A lesson learn’t - I hope it helps anyone coming here in the future wanting to learn..
I was always under the impression, from watching Americans cutting, that my chains were blunt or I was doing something wrong. There is this idea that you don’t need to use our bucking spikes when the saw is sharp. I see you guys in America and Canada lay the bar on the log, pull the trigger and the saw draws itself in, loads up and bites instantly. I would try that out here and what tends to happen is the chain skates either side and skips and bounces… Often without using the bucking spikes it can seem slow going. The chain skates and skips over the log and the saw just screams, it’s not until you dog in and lean that you’ll start to get a cut well. For the benefit of anyone who may come to this forum and thinks that they’re doing something wrong and that using the dogs is a sign of a dull chain, consider what wood you’re cutting and the species and how dry it is.
Also, I see you people get half way through a cut, stop pulling the trigger and then can pull the trigger again and it tears through the wood. I tried that multiple times and it often just bogs the saw and won’t cut. Again I thought my saw was under powered and honestly, even with a 25” bar on a 660 I want more…
So much that I thought my saw had low compression so checked it, it’s fine. The wood out here is just different.
For anyone wanting to learn that lives in Australia, what i’ve learnt is, a lot of what you see and hear about saws and cutting in America and Canada doesn’t tend to apply. From bar length, tooth geometry, falling timber, sharpening etc.. best is to always ask and learn from those people who cut the species you are.
Also Tooth length, I was adamant, having learnt off YouTubers from America, teeth can be different lengths and cut just as fast or quick, just as efficiently and just as smooth! After all they show it can! Well finally after hearing from rogue and trains and initially being defiant, I have realised. Yes they’re right, they know what they’re talking about. Keep every tooth as close to exactly as the others every time as much as possible. It’s smoother, less chatter, cleaner cutting, quicker cutting.
This has been an interesting process involving a lot of apologising to the two guys below when I would challenge them with what I had seen online and how it was indeed wrong advise out here in Australia.
A shoutout and thank you to both @rogue60 for this advice and much more over the years, as well as @trains, who is always generous and willing to help too. Two great blokes worth reaching out to if you’re in Australia, who have put up with my crap and continued to help me out and guide me. Thanks guys.
Here is a full chisel, fresh ground chain, low aggressive depth gauges and it hardly cuts until I lean on it.
And as a fun comparison, although not fair as they’re totally different chains, here is the 500i and 660 running in Aussi wood. 500i full chisel ground, 660 semi chisel hand file.
I was always under the impression, from watching Americans cutting, that my chains were blunt or I was doing something wrong. There is this idea that you don’t need to use our bucking spikes when the saw is sharp. I see you guys in America and Canada lay the bar on the log, pull the trigger and the saw draws itself in, loads up and bites instantly. I would try that out here and what tends to happen is the chain skates either side and skips and bounces… Often without using the bucking spikes it can seem slow going. The chain skates and skips over the log and the saw just screams, it’s not until you dog in and lean that you’ll start to get a cut well. For the benefit of anyone who may come to this forum and thinks that they’re doing something wrong and that using the dogs is a sign of a dull chain, consider what wood you’re cutting and the species and how dry it is.
Also, I see you people get half way through a cut, stop pulling the trigger and then can pull the trigger again and it tears through the wood. I tried that multiple times and it often just bogs the saw and won’t cut. Again I thought my saw was under powered and honestly, even with a 25” bar on a 660 I want more…
So much that I thought my saw had low compression so checked it, it’s fine. The wood out here is just different.
For anyone wanting to learn that lives in Australia, what i’ve learnt is, a lot of what you see and hear about saws and cutting in America and Canada doesn’t tend to apply. From bar length, tooth geometry, falling timber, sharpening etc.. best is to always ask and learn from those people who cut the species you are.
Also Tooth length, I was adamant, having learnt off YouTubers from America, teeth can be different lengths and cut just as fast or quick, just as efficiently and just as smooth! After all they show it can! Well finally after hearing from rogue and trains and initially being defiant, I have realised. Yes they’re right, they know what they’re talking about. Keep every tooth as close to exactly as the others every time as much as possible. It’s smoother, less chatter, cleaner cutting, quicker cutting.
This has been an interesting process involving a lot of apologising to the two guys below when I would challenge them with what I had seen online and how it was indeed wrong advise out here in Australia.
A shoutout and thank you to both @rogue60 for this advice and much more over the years, as well as @trains, who is always generous and willing to help too. Two great blokes worth reaching out to if you’re in Australia, who have put up with my crap and continued to help me out and guide me. Thanks guys.
Here is a full chisel, fresh ground chain, low aggressive depth gauges and it hardly cuts until I lean on it.
And as a fun comparison, although not fair as they’re totally different chains, here is the 500i and 660 running in Aussi wood. 500i full chisel ground, 660 semi chisel hand file.
