mike1273
ArboristSite Member
I searched, maybe didn't read enough or whatever. What type chains serve for different conditions? Dry, drity, sand filled bark, harddwood, soft woods & so on. I'm in search of some knowledge in this area.
chains for different cutting conditions
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mtngun
Addicted to ArboristSite
Most people here use full chisel for clean softwoods.
Semi-chisel may be more practical for dirty wood.
Semi-chisel may be more practical for dirty wood.
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Hi mate.
If you were to class chains as toughest to "weakest" you'd class them like this...
1) Chipper chain
2) Semi Chisel
3) Full Chisel Round Ground
4) Full Chisel Square Ground
Of course there is carbide chain too which will outwear all of the above by miles but didn't include it as too expensive.
Chipper chain cuts about 10% slower than semi chisel which is about 10% slower than full chisel. I don't have much experience with square ground full chisel as generally my cutting conditions are too harsh for it and I'm not setup to sharpen it
If cutting in abrasive conditions you'll find (as a rough guide) semi chisel will last about twice as long as full chisel and chipper will last about twice as long as semi chisel.
If you were to class chains as toughest to "weakest" you'd class them like this...
1) Chipper chain
2) Semi Chisel
3) Full Chisel Round Ground
4) Full Chisel Square Ground
Of course there is carbide chain too which will outwear all of the above by miles but didn't include it as too expensive.
Chipper chain cuts about 10% slower than semi chisel which is about 10% slower than full chisel. I don't have much experience with square ground full chisel as generally my cutting conditions are too harsh for it and I'm not setup to sharpen it
If cutting in abrasive conditions you'll find (as a rough guide) semi chisel will last about twice as long as full chisel and chipper will last about twice as long as semi chisel.
mikefunaro
Addicted to ArboristSite
Clean softwoods - full chisel.
Clean, wetter hardwoods (green maple, etc) - full chisel
Dry hardwoods that have kind of seasoned - semi chisel.
Dirty wood ---semi chisel.
I don't really like filing in the woods, even with a stump vise. I do much better in a vise on the bench where I'm totally used to the height and where I want to stand, etc. If my cutting session will be short, even if the wood will be somewhat dirty, I bring chisel.
Lately I've been somewhat lazy about picking wood up and have been chancing ground contact a little more. Probably because I have extra chains. I like semi chisel because if you hit clean forest floor there's enough detritus that you're not really going to go digging and the semi chisel will be virtually unharmed.
Clean, wetter hardwoods (green maple, etc) - full chisel
Dry hardwoods that have kind of seasoned - semi chisel.
Dirty wood ---semi chisel.
I don't really like filing in the woods, even with a stump vise. I do much better in a vise on the bench where I'm totally used to the height and where I want to stand, etc. If my cutting session will be short, even if the wood will be somewhat dirty, I bring chisel.
Lately I've been somewhat lazy about picking wood up and have been chancing ground contact a little more. Probably because I have extra chains. I like semi chisel because if you hit clean forest floor there's enough detritus that you're not really going to go digging and the semi chisel will be virtually unharmed.
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if its in the woods i cut it and drag to the landing then buck it,all with full chisel chain .if you learn to sharpen effectively then full chisel works fine. dont let your chain get dull keep it touched up and keep on cutting. sometimes you have to sharpen often when its muddy and dirty but the performance of semi chisel for me just dont work.
catman963
ArboristSite Guru
I know everyone talks about the semi-chisel chain.....
I will say tho - that I tried semi-chisel chain, after using only full chisel...... :bang: couldn't stand the stuff - I felt like it was SO much slower!! That loop of chain is now a decoration on my shop wall!!
I will say tho - that I tried semi-chisel chain, after using only full chisel...... :bang: couldn't stand the stuff - I felt like it was SO much slower!! That loop of chain is now a decoration on my shop wall!!
COLD_IRON
Addicted to ArboristSite
I know everyone talks about the semi-chisel chain.....
I will say tho - that I tried semi-chisel chain, after using only full chisel...... :bang: couldn't stand the stuff - I felt like it was SO much slower!! That loop of chain is now a decoration on my shop wall!!
