Does a rip cut dull a chisel chain quicker?

[Kwanasek]

Yesterday a friend of mine chewed me out for doing a rip cut with his saw. “Way to trash my chain.” I admit that the saw may work harder due to the extra wood it is moving with the stings instead of chips, but I do not see why that would cause the chain to dull any quicker than a cross cut. My friend's saw is a Husky rated for a 30" bar with only a 20 installed, so it should be able to handle the extra work. BTW: The chain never touched the dirt. At 90% though I stood the piece of wood up on end and finished the cut.

Does anybody have an explanation for why a rip cut would dull a chisel chain faster than a cross cut other than “some old timer told me so”?

Is there a better way to cut though 24”+ diameter of wet oak so you can load it onto the trailer with out dropping something important?

 

[PES+]

No...it does not dull the chain

It makes no difference to the chain which direction the grain is going

 

[tree_beard]

It makes no difference to the chain which direction the grain is going

+1

though a rip cut is obviously slower and throws alot more dust, so can appear duller...

 

[Kwanasek]

The better way?

So what you are saying is that instead of doing a rip cut I should stand the wood on end?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Freakingstang]

So what you are saying is that instead of doing a rip cut I should stand the wood on end?

Thanks,
Kevin

no, make the long noodles

 

[PES+]

Lo Mein

 

[tree_beard]

i was commenting more on the dulling of the chain than the effectiveness of ripping big rounds...

i find ripping down through the end grain seems a bit slower and usually dustier than ripping through from the bark side of the round...

but i dont rip alot of rounds, mainly un-splittable crotches...

with a sharp chain to start with.... its all good

 

[Kwanasek]

Thanks!

I was originally referring to ripping though the bark side of a back breaker and making noodles. It always seemed to go faster than standing on end and and making a lot of saw dust.


Thanks for the help.

Kevin,
I'll be printing out this thread and drinking my friend's beer while he reads it.

 

[ShoerFast]

Just $0.02 cents worth, as it's a good question, I really am guessing.

It seems that you can make a lot of noodles ripping, before you need to sharpen compared to chips cross-cutting.

If I had to say, I bet a plain round-filed chisel chain will make more pounds of noodles then it would pounds of chips.

Just for a think, picture a knife blade cutting rope, every fiber needs to be severed, like shaving whiskers off your face. But if you were to cut a length of rope down the middle, or the long way (like making a 3/4" into two 3/8" ropes) Some of the rope fiber will split down the fiber as the cutter passes.

Very moot, splitting or shaving a frog hair moot, not giving your friend a point for his concern, he may need to learn how to touch up a chain, if that is what he is worried about?

But the first rule is:

My Saw, My Rules!​

 

[Kwanasek]

end point

No, the issue was not really about having to sharpen a chain. My friend has about 10+ years of cutting wood on me and he is a pretty big guy. I didn't want to tell him he was full of it without getting some knowledgeable opinions. As you might have already guessed, the discussion with him went way longer than it should have.

 

[Crofter]

We are talking about two different ways of ripping. One cross grain and the other long grain; one makes noodles the other makes fine sawdust but 100% end grain is being cut. One at 90 deg and the other on a long bias. both ways most of the cutting is done with the top plate.
Cutting rounds off only requires severing end grain at each side of the kerf and splitting out the center instead of severing end grain full width of the kerf . Most all of the cutting is done with the side of the cutter.

Since severing wood across the grain takes at least 3 times the energy I think a unit of fuel will produce more weight of sawdust cutting rounds, than either way of ripping. I am not placing any bets though!

 

[Austin1]

Just $0.02 cents worth, as it's a good question, I really am guessing.

It seems that you can make a lot of noodles ripping, before you need to sharpen compared to chips cross-cutting.

If I had to say, I bet a plain round-filed chisel chain will make more pounds of noodles then it would pounds of chips.

Just for a think, picture a knife blade cutting rope, every fiber needs to be severed, like shaving whiskers off your face. But if you were to cut a length of rope down the middle, or the long way (like making a 3/4" into two 3/8" ropes) Some of the rope fiber will split down the fiber as the cutter passes.

