Chain hygiene

[Philbert]

This has been discussed in many threads.

I clean most chains before sharpening. Many I receive are so gunked up I can’t see the markings, if there is rust, damage, etc. Some of that can keep the lube from reaching the rivets. Pictures of some of these are in my ‘Chain Challenge’ thread.

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/philberts-chain-salvage-challenge.245369/
If it is your own chain, and in good condition, that is not necessary. I try to blow off with compressed air, and relube, after sharpening.

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/philbert-meets-the-stihl-rs3.202969/
Philbert

 

[056kid]

Out of curiosity, do you ever clean your chains to remove filing swarf, grinder dust, sap, dirt, etc., and then relube them with bar oil after sharpening? I've been doing that when I sharpen batches of chains and the amount of crud laying in the bottom of the solvent after it settles is astounding. I have to believe that doing so saves wear on the bars and chains... Combined with cleaning and filing the bars, I've worn all the paint off bars but still had a tight and deep chain groove in them and the roller nose worked flawlessly.

What prompted me to write this is I bought another saw (MS661) and decided to read the manual... I haven't done that since four or five saws ago.

From the manual section on sharpening the chain:

-After sharpening, clean the chain thoroughly, removing any filings or grinder dust.
-Oil the chain thoroughly.

I didn't recall reading that previously so I went and looked in the other Stihl saw manuals and low and behold the same basic instructions are there. I started doing it simply because of experience with tools and machines and doing so made sense to me...

No, but I have taken chains that were rusted solid, beaten them on a tree till I could wrap it around the bar, then fire it up & spin the chain, tighten, spin, tighten, etc until the chain is tight. Next comes the cleaning part.
Grind through some wood to polish the bits up, then put an edge back on. As long as the chrome is still there, I don't care how stiff & rusty a chain is. 5 minutes in wood and it's shiny and new again. But I also point the starter covers towards the sky when it's going to rain. A night of pouring rain does pretty good at cleaning a saw up right there in the truck bed!

 

[056kid]

Some of you guys clean your chains? weird...
I keep a couple on the floor of the essavator, covered in dirt, rain, mud, saw dust and whatever spittle from me swearing at stubborn stumps/trees/homeowners/dumbtruck jockeys etc...
They can get more then a little crusty, I'll knock most of the chunks off, put em on as best as possible, run the saw for a few seconds until links loosen up, retighten, continue cutting timber. NFG
Is it hard on the chain? Probably, But I've never worn a link out, and can count on one hand the chains i've broken (all from crazy hard pinches, or saws getting chucked by trees)
Is it hard on the bar? Probably, but I don't buy junk Oregon for a reason, took me 3 years to wear out a stihl bar, even then I put a new nose on it and ran if for another year, I think it got sold with one of my old saws?
As others have stated, keep it sharp, and they will be self cleaning.
Now if one is really gummy from sap, I might wire wheel the teeth before grinding in a vain effort to save on grinding wheel, and I'll wd-40 them if they are stiff before grinding, but thats really the extent of "care" I give them.

It's like the twilight zone.

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

It's a chainsaw chain.

 

[Philbert]

No, but I have taken chains that were rusted solid, beaten them on a tree till I could wrap it around the bar, then fire it up & spin the chain, tighten, spin, tighten, etc until the chain is tight. Next comes the cleaning part.
Grind through some wood to polish the bits up, then put an edge back on. As long as the chrome is still there, I don't care how stiff & rusty a chain is. 5 minutes in wood and it's shiny and new again. But I also point the starter covers towards the sky when it's going to rain. A night of pouring rain does pretty good at cleaning a saw up right there in the truck bed!

That doesn’t sound hard on your clutch, drive sprocket, bar, or nose sprocket at all . . .

Philbert

 

[056kid]

That doesn’t sound hard on your clutch, drive sprocket, bar, or nose sprocket at all . . .

Philbert

Probably a little abrasive on the rails, but that's about it. What's worse is doing the Rev, tighten, repeat with a thrown chain that trashed up some drivers. When the rails groove gets too loose, it can be closed up again. People say to grease sprockets. I tried it, blew the sprocket not long after.

 

[KostasVolos]

Here in Greece ,we have plenty of olive trees and they need branch pruning after olive harvest annually .
Their "hungry branches" as we are calling them have to go every year.Depending of the cultivar ,the tree size and the shape given either pole saws or top handle chainsaws ( or both ) are used.

Before starting to work on a new olive tree field all the chains are
thrown into a bucket with half a kilo ( 1 pound ) of lye ( NaOH ,Sodium Hydroxide ) and boiled water is added until all chains are covered .They sit there for 15' and then washed with plain water .Then they are lubricated and ready for work,looking almost brand new ! Lye cleans and kills EVERYTHING !

