Brand new dull chain, or something more sinister...

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Jesushadachainsaw

ArboristSite Lurker
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Location
Washington
Greetings to all, and to all may you slab a yule log this christmas.

I have been milling for well, about 2 months now. I have an 066 and a cs590. I've been using my 066 with logs greater than 12 inches and the echo 590 with logs 12in or less. Lately I've been cutting 1x10s with the echo, and it's been glorious. Yesterday I started filing my 20" 590 chain into a ripping chain and didnt finish it in time for today's rips. Instead of staying up late I figured I'd stop by home depot in the morning to pick up a new chain. I got to the land and laid out a nice straight log, put on the brand new echo chain, locked on to my trusty granberg mill, then started the saw. It felt like the chain was on backwards because it was cutting so slow! Almost no sawdust and the chain was spinning great but wasn't cutting into the wood. I checked it out longer than I should of thinking man am I crazy, i know it's on right. I took the saw out of the mill and headed over to a log and went to cut a round, and it was a very slow cut. I had to put some effort into it to finally slice off a 10in round. Is it possible I got a dud chain?! My previous chain milled 12in logs effortlessly. I thought maybe the depth gauges were too high, but I don't think so.
One thing that I can think of is when I went to top off the gas before i accidently put bar oil in, but I dumped it out of course. I also rinsed it before I put more gas in.
I'm going to exchange the chain tomorrow, but who knows!
Also, the saw was getting pretty hot, I assume it's from the rpms...chain not cutting anything and just spinning like crazy.
Anyways, thanks in advance. Novice, long time voyeur, first time participant.
 
Any chance you happened to hit some dirt or rocks starting your first cut? The chain could be dull out of the box, but I wouldn't return it; I would sharpen it. And I don't know any reason why Home Depot chains would be any worse than from anywhere else.
 
Greetings to all, and to all may you slab a yule log this christmas.

I have been milling for well, about 2 months now. I have an 066 and a cs590. I've been using my 066 with logs greater than 12 inches and the echo 590 with logs 12in or less. Lately I've been cutting 1x10s with the echo, and it's been glorious. Yesterday I started filing my 20" 590 chain into a ripping chain and didnt finish it in time for today's rips. Instead of staying up late I figured I'd stop by home depot in the morning to pick up a new chain. I got to the land and laid out a nice straight log, put on the brand new echo chain, locked on to my trusty granberg mill, then started the saw. It felt like the chain was on backwards because it was cutting so slow! Almost no sawdust and the chain was spinning great but wasn't cutting into the wood. I checked it out longer than I should of thinking man am I crazy, i know it's on right. I took the saw out of the mill and headed over to a log and went to cut a round, and it was a very slow cut. I had to put some effort into it to finally slice off a 10in round. Is it possible I got a dud chain?! My previous chain milled 12in logs effortlessly. I thought maybe the depth gauges were too high, but I don't think so.
One thing that I can think of is when I went to top off the gas before i accidently put bar oil in, but I dumped it out of course. I also rinsed it before I put more gas in.
I'm going to exchange the chain tomorrow, but who knows!
Also, the saw was getting pretty hot, I assume it's from the rpms...chain not cutting anything and just spinning like crazy.
Anyways, thanks in advance. Novice, long time voyeur, first time participant.
Welcome,,, the chain from HD is probably safety chain, but properly sharpened it will cut wood,,, not as fast as pro chain (full chisel, semi chisel) tho... If you put bar oil in the fuel tank,,, make sure you change the fuel filter also...
 
Home depot pro tip... try not to put bar oil in the fuel reservoir. ;) Kidding really. That'll just smoke you out and kill your saw real quick, not cause a chain not to cut. What brand chain was it? It will make a difference. If you are going to continue milling I would suggest getting some quality chain. Stihl or Oregon(in that order of preference for me), or find yourself some archer if you want to stay on the cheaper side, but still have a decent cutting chain.

Also, pics of chain could help us see if that might be the issue. Side and top views. Will be challenging, but clean pics will be required. It is very possible to hit something right off the bat. Nailed it my first cut on a freshly sharpened chain a couple weeks ago. It is also very possible the chain could have been junk from the get go. Never cut with cheap chain myself, but there are lemons everywhere in life.
 
Any chance you happened to hit some dirt or rocks starting your first cut? The chain could be dull out of the box, but I wouldn't return it; I would sharpen it. And I don't know any reason why Home Depot chains would be any worse than from anywhere else.
Thanks! I'm in the shed with the filenjoint as we speak!
 