Go cookie up a 40 year old log that has been laying on the ground with full chisel vs. semi chisel - then you will appreciate the semi.
o8f150
Tree Freak
i just use semi chisel for everything,,works for me
gemniii
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Madsen's and Oregon (chain) have some good articles on chains.
sunfish
Fish Head
Semi-chisel works best for me. Hard wood, cut in the woods, sharpened in the woods.
MAD MAX
ArboristSite Member
For those that do not like semi chisel you must know how to file a chain. I use full chisel mostley but semi is best for dirty or real hard stuff.:chainsawguy:
wvlogger
Rock trucker
All I run is round ground full chisel. Mostaly oregon lpx and lgx
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
For those having a go at semi chisel if it's set up properly it is easily faster than out of the box full chisel such as RSC or LGX.
On a grunty saw with dropped rakers few people would complain about the cutting speed unless they guage all their chain speeds against that special race chain they own - too many people on this site guage "chain speed" cutting cookies in their back yard when in the field you'll hardly notice.
It's not all about actual cutting speed, sharpening time has to be taken into account as well and you'll sharpen full chisel more often than semi chisel.
On a grunty saw with dropped rakers few people would complain about the cutting speed unless they guage all their chain speeds against that special race chain they own - too many people on this site guage "chain speed" cutting cookies in their back yard when in the field you'll hardly notice.
It's not all about actual cutting speed, sharpening time has to be taken into account as well and you'll sharpen full chisel more often than semi chisel.
Guys make it sound like there is some kind of voodoo magic involved with semi chisel chain cutting in dirty wood. I have run the stuff and cannot tell any difference from full comp. Skip chain dulls faster cause there are less bits, however it takes less time to put an edge on...
I want the scientific proof that semi skip is capable of keeping an edge in dirty wood, as well as how it does so. .
I want the scientific proof that semi skip is capable of keeping an edge in dirty wood, as well as how it does so. .
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MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Do you mean semi chisel old son? I think you do.
If you've never been able to tell the difference between full chisel and semi chisel as far as wear goes than that tells me you cut clean wood and what you may class as dirty/abrasive isn't bad at all. I'm sure there is a whole wide world of filthy cutting conditions that you've never experienced in your area. In my area nice green clean wood and no dust is extremely rare (we have an 11" average annual rainfall).
Scientific proof is a big word. If you haven't been involved in science then you mightn't realise that it's not that scientific at all and quite simple.
Basically a full chisel chain has one main cutting point and as you'd be aware once that point gets a bit beaten up the chain starts to go off the cut. On a semi chisel chain (or chipper) that point is actually a radiused curve so instead of one single point there is a wider area that does the job and this radiused curve takes a far larger beating before it goes off the cut than that single sharp point on a full chisel chain.
Rest assured that if full chisel chain wore as well as semi chisel then we'd all be using full chisel and no manufacturers would make semi chisel or chipper
I believe you are quite right good sir. Semi chisel I don't have very much experience with. I still need some scientific proof lol:yoyo:
Stihlman441
Addicted to ArboristSite
Its conditions and personal choose that wins here,if ya cut a lot of wood you will have it worked out what you like.Me 80% of my chains are full chisel RSC or A3LM and mainly use 20'' bars so when i am organized i have set up 2 or 3 bars with sharp chains on um ready to go.So every 2nd fuel stop or so i change bars,chains only takes a minute.I cut green clean sugar,spotted or swamp gum for firewood.I have also found when cutting green clean stringybark the sharp full chisel cuts better than the semi chisel.
Do what works for you
Do what works for you
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Now if only Albert Einstein hadn't died I'd give him a call...
Its conditions and personal choose that wins here,if ya cut a lot of wood you will have it worked out what you like.Me 80% of my chains are full chisel RSC or A3LM and mainly use 20'' bars so when i am organized i have set up 2 or 3 bars with sharp chains on um ready to go.So every 2nd fuel stop or so i change bars,chains only takes a minute.I cut green clean sugar,spotted or swamp gum for firewood.I have also found when cutting green clean stringybark the sharp full chisel cuts better than the semi chisel.
