Experimental Chainsaw Chain

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In the aircraft piston engine industry, there have been numerous cylinder plating processes attempted. Channel chrome, where the cylinder is cut and then plated with a layer of chrome, has been utilized for many decades. There have been numerous other processes such as cermichrome, cerminil, nitriding, and a host of others that had mixed results. Metal coating processes are an ongoing experiment in many industries and my earlier comments weren't intended to indicate that an improved chain can't be developed. I was and am skeptical as to whether a new type chain, even if better, could break into a market where cost is one of the primary factors.

Some enthusiasts may be willing to spend more for "the better mousetrap" but in reality, how many on this forum have even purchased a readily available carbide chain? We know they are better for certain applications but most here make do with something less adequate but much cheaper.

A chain that stays sharp longer may appeal to someone that is in a production environment such as firewood processing machines, etc. For the average Joe, I don't think it would be an easy sell.

I had a friend that owned a plating business for several years and he finally got out of that industry because of the onerous requirements regarding dealing with all the hazmat resulting from the processes. So if a chain plating process is developed, it would probably require going offshore to have it produced to get to a price point that was feasible.

So to summarize, I think the biggest hurdle to surmount will not be developing a better chain, but marketing a better chain.
 
Stihl has a guy, with a doctorate in engineering, running their chain development. He's been at it for a couple decades. They take it pretty seriously.

Actually Stihl has a team of experts working on such projects. My company does a great deal of tooling, ( not my dept ) but I can tell you this much each and every tool supplier we use has a dedicated team working on such issues. Millions and millions of dollars/euros spent on this. While it is an interesting idea I think it is like trying to reinvent the wheel. Just MHO
 
I would prefer to have a chain that cuts as well as current chain but sharpens easier rather than a coated chain that is more expensive, cuts a little longer, but I can't sharpen easily.

(snip)QUOTE]

Unfortunately you can't have your cake and eat it too. The ability of a cutting tool to stay sharp also makes it difficult to sharpen. If you wan't something that is easier to sharpen, you will give up the ability of that tool to hold an edge.

As far as coming up with some sort of coating to improve a chains ability to stay sharp, that would be great but the reality is that coatings generally our only benificial on disposable insert cutters. Any cutter that one plans to sharpen just isn't a good fit for a coating.
 
A lot of good post replies here.

What I'm saying here is that this test will try to show results compared to standard chain, if we can get it to properly plate and still rotate.

I've tried this on bearings (roller bearings) and they can actually withstand a few minutes of plating and still rotate very well.
Multiply those few minutes by two, and you end up with scrap.


There's no real end of day solution or process here because this is just an experiment.

But as a handful of replies stated, if you get a super hard surface, it will be hard to sharpen, and if you sharpen off the coating, you're left with almost the same material as before.

I think the end result here (if it works) is going to show how much better it would compare.

Then if it rates better, one would try and work out the rest.

But certainly I hope someone or some group out there decided to break in to the chain market and give some new options.
 
Actually Stihl has a team of experts working on such projects. My company does a great deal of tooling, ( not my dept ) but I can tell you this much each and every tool supplier we use has a dedicated team working on such issues. Millions and millions of dollars/euros spent on this. While it is an interesting idea I think it is like trying to reinvent the wheel. Just MHO
I did a poor job of wording it properly. When I said "department" I surely meant "team". The guy running it, though, travels the world checking out how people in the field actually use the chain.
 
This is a great idea, however, the hardness of the metal or coatings directly effects the ability to sharpen the chain, especially with a file. Leaving someone in the woods needing a new option to sharpen said chains without powered machines.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't coatings wear off when an edge is sharpened. I would think the metal itself whether bimetal or alloy would be the way to proceed.
 
If the coating is electroplated on then the chain could be hung upside down over the solution and only the part of the cutters that need the coating would be dipped into the plating solution.


There are carbide tipped saw blades that cut fiber cement siding and they use an electro fusion process to coat the carbide with diamonds to give a very long cutting blade in very abrasive conditions.




Mr. HE:cool:
 
coated chain

I have seen and cut with TiN coated chain. It stays sharp slightly longer but in the end the process costs $0.25 per cutter extra. Anyone willing to pay for that at the store?
 
I'm all for people trying to improve on saw chain. Chainsaws would be really cool tools if the chains were not so maintenance intensive. It is what it is, and we accept it because there is nothing better right now, but a breakthrough would sure be fine with me.




Mr. HE:cool:
 
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