first saw, words of wisdom, want to keep for life

[Roster]

hey compadres, thanks to everybody that lent me some words. Ive gotten to use it quite a bit this weekend and i am getting used to it. it seems great overall however i am left with a few questions. i thought id post them here before i make a new thread, but I might just in case.. i could have probably titled this post a little better.

But first off it seems like the saw tends to cut to the left.. it seems difficult to cut straight down and it seems to me like the teeth on the chain are off center. I did a little reading and it looks like my bar is straight and not spurred or damaged anywhere.. heres some pictures.. from the looks of it the saw looked nearly new and i didnt really notice that the chain might have been damaged.

My next question is about the chain getting hot. It looks like there is some discoloration/blueing on the bar as if it is getting too hot. or is this normal? i am wondering if it is inevitable that the chain and bar get hot, but my dad says that you need to keep it cutting wood and as it bites into the wood that dissipates the heat.. is that on the right track?

and then also I wonder if I could improve my technique to keep the bar and chain in better shape overall, the paint is wearing off around on the bar, and that mostly happens when i cut wedges out of trees and cut horizontally, but still I might be doing something wrong to be wearing so much paint off the bar compared to how i got it just a couple weeks ago. i just figured it wasnt hardly used as pictured before, and so is this just normal wear? Just wondering what yall think. ive probably cut a little less than half a cord of wood, mostly pretty hard dead stuff

 

[DeckSetter]

Are you sure it's oiling? How tight is the chain? Have you flipped the bar over to see if it still pulls that direction?

 

[Roster]

It's oiling pretty well I think. goes through a tank of oil in about two and some change tanks of gas. I will try turning the bar over!

oh the chain was a little too loose at first i think, but its snug now with a few mm of give, and almost seems to pull worse with it tighter

 

[Roster]

other side of bar not rubbing off as bad

 

[SEAM]

The bar looked pretty much new when you got the saw... are you sure the chain is sharp? Stihl paint their bars fairly well compared to other brands. A dull chain will mostly rub over the wood causing a lot of heat.
Also, make sure the bar oil consumed really reaches the chain. One way is to hold the tip of the bar over a flat surface (not touching it!) while revving the engine some. There should be a streak of oil forming on the surface.

 

[catbuster]

Try a different chain. If the saw still pulls left it's the bar. If it doesn't the chain is cutting more on one side of tje cutters than the other, which can be fixed by reprofiling the cutters and resetting rakers.

As for the bar blueing, clean your oiler holes. If the bar still gets hot after cutting and the oiler holes line up then turn up the chain oiler.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

How much have you cut with it.... the bar looks likes it seen YEARS of use

But seriously, how many tanks would you estimate you've burned? Have you sharpened the chain since getting the saw? Its hard to tell from pics, but some of those cutter edges appear to be pretty beat. The bluing at the rails is a byproduct of hardening process done by Stihl, so normal.

In this picture:

the "lower" rail appears to have burrs or "wire edges"... those should be filed/sanded off. Are you flipping the bar every so often? I do it after every chain sharpening, which I do after every tank (light touch-up with file/guide).

How tight are you running the chain? I run them pretty tight with a roller tip bar. As far as oiling, once the saw is warmed up... I hold the tip above a light surface (piece of carboard, fresh cut of wood) and hold the throttle half open. Within a few seconds you should see a line of oil forming on that surface. I don't use a full tank of bar oil to gas, I'd estimate 20% is left (keeping the suction line always submerged).

Personally... I suspect your chain is dull, your applying a LOT of pressure in the cut and thus the beat/worn bottom rail and bar.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

?

 

[Roster]

Happy new year everybody. I got a new chain and it's cutting great- I think the old one was ****ed up somehow.. I didn't even think to check or test it out upon purchase because it looked so new.. but I suppose the first owner got the chain hot or pinched or something even if the bar looked hardly used.

Sorry but I am having a little bit of a hard time telling between sarcasm and seriousness but you mean that those last pictures I posted don't show too much wear on the bar/all looks like normal for several hours of use?

I think that chain was cutting crooked and the bar wasn't falling through the cut/ was rubbing. But i put a new chain on, filed what little was burring on the bar, and have been trying to stay more on top of keeping the chain sharp and flipping the bar.


So really my only concern at the moment is the amount of oil getting to the chain. From my
Research it seems to be normal but not much oil flys off the chain using the recommended test above. Oil Pump is adjusted to max. But seems functioning well, I've just been trying to keep the saw and chain and inside the sprocket cover and where the oil runs onto the chain pretty clean of built up dust and oil.

Thanks for the help and I'll be sure to post with anything I can think of. I need to do a little looking into porting my exhaust as well as some other routine maintenance stuff. Haven't cleaned the air filter yet

 

[LittleLebowski]

Used Dolmar/Makita 6400 from your local Home Depot, I paid $268 for mine.