Home depot pro tip... try not to put bar oil in the fuel reservoir. ;) Kidding really. That'll just smoke you out and kill your saw real quick, not cause a chain not to cut. What brand chain was it? It will make a difference. If you are going to continue milling I would suggest getting some quality chain. Stihl or Oregon(in that order of preference for me), or find yourself some archer if you want to stay on the cheaper side, but still have a decent cutting chain.

Also, pics of chain could help us see if that might be the issue. Side and top views. Will be challenging, but clean pics will be required. It is very possible to hit something right off the bat. Nailed it my first cut on a freshly sharpened chain a couple weeks ago. It is also very possible the chain could have been junk from the get go. Never cut with cheap chain myself, but there are lemons everywhere in life.
 

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Here are some pictures of the chain..also I'll put one of the dreaded kryptonite log. My home depot tip "if you have a question about something, dont ask an employee" haha
 

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Welcome,,, the chain from HD is probably safety chain, but properly sharpened it will cut wood,,, not as fast as pro chain (full chisel, semi chisel) tho... If you put bar oil in the fuel tank,,, make sure you change the fuel filter also...
Thanks, the chain that came with the saw was nice and sharp(also from home depot). I hoped the new chain would be the same, nope!
 
That chain definitely hit something. The tips of the cutters are are all curled over that I can see. Time for at least a sharpening. I would search out some better chain though. Will stay sharper longer, although no chain will stand up to hitting any sort of rock or metal.
 
And yes, that is a safety chain to reduce kickback but if sharpened properly, it should cut just fine. The "safety" part only comes into play when the chain goes around the nose of the bar. More of the cutter is exposed to the wood at this point and the extra bumper reduces the bite into the wood. The extra bumper should be filed to the same height as the depth gauges (rakers).
 
QUOTE="Jesushadachainsaw, post: 7268219, member: 170362"]
Thanks for the input!
[/QUOTE]
Also check your bar groove and clean everything so you get good oil flow lack of oil could cause the chain and bar to overheat
 
That chain definitely hit something. The tips of the cutters are are all curled over that I can see. Time for at least a sharpening. I would search out some better chain though. Will stay sharper longer, although no chain will stand up to hitting any sort of rock or metal.
Thanks for looking! I had no idea I sharpened it and lowered the depth gauges. When I get to the land tomorrow I'm going to check the log I was cutting. I removed the bark prior to my last attempt but maybe I missed something...or i bought a chain someone returned..
 
And yes, that is a safety chain to reduce kickback but if sharpened properly, it should cut just fine. The "safety" part only comes into play when the chain goes around the nose of the bar. More of the cutter is exposed to the wood at this point and the extra bumper reduces the bite into the wood. The extra bumper should be filed to the same height as the depth gauges (rakers).
Shoot I forgot the bumper..back to the shed. Thanks for looking at the pictures. I didnt even notice the tips or whatever debris I hit.
 
QUOTE="Jesushadachainsaw, post: 7268219, member: 170362"]
Thanks for the input!
Also check your bar groove and clean everything so you get good oil flow lack of oil could cause the chain and bar to overheat
[/QUOTE]
I dialed the oiler slightly back from full on. Seemed like way too much when I had it on full. I recently bought a chain from granberg and trying to wait patiently for it. I wonder if they sell the satellite oiler for alaskan..
 
Greetings from the land of Bigfoot! So an update...I brought the chain that came with the saw originally which I sharpened to granbergs ripping chain standards, annnd the chain that I bought from homeless depot to the property today. I started with the home depot echo chain that did me so wrong my last visit. It cut considerably better but still not great. I sharpened it kind of half ass making only 8 swipes per tooth, so I figure when I go over it more seriously i should have a half decent chain at least.
I was excited to use the ripping chain i made with the one that came with the saw so I tried that one next. It was night and day. I was relieved that I filed it correctly and you can see that the boards are smoother. I'm not sure it was so smooth that I would switch to ripping chains though. Anyways, I was really wondering why that chain cut so much better so i took a closer look at the chain...and it's an oregon chain! Why would they include an oregon chain with the saw and then sell their own terrible chain on the side?! I figured it was an echo chain that came with the echo saw so that's why I bought the echo replacement(I hear an echo).
I would like to thank everyone for helping me out. It was really great to get the advice and I'm much better for it. One thing for sure is I didn't notice how terrible the chain was until you pointed out the curled teeth! I hope I get to jump on here more often with home depot stories and maybe some pics of black walnut slabs! Thank you all and stay safe!
P.S. I think I'm going to get a ripping chain for the 066 though cuz you might want a touch smoother for slabs.
 
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