Now ,while working on an olive tree plantation ,when finishing pruning a tree and before moving to the next one ,bar and chain are thoroughly washed with a brush and a 10% solution of formaldehyde ( forbidden method ) or a special biocide like Quat (Quaternary Ammonium Cations ,legal & approved method ).
All these measures are taken to prevent spreading diseases (bacteria ,fungus,viruses,insect eggs ,etc) from field to field and from tree to tree.The same also procedure is followed in many other fruiting trees.
They were farmers who lost many trees ,because of contaminated chains and bars used for pruning,spreading deadly diseases among trees.

Other than that ,when cutting firewood ,a quick brushing of each cutter with an old toothbrush ,just before file sharpening ,is more than enough.

 

[Philbert]

Very interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing that.

Philbert

 

[gnef]

I'll preface this by saying I am just a hobbyist, and not making money with my saws, so take that into consideration.

I consider the maintenance and cleaning to be part of the hobby, so to a certain extent, I do enjoy it, especially since I don't do it every day. It would be a different matter if I had to do it every night.

I got into chainsaw milling, but I don't mill super frequently. When I do mill, I can go through many chains, and I prefer to change out a chain rather than sharpen on the bar. It would take a long time to sharpen on the mill since my main mill uses a 56" bar with 168 drive links of standard ripping chain. I keep 6 loops on hand to swap out when needed, same for my 36" mill, and same for most of my crosscutting chains as well in different lengths. I keep each chain in its own VHS case for storage.

My cleaning regimen is to put the chains in the ultrasonic cleaner with CMT 2050 solution for 15-20 minutes with the solution also being heated. After the ultrasonic cleaner, I rinse off any loose debri, and then use compressed air to dry out the chain. Then I sharpen and check the depth gauges/rakers. After sharpening, I put the chains into a small quart container, spray and shake with CRC 3-36 which helps to knock off metal swarf, as well as lubricate and protect the chain from rust in the VHS case until I use it next, which could potentially be months since I keep so many chains on hand, and don't mill too frequently.

 

[bwalker]

Some of you guys have too much time on your hands!

 

[Del_]

No, but I have taken chains that were rusted solid, beaten them on a tree till I could wrap it around the bar, then fire it up & spin the chain, tighten, spin, tighten, etc until the chain is tight. Next comes the cleaning part.
Grind through some wood to polish the bits up, then put an edge back on. As long as the chrome is still there, I don't care how stiff & rusty a chain is. 5 minutes in wood and it's shiny and new again. But I also point the starter covers towards the sky when it's going to rain. A night of pouring rain does pretty good at cleaning a saw up right there in the truck bed!

I've applied a little bar oil and used two vice grips to work 'frozen' links loose a few times. Once you get them freed up and into the wood they clean up quickly.

 

[Philbert]

I've applied a little bar oil and used two vice grips to work 'frozen' links loose a few times.

I use 3-In-1 oil for that: penetrates a little better.

Some stuck links are due to dried out oil (really old chains or nose sprockets that have sat for a while). Some are rusty. Some are bent.

I clamp the drive link tightly in a machinist’s vise, and gently tap on an adjacent link (but not a cutter!) with a small hammer and wood dowel to get some movement started.



Philbert

 

[Del_]

I use 3-In-1 oil for that: penetrates a little better.

Some stuck links are due to dried out oil (really old chains or nose sprockets that have sat for a while). Some are rusty. Some are bent.

I clamp the drive link tightly in a machinist’s vise, and gently tap on an adjacent link (but not a cutter!) with a small hammer and wood dowel to get some movement started.

Philbert

That sounds like a good technique.

I've hit links with the screwdriver end of a chain tool and struck the tool with a plastic wedge to move stuck links.

 

[Philbert]

Plastic wedge is a good option. Added photo, above, that does not show the wood dowel / scrap that I normally use.

Philbert

 

[Joseph W Santora]

I was cutting evergreen for a friend and had the oil pump gear strip on my 357. I didn't catch it till i was ready for a fill up. The chain was covered in what looked like cooked sap and was a b to get off. Switched saws and when I got home I got the great (?) idea of throwing the chain in my wet tumbler that I use to clean my ammo brass. The stainless pins removed EVERY SINGLE speck of crud to where the chain looked brand new and from what I could tell didn't dull the chain. I then put the chain in an egg pan filled with Mobil 1 oil and heated it up on the BBQ burner outside to 250 deg until it stopped bubbling off the water. Let it cool, and did it again. I was quite pleased with myself.