Clueless homeowners and their saws

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I guess it's good for business plumbers down here will charge the clueless $300 plus to change a washer in a tap lol

To get a plumber to fix my well pump from Missoula was $340, just to do the drive. I was on my 5th day of fussing with the thing, and after the quote I was super motivated to fix it myself. Not only did I save some coin, but learned quite a bit about proper set up of a well pump.

People can do stuff, figure things out, but doing it on your own takes a lot of time, frustration and not knowing what you don't know compounds the situation. Also if you don't have the tools then you are really backed up against the wall.
 
I raised two sons. The oldest was exactly like you; he had untold opportunities to learn basic mechanical repair & maintenance. He would just find any excuse not to do it. He had access to a car I owned during his high school/college years, with the stipulation that he maintained it properly. When it stopped running, of course he came to me, and it was obvious that it had been neglected. So I told him that I would fix it, but he had to help. It was a big job which required that the engine be removed. Of course, he found every excuse not to help, and when he did, he was less than enthusiastic about learning. After I fixed it, he was all enthusiastic about getting "his" car back. I never let him drive it again.

My youngest son, completely different story. He bought his first vehicle before he was licensed to drive. An old truck that needed repairs to make it safe and reliable. We fixed brakes, steering & suspension components, etc. Fixed electrical gremlins. I showed him how to fix a leaking intake manifold. I still can picture him sitting on the inner fender wrenching away. He drove that old truck through high school. One of the few high schools, BTW, that still offers auto tech classes. He took two years of that and excelled at it.

A tale of two sons, with the same opportunities to learn, with two completely different outcomes. Guess which brother asks the other to fix his stuff?

BTW, is your name Kyle? 😆
I guess I need to revise my post.

My parents were utterly ****ing useless. I'm the kid who taught himself to wrench, and rebuilt the 350 in their pickup at 12 years old. Fixing and flipping lawnmowers since 10. Bought my first truck and put a new motor in it at 14, sold it for a profit before I got my driver's license though. Look at my username.

My brother had these opportunities too. He was more interested in following in the footsteps of our alcoholic and pothead parents, though. Last I talked to them, he was still living with mom and dad, in his old bedroom, no car or driver's license, not the slightest bit further ahead in life than he was at 10 years old, despite being in his 30s now.
 
A lot of the problem is people don't want to do work, mechanical or manual, and/or do not have the knowledge and ability.

A "landscaper" was an oddity when/where I grew up. Everybody cut their own lawns, trimmed the trees/hedges, raked the leaves in the fall. If a tree fell down you cut it up for fall firewood, didn't hire someone then pay more to get rid of it. People could change a flat tire, do a driveway oil change/lube, paint their own home.

I first learned of engines/machinery watching my father care for the lawnmower, maybe 6-7 years old. Later kids had mini-bikes powered by the same Briggs/Tecumseh engines, and we would salvage those from the town dump then take them apart, sometimes even manage to fix them and build a powered bike. Dad had carpentry tools, plumbing tools, quality hand/mechanic tools, we painted the house and barns.

I also worked on grandparents and local farms, most all machinery was simple to work on and tractors got me ready to work on cars. Cars could be had for $200-500 that kids could afford and could work on.......you didn't need many specialty tools. We'd ride junk/free cars around the farms/woods as kids long before we could legally drive. That and farm tractors/trucks were our "driver's ed". When we turned 16 we did take HS school driver ed. You could tell right away which kids had worked on farms. The clutch, that was so difficult for some to master was long ago mastered by us. They never had automatic drivers ed cars then.

My HS had vocational courses and I enjoyed woodworking and metal fabrication/power mechanics. I took all the advanced college AP courses and excelled. My guidance councilor asked me why I was taking "metal shop"..."I learn a lot , there is a great teacher, and it's learning things that are useful to me"......" besides I need an elective"....

Concerning working on things. Machinery has become more use and throw away, along with being harder to repair. My old Ford tractor I can fix most things with the tools in the lunchbox sized toolbox. Newest Deeres, people (my cousins) are pissed they have to have a dealer, come fix things using proprietary tools/electronics. I help them work on thier 50s Ford Jubilee and IH H.

Cars went that way in the mid-late 1970s, saws I'd say in the early 1990s. I don't have and won't buy any new saws. I have little-big runners from mid 1980s-mid 1990s. They are very simple to work on, and about what I consider the apex between functionality and simplicity to repair. Yes newer saws have better AV and air filtration, but I grew up cutting a lot of cordwood with an XL Homelite.
 
