it is fun also. Win win.

 

[Icehouse]

If your going to noodle, and to make the job go faster, you need to get rid of the noodles without digging them out. They get hung up in the clutch cover and the chain catcher, so this is what you need, maybe not EPA or OSHA approved but it works. You can pick a spare cover up on e-bay for cheap if you don't have one. This little 361 throws noodles 18' behind the saw (tape measured because I was so shocked) and makes neat pile.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Best idea I have seen in years, Icehouse. I have a few old sprocket covers lying around that would be easy to adjust as you show here. I get tired of cleaning out the noodles because a sharp chain can cut them faster that the saw can eject. I've tried removing the rubber boot, but the saw still clogs up.

I just gave you an A for this idea. My hacksaw is being commissioned for duty again. Two thumbs up.

 

[Oliver1655]

It has a chain brake, what's not to be approved?

 

[hardpan]

Now that is a "noodle master".

 

[Icehouse]

and.............. the harder it is to get up off that one knee.

I've gotten the wife to sew patches over my knees. And I thought it was just me.

I built this sorta cheesy stand to go along with it, let's you stand up to saw. Non of this is high production, but it's fun.

 

[Wood Doctor]

This is a question for all experienced noodle cutters and saw operators. Woodworkers know that the planing direction is very important and that one works much better than the other. My gut feeling, therefore, is that noodle cutting might go faster in one direction than the other--either with the chain running in the direction of tree growth or opposite the direction of the growth.

So, should we place the big round in front of us:
(1) in the direction that the tree grew (chain cutters shear toward the roots)
(2) opposite the direction that the tree grew (chain cutters shear toward the branches)
(3) makes no difference.

Any ideas on this?

 

[hardpan]

Maybe add to the perfect procedure:
(4) bar parallel to wood?
(5) bar nose tilted down?
(6) bar tail (powerhead end) tilted down?

I can't answer any of these either.

 

[Icehouse]

This is a question for all experienced noodle cutters and saw operators. Woodworkers know that the planing direction is very important and that one works much better than the other.

So, should we place the big round in front of us:
(1) in the direction that the tree grew (chain cutters shear toward the roots)
(2) opposite the direction that the tree grew (chain cutters shear toward the branches)
(3) makes no difference.

Any ideas on this?

Maybe add to the perfect procedure:
(4) bar parallel to wood?
(5) bar nose tilted down?
(6) bar tail (powerhead end) tilted down?

I can't answer any of these either.

IMHO number 3 and number 4 are the correct answers, but don't be afraid to see for yourself

 

[Wood Doctor]

Noodling and planing are doing about the same thing, removing stock along the grain direction. The planing direction is always in the direction of the tree growth, the same direction as the steeples point. That requires much less effort and produces a smooth shingle and surface as the plane slides along. Go the other way and the plane operates roughly and leaves behind a rougher surface. So, I lean toward (2) and (4).

The only way to test this is to experiment. We could do it with a really large round and make two cuts about a foot apart, this trisecting the round. Cut each the opposite direction and check the speed and effort. I've never done this before, but I have some really big felled ash waiting in the lurch that would be a candidate.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

Sometimes i noodle the wood because to be honest my maul can't split it. Most of them are twisted and knotted so bad like gum.

 

[CTYank]

IMHO number 3 and number 4 are the correct answers, but don't be afraid to see for yourself

Nope, number 4 will get you the longest possible chips, and highest chance of clogging the clutch cover. Slowly rocking the bar from about 15 deg. nose-down to nose-up will keep the chips (noodles) much shorter. Of course, you have to keep an eye on the whole bar, lest you hit a nasty.