Very moot, splitting or shaving a frog hair moot, not giving your friend a point for his concern, he may need to learn how to touch up a chain, if that is what he is worried about?

But the first rule is:

My Saw, My Rules!​

+1 very good explanation!

 

[Mad Professor]

Yesterday a friend of mine chewed me out for doing a rip cut with his saw. “Way to trash my chain.” I admit that the saw may work harder due to the extra wood it is moving with the stings instead of chips, but I do not see why that would cause the chain to dull any quicker than a cross cut. My friend's saw is a Husky rated for a 30" bar with only a 20 installed, so it should be able to handle the extra work. BTW: The chain never touched the dirt. At 90% though I stood the piece of wood up on end and finished the cut.

Does anybody have an explanation for why a rip cut would dull a chisel chain faster than a cross cut other than “some old timer told me so”?

Is there a better way to cut though 24”+ diameter of wet oak so you can load it onto the trailer with out dropping something important?

Are you cutting rocks, iron, or ceramics?


Avoid them all. no line trees bellow 6 ft....................

 

[bluequill56]

I rip rounds with a saw all the time and don't notice the chain dulling any sooner than with cross-cuts. I do a lot of oak and hard maple. Right now I'm working on some 25-30" hickory that there's no way I could get an axe through (no hydraulic splitter... ) until I rip 'em down a bit. That's some tough wood. Fresh chain on a big saw and lean on it for as much as she'll take. I can get quite a few tank fulls before seeing any noticeable dulling.

But......

His saw, .....his rules. Respect the man's wishes.

 

[aokpops]

might need a little more horse power to rip .dull the chain faster yea maybe a little. nothing that can,t be fix.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I see nothing wrong with ripping along the grain and making noodles. The chain is running with the grain and peeling long sections of fibers - and as others have said it is necessary with large diameter rounds that can't be muscled around in one piece. I have never noticed the chain getting dull as a result (However before I removed my little aluminum chain guard and got dual spikes with the roller chain guard I sure could plug up the saw with noodles - especially as the noodles fill up the area between the saw and ground).

I do avoid cutting rounds across the end grain - as the saw cuts very slow, makes lots of dust and just doesn't cut smoothly. To me cutting across the grain is the most work for any saw as the teeth are cutting across each and every grain of wood in the kerf - and I would think that cutting this way repeatedly could potentially dull a chain quicker.

 

[SawTroll]

I was originally referring to ripping though the bark side of a back breaker and making noodles. It always seemed to go faster than standing on end and and making a lot of saw dust.


Thanks for the help.

Kevin,
I'll be printing out this thread and drinking my friend's beer while he reads it.

Yes, you should be entitled to!

Ripping from the side is much faster and friendlier to the equipment and user, than from the end.

 

[smokechase II]

The avoidance of sawdust

Sawdust

Plugs the air filter.
Sneezing events.
Plus you just feel really good about noodles.

***************

Anybody ever timed a side be side pair of cuts with the same saw?
Comparing 90 degree and a 45 rip?

**************

Crofter:

I thought the cutting was accomplished by the point, (or rounded corner area), then the top plate because it angles down. Regardless of type of cut. The side of the tooth did very little.

 

[ghitch75]

dogs like to lay in curly fries....cut this first then 60 rounds....chain was just as sharp.....won't hurt it a bit...

 

[Crofter]

Sawdust



Crofter:

I thought the cutting was accomplished by the point, (or rounded corner area), then the top plate because it angles down. Regardless of type of cut. The side of the tooth did very little.

On a chisel chain cutting off a round, the top plate splits into the wood and lifts it as the side of the cutter severs it from the log at a 90 deg angle. On a semi chisel a lot of the end grain is severed at more of a 45 deg. angle but does not establish the kerf in one pass. In cross cut ripping (seems like a contradiction) the whole of the top plate is severing end grain at 90 deg across the whole kerf width and the side does practically nothing. Cutting noodles severs the end grain too but at a very shallow angle so is more efficient. Both top and side of cutter do some work but the biggest share shifts depending which way of the grain you are cutting.