Philbert's Chain Salvage Challenge

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Here is some .325 x W.T.H.!!!Looks like it was sharpened from the top of the tooth down.

Not much left to work with there!

Note that the tie straps and drive links look in pretty good condition. Oregon 35 series chain is NLA, so someone 'might' want them for parts. But that would be reaching.

Mebbe a Poulan Power Sharp setup tryin' to be used by someone who didn't even realize the chain was actually on back-assward?

Could be someone tried to sharpen conventional chain with an older version PowerSharp set up mounted on a saw. Or someone just did not know how to sharpen chain.

Philbert
 
I confess. I bought a grinder and put the first chain I did with it on backwards. It wouldn't cut after that. I dont use the grimder anymore. I hand file chains. I'm not perfect but at least they cut
 
Could be someone tried to sharpen conventional chain with an older version PowerSharp set up mounted on a saw. Or someone just did not know how to sharpen chain.

Philbert

That's what I'm going with. A conventional chain 'sharpened' with the barracuda saw mounted stone.

I ain't wasting my wheel or time to salvage it.
 
Slightly Off Topic

I use old baking and cookie sheets to clean my chains, as shown in earlier posts. Usually pick these up at garage sales cheap to avoid using the same ones we use for food.

Picked up a couple out of a 'free' pile that were heavily crusted with baked on grease. Abrasive scrubbing would barely touch it. Heavy duty degreasers, including sodium hydroxide, did not work. Thought about putting them in my own 'free' pile!

Finally, put them in oven during the self-cleaning cycle, and they came out like this. Sorry, no 'before' photos.

Philbert

image.jpg
 
Slightly Off Topic

I use old baking and cookie sheets to clean my chains, as shown in earlier posts. Usually pick these up at garage sales cheap to avoid using the same ones we use for food.

Picked up a couple out of a 'free' pile that were heavily crusted with baked on grease. Abrasive scrubbing would barely touch it. Heavy duty degreasers, including sodium hydroxide, did not work. Thought about putting them in my own 'free' pile!

Finally, put them in oven during the self-cleaning cycle, and they came out like this. Sorry, no 'before' photos.

Philbert

View attachment 427587

So what is that, about 500 degrees and they burn clean?
 
Philbert I still owe you those chains. I've been too enthralled with the 550 to even spin a wrench on the other saw so I can swap out the sprocket.
 
Challenge Chains # 18(?) - 'End-Of-Life' (EOL) Chains

Kind of lost count on the numbering.

Got these chains from an antique store, thrown in with a few other things. Not much to look at - even when cleaned up. They are essentially, 'almost' used up. Some guys would call these 'stumper' chains: to be used on dirty stumps when they don't want to ruin a good chain. Some guys would call these 'race chains' because of the huge gullets!

I call them EOL chains. Someone got a lot of good use out of them; no excessive wear noticed on the other components, and the teeth are fairly uniform in size and shape. Should be be able to get one more full sharpening out of each before the teeth all fly off - will grind them at a less steep angle to protect what is left of the stem/side plate that is holding the toothed part to the rest of the cutter.

Really not worth a lot of effort, but it does not take much more time to do these when cleaning/sharpening chains in a batch.

photo 1a.jpg
photo 2a.jpg

WINNER? Philbert! And whoever got all of that original used from these chains

LESSONS? EOL chains still have a little life left in them.

Philbert
 
Challenge Chain # 19 - Bevel Up!

Rescued from the trash after it was declared it 'junk'. Usually this translates to, "I don't like 'safety' (reduced kickback) chain", or, "I never liked XYZ brand of chain", or perhaps, a hack job of sharpening. But this was a lightly used loop of Windsor chain, without any low kickback bumpers.

After a simple cleaning, it becomes clear that something is going on with the reversed bevel on the top plates. Not as flagrant as the chain shown in Post #221, above. But the consistency of the bevel on all of the cutters, suggests that it was intentional, rather than the result of hitting a rock. Could be 'PowerSharp envy'? Could be that someone was just having a bad day, with their mind on other things?

Not sure where he got the chain from. Easy to fix with the grinder. Since the chain is fairly new, it will still have a long, usable life after correcting the bevel.

photo 4.jpg

photo 5.jpg


WINNER? Philbert! (And Philbert's friend, who will get this chain back, after some adjustments)

LESSONS? Sometimes we miss the obvious.

Philbert
 

Latest posts

Back
Top