 

[James Miller]

hey compadres, thanks to everybody that lent me some words. Ive gotten to use it quite a bit this weekend and i am getting used to it. it seems great overall however i am left with a few questions. i thought id post them here before i make a new thread, but I might just in case.. i could have probably titled this post a little better.

But first off it seems like the saw tends to cut to the left.. it seems difficult to cut straight down and it seems to me like the teeth on the chain are off center. I did a little reading and it looks like my bar is straight and not spurred or damaged anywhere.. heres some pictures.. from the looks of it the saw looked nearly new and i didnt really notice that the chain might have been damaged.

My next question is about the chain getting hot. It looks like there is some discoloration/blueing on the bar as if it is getting too hot. or is this normal? i am wondering if it is inevitable that the chain and bar get hot, but my dad says that you need to keep it cutting wood and as it bites into the wood that dissipates the heat.. is that on the right track?

and then also I wonder if I could improve my technique to keep the bar and chain in better shape overall, the paint is wearing off around on the bar, and that mostly happens when i cut wedges out of trees and cut horizontally, but still I might be doing something wrong to be wearing so much paint off the bar compared to how i got it just a couple weeks ago. i just figured it wasnt hardly used as pictured before, and so is this just normal wear? Just wondering what yall think. ive probably cut a little less than half a cord of wood, mostly pretty hard dead stuff

Are you hand filing your chain? In the top pic the angles look different the right side cutters look to come to a sharp point and the left side cutters look different. When I started hand fileing I had issues with keeping the angles the same on both sides and the saw would pull to the side in the cut some. I'm still no pro with a file but I'm getting better best of luck to you.

 

[msvold]

My guess to why the saw wasn't cutting straight was sharpening of the chain. Details are very important. If you or the previous owner didn't file each side consistently, one side will be longer, pull more of a chip thus causing the saw to pull one way or the other. Read the chain sharpening threads. There are lots of folks who know what they are doing and have shared some secrets.

Looks like you have a good file/guide, my favorite to use - keep those files new/sharp and don't be in a hurry when you file. I sharpen every time I add fuel. I use a vice to hold the bar & bright lights to see the results. I'm probably in the bottom 50% of the folks on arboristsite when it comes to filing a chain, but I think of it as an art and try to get better with each chain.

 

[HarleyT]

The left cutters look "duller" than the right, but a better pic of the cutters would be helpful.....

 

[Khntr85]

Are you hand filing your chain? In the top pic the angles look different the right side cutters look to come to a sharp point and the left side cutters look different. When I started hand fileing I had issues with keeping the angles the same on both sides and the saw would pull to the side in the cut some. I'm still no pro with a file but I'm getting better best of luck to you.

Hey man is that the chinaman Male if your pic?????

 

[James Miller]

Hey man is that the chinaman Male if your pic?????

Yes sir best pit dog ever bread and still the breed standard to judge by.

 

[Khntr85]

Lol, I knew it....there a few good ones....

Seen a great male off the line...

Included a pic of my female that died just this year at 13-14 years old....I ain't even thought bout getting another one yet....don't even know anyone really has good ones anymore...

 

[blsnelling]

... if the wife said I had to downsize to only one saw to feed our boiler, after crying, pouting, throwing a fit, and stomping my feet, it would be any quality (pro) true 60cc class saw like the 357xp my brother used to have. Sometimes not quite big enough, and sometimes not quite small enough.

Which is exactly why you won't find a 60cc work saw in my lineup. It's not particularly great at anything. A good 50cc is worlds better in small stuff and a 70cc is worlds better in big stuff.

 

[James Miller]

Lol, I knew it....there a few good ones....

Seen a great male off the line...

Included a pic of my female that died just this year at 13-14 years old....I ain't even thought bout getting another one yet....don't even know anyone really has good ones anymore...
View attachment 548141

Last post about dogs in this thread sorry OP
There is a member of the boudreaux family on AS I talked to once. You may try to find him if your looking for a good game dog.

 

[Roster]

Pleasure y'all here's my pup

Im running out of dead trees and limbs to cut down and cut up. Damn it's nice to have some solid fresh firewood though, I got a new fiskars maul as well and I'm having a pretty darn decent time lately. Whenever I need to blow off some steam I pick up one or the other

I'm not sure what was wrong with the chain that I bought it with, like I said the saw looked hardly used but something must've happened. New chain is all good but I think I'll try a yellow chain next or RSC rather than RSM- I think that's right. I had a coupon for ACE and got the green chain there.. but I suppose it's good to have one of both for different woods

 

[Jeffkrib]

Used Dolmar/Makita 6400 from your local Home Depot, I paid $268 for mine.

Mr Lebowski, good to see you took my advice......So which gun did you sell to fund this bad boy??
And are you happy with the 6400.