I'll be the first to admit that given the opportunity or opening i'll talk for 20 minutes about chainsaw maint to unsuspecting victims. I lack the ability to not say something to anyone running a saw in a inexperienced manor. Every time I sell a saw I can't help but go over aspects most folks have no cares about. Just last week friends had me come help remove a huge crape myrtle growing over their house and in 15 minutes I had the wife starting a saw, using the chain brake and holding/standing in safe manors, taught her how to judge tension versus compression for under or over cut decisions and how to keep the chain out of the dirt. It was great, she was out cutting her husband and ecstatic to be involved and he was happy to have the help. She ran circles around him cutting, loading and even taking the debris to dump them. With a little advice people can go from unsure, apprehensive and passive to assertive, confidant and happy to help. The average human buys a new chains in packs of 2, uses one until they can not force it to cut any further, throws it into the trash and gets out the second chain. The step above this buys chains in two packs, uses them until they no longer cuts but saves the until they have a coffee can full and proceeds to pay to have them sharpened and may in a pinch produce a worn out file and run it across each tooth to try and finish up what they started. Any one that can do more than this is far above average!
 
I guess I need to revise my post.

My parents were utterly ****ing useless. I'm the kid who taught himself to wrench, and rebuilt the 350 in their pickup at 12 years old. Fixing and flipping lawnmowers since 10. Bought my first truck and put a new motor in it at 14, sold it for a profit before I got my driver's license though. Look at my username.

My brother had these opportunities too. He was more interested in following in the footsteps of our alcoholic and pothead parents, though. Last I talked to them, he was still living with mom and dad, in his old bedroom, no car or driver's license, not the slightest bit further ahead in life than he was at 10 years old, despite being in his 30s now.
Another kindered soul/GM man I see.

I still have my first roadworthy car, 1968 Camaro I got just before HS graduation when I was 17. Stored in my barn now.

It came from commiefornia when they were just fruits and nuts, so car never had rust/cancer like most cars here in N East. When I ran out of $$$ going to school got a job at 24/7 gas station/garage on a turnpike. Owner was a great guy with a super well equipped shop (real lift, engine hoist from ceiling on trolley, motor stand, air tools/air, full snapon boxes...). I worked 11PM-7AM wintertime shift. Sometimes only see 5-6 cars all night.

I "got paid" to take that car down to bare block, bored/balanced/blueprinted. Machine work was done by a man who built factory engines for team Lotus that ran at Lime Rock track Ct. My uncle worked for GE as a master machinist, he "lent" me the tools I need to do the blueprint work. Took me many months to finish that and the rest of the whole drive train. Taught that stuff to myself. Glad I've never sold the car.
 
Doesn’t help they don’t have shop class in high schools anymore.

It’s all by design in the school systems, indoctrinate the kids into being useless lazy communists who’ll gladly give up personal responsibility for big brother “protection” . Praise stem jobs while frowning upon real men who get **** done (trades)

When I was in high school in the early 90’s we had Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Auto Shop, Cabinet Making, Drafting, Heavy Equipment Operating, even Home Ec for the ladies.

The same high school has exactly zero of those classes available today.
 
When I was in high school in the early 90’s we had Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Auto Shop, Cabinet Making, Drafting, Heavy Equipment Operating, even Home Ec for the ladies.

The same high school today has exactly zero of those classes available today.
Iwas ~20-25 years younger than yourself.

Yes HS had home EC for the ladies.....these days would be some confused dudes/trannys......
 
Must be a sign of the times. Even my 21-year-old niece admitted that her high school education was basically worthless with no practical value.
Thankfully there are choices in the city for anyone wanting to take up trades, we have a technical vacational school and a community college where you can learn a variety of them.
I spent 4 months in a technical vocational school picking up a couple of credits I needed, and that 4 months was worth way more in a practical sense than 90 percent of the rest of my time in high school. To this day I still use the welding and machining skills I picked up there, in fact it gave me a number of jobs which is more than I can say for the rest of my high school education.

The trend seems to be a world evolving into a society full of specialists, who are good at one thing but are helpless at any other, or just can't be bothered to learn anything else. I agree with Heinlein's opinion that "specialization is for insects". People should know how to do a variety of things passably well, and should strive to never stop learning new things. With a world of information right at our fingertips, there really is no excuse not to.
 