Do what works for you
Like you mate I've found full chisel seems to cut through the fibrous bark on Stringybark easier as well
dingeryote
Blueberry Baron
It's got a lot to do with what and where you're cutting and how much really.
If you just dropped it, and are bucking it right there where it fell, it's usually clean enough to go at it with plain old full chisel, square or round filed, skip or full comp.
If it has sat for a year or so, dragged/skidded, moved with the thumb on an excavator, or slid down a muddy ditch bank, or grown in sand, go with a loop of semi-chisel or plan on filing with each refill of the tank instead of just touching things up like normal.
Semi-chisel is NOT slower for production, but it is a smidge slower in the cut and less so if ya file with care.
Semi-chisel is more forgiving on file angles as well. Mistakes on a tooth or two(3-7? LOL!) that would have full chisel cutting circles, generally wont steer a bar as bad on semi-chisel. So if a guy is new to the file, or uncomfy filing on a log, it's an obvious choice.
Semi-chisel also isn't as "Grabby" when limbing. You'll still get bound up reading tension wrong in a tangle, but you'll get fewer deflected bars when you're not paying as much attention as ya should.
I like the SC for lotsa reasons, and the biggest one is fewer busted beaks when I find sand inclusions or those dadgum little mineral pebbles that form in rough barked trees. SC already has a rounded "beak" that is stronger than the pointed beak on full chisel, that breaks back to the reinforced area leaving a powder shooting chain all of a sudden. All of which means less filing, a longer lasting chain, more cutting time and less down time, and a hell of a lot less cussing.
Last is chipper chain. It's slow cutting, but dosn't slow down too much further when it gets dull. If you're an Aussie, or cut mud packed logs, you'll be happy to have a loop and have an idea why ya gotta get another. LOL!!
Last I knew Carlton is the last to offer chipper.
Clean= full chisel
Less than clean= Semi-chisel
Filthy, nasty,gritty,=Chipper chain.
Full skip, semi skip, full compliment is something 056 Kid is gonna have to explain, and a whole nother thing.
Hope this helps add to what the gang already laid out for ya.:hmm3grin2orange:
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
If you just dropped it, and are bucking it right there where it fell, it's usually clean enough to go at it with plain old full chisel, square or round filed, skip or full comp.
If it has sat for a year or so, dragged/skidded, moved with the thumb on an excavator, or slid down a muddy ditch bank, or grown in sand, go with a loop of semi-chisel or plan on filing with each refill of the tank instead of just touching things up like normal.
Semi-chisel is NOT slower for production, but it is a smidge slower in the cut and less so if ya file with care.
Semi-chisel is more forgiving on file angles as well. Mistakes on a tooth or two(3-7? LOL!) that would have full chisel cutting circles, generally wont steer a bar as bad on semi-chisel. So if a guy is new to the file, or uncomfy filing on a log, it's an obvious choice.
Semi-chisel also isn't as "Grabby" when limbing. You'll still get bound up reading tension wrong in a tangle, but you'll get fewer deflected bars when you're not paying as much attention as ya should.
I like the SC for lotsa reasons, and the biggest one is fewer busted beaks when I find sand inclusions or those dadgum little mineral pebbles that form in rough barked trees. SC already has a rounded "beak" that is stronger than the pointed beak on full chisel, that breaks back to the reinforced area leaving a powder shooting chain all of a sudden. All of which means less filing, a longer lasting chain, more cutting time and less down time, and a hell of a lot less cussing.
Last is chipper chain. It's slow cutting, but dosn't slow down too much further when it gets dull. If you're an Aussie, or cut mud packed logs, you'll be happy to have a loop and have an idea why ya gotta get another. LOL!!
Last I knew Carlton is the last to offer chipper.
Clean= full chisel
Less than clean= Semi-chisel
Filthy, nasty,gritty,=Chipper chain.
Full skip, semi skip, full compliment is something 056 Kid is gonna have to explain, and a whole nother thing.
Hope this helps add to what the gang already laid out for ya.:hmm3grin2orange:
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
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