My dad bailed when I was 9. So i had to learn to fix the car and the mower etc. I bought my car 67 gto from painting houses and garages when I was about 15. Fixed up the brakes and clutch and front end waiting till I was old enough to get my dl. I became an electrical engineer. Can fix cars and weld and do quite a few repairs if not all. I changed out a complete bathroom before I changed a sink washer.
I am not a chain saw pro. But I am still learning. I have fixed carbs. And replaced bars and chains. But dont yet know the correct way to sharpen a chain. I am working on it. And I can start and safely run my stihl pro saw.. wish I knew a neighbor to show me how to sharpen a chain well. I bought the correct files. But I am not positive on the right angle yet.
 
My dad bailed when I was 9. So i had to learn to fix the car and the mower etc. I bought my car 67 gto from painting houses and garages when I was about 15. Fixed up the brakes and clutch and front end waiting till I was old enough to get my dl. I became an electrical engineer. Can fix cars and weld and do quite a few repairs if not all. I changed out a complete bathroom before I changed a sink washer.
I am not a chain saw pro. But I am still learning. I have fixed carbs. And replaced bars and chains. But dont yet know the correct way to sharpen a chain. I am working on it. And I can start and safely run my stihl pro saw.. wish I knew a neighbor to show me how to sharpen a chain well. I bought the correct files. But I am not positive on the right angle yet.
By the time you've worn out a couple files you should be on your way to being skilled.

A good pair of gloves will save your knuckles as you learn, and clamping the saw/bar in a good vice will help lots. In the woods you can make a bar holder by cutting a groove in a stump or log.
 
Doesn’t help they don’t have shop class in high schools anymore.

One small high school here in Southern Wisconsin sold all their shop tools to one fellow. He had a NICE shop then. Fifteen years later they wised up and asked to buy their stuff back. He declined their offer.......... Their new shop with almost all foreign built machines, not American made South Bends and Oliver wood machinery.... the teacher is fair, but has to work with crap..... kids are sure glad to be able to learn ..
 
My dad bailed when I was 9. So i had to learn to fix the car and the mower etc. I bought my car 67 gto from painting houses and garages when I was about 15. Fixed up the brakes and clutch and front end waiting till I was old enough to get my dl. I became an electrical engineer. Can fix cars and weld and do quite a few repairs if not all. I changed out a complete bathroom before I changed a sink washer.
I am not a chain saw pro. But I am still learning. I have fixed carbs. And replaced bars and chains. But dont yet know the correct way to sharpen a chain. I am working on it. And I can start and safely run my stihl pro saw.. wish I knew a neighbor to show me how to sharpen a chain well. I bought the correct files. But I am not positive on the right angle yet.
Buy a stihl brand chain, I know it will have the angle hash mark on the back of the cutter tooth to file it. There are other brands with the angle line on the top of the tooth but I know the stihl will have it for sure.
 
Buy a stihl brand chain, I know it will have the angle hash mark on the back of the cutter tooth to file it. There are other brands with the angle line on the top of the tooth but I know the stihl will have it for sure.
Oregon file holders also have 25 30 35 degrees on the holder. They are a good place to start with if you want to free hand file, and get a "handle" on hook/gullet/filing depth.
 
When I was in high school in the early 90’s we had Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Auto Shop, Cabinet Making, Drafting, Heavy Equipment Operating, even Home Ec for the ladies.

The same high school has exactly zero of those classes available today.
It’s ….weird how they all just vanished… when we all collectively can say those classes are a good thing… so why were they all quietly and slowly pulled? Very interesting. Get involved in your local school boards guys, don’t let them use your kids for their agendas.
 
Is it possible to sharpen sawzall pruning blades?
They're fairly inexpensive and when one gets dull, I toss it and start a new one.
Would it be hard to sharpen one?
View attachment 1000261
Yes no different than a hand saw in practice. Would only take finding the correct little files and good glasses and something like a small vice to hold the blade,and just follow the same sharpening that they came with it's all just left right left right type stuff. I wouldn't worry about set give em a couple sharpens then toss em or when performance falls off might get more??
Would be endless how to sharpen a hand saw (rip and cross cut) on the net that blade is probably a mix of both and cuts on the push pull.
The way cost of everything is going up this might end up being cost affective.
 
I agree, I bought an Echo CS-590 last year that was pretty much brand new except it had no compression and the rings were welded to the piston. Guy said he had no idea what happened, "Just put gas in it, started it up and it froze". I asked why he didn't return it and he looked away and mumbled something. Pretty sure he knew exactly what he did wrong and so did the shop he bought it from. Anyway, after $25 for the saw and a new piston/ring kit it runs like new, the cylinder cleaned up fine with just polishing tape. Like I said, I love these people.
I assume he forgot that the gas has to be 50:1 fuel to oil or at least something similar?
 

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