how to use a chainsaw?

[JackD_ME]

Tim, if you are cutting in circles . . . check the slot in the bar. My saw shop tells me that [most of the time] cutting circles means it's time for a new bar.
I had that trouble a lot in the past.
Dull chains & sharpening with the wrong size files, wear out the bar with heat & friction. Been there, done that!

Hope it helps.

 

[gtstang462002]

Tim, if you are cutting in circles . . . check the slot in the bar. My saw shop tells me that [most of the time] cutting circles means it's time for a new bar.
I had that trouble a lot in the past.
Dull chains & sharpening with the wrong size files, wear out the bar with heat & friction. Been there, done that!

Hope it helps.

Flip the bar and sharpen the chain... She will cut straight again.

 

[sacred_dog]

flipping the bar

I have flipped and filed the bar with limited results.

I must have screwed up the chain or need a new one.

these curvey cuts are cool looking but REALLY IMPRACTICAL!

do the larger chainsaws ( like the Stihl 441 Magna) have the same problems?

this is like a 19 stihl, and my husky is a little homeowner bugger too.

Tim

 

[gtstang462002]

I have flipped and filed the bar with limited results.

I must have screwed up the chain or need a new one.

these curvey cuts are cool looking but REALLY IMPRACTICAL!

do the larger chainsaws ( like the Stihl 441 Magna) have the same problems?

this is like a 19 stihl, and my husky is a little homeowner bugger too.

Tim

I cant speak for the 440's but I have had my 290 making round cuts. Flipped the bar and sharpened the chain properly and went back to cutting. The only time that it starts to make the curvy cuts is when the chain is dulling. This happens with every one of my saws when the chain gets to throwing dust rather than chips.

 

[aandabooks]

Hey Gtstang,

How do you like that MS180? My dealer has his annual customer appreciation day coming up. I can buy one new for $99 with a 12" b/c on it.

If the chain is not kept sharp and you are pushing on the saw, then cutting in circles will eventually be the least of your problems. You'll burn up the clutch and eventually wear out or just break the AV mounts. A good chain should need no more than the weight of the saw to cut straight through.

 

[gtstang462002]

Hey Gtstang,

How do you like that MS180? My dealer has his annual customer appreciation day coming up. I can buy one new for $99 with a 12" b/c on it.

Love it. I picked it up used on ebay for $70 put a $15 clutch drum on it. This thing cuts like my 290 with half the weight. It has become my saw of choice. I use the 290 for felling trees and bucking anything over 13 1/2" otherwise it is the 180.

 

[SPED]

video

Here's a video with a lot of good info, towards the end they show you how to sharpen a chain as well, skip the other stuff if you need to.

http://www.tilton.usa.jonsered.com/...ads/videos/Working_with_chainsaws_176x132.wmv

 

[Billy_Bob]

The secret to sharpening chains is to also reduce the height of the "depth gauges" or rakers. Each time you sharpen the chain, the cutting heads get lower. The depth gauges also need to be filed along with sharpening the chain! This allows the cutting heads to take a bigger bite out of the wood.

Having a chain with very sharp cutters but depth gauges too high is like installing a new blade on a circular saw, turning on the saw, then not allowing the saw to touch the wood. The cutting teeth need to go down and get to the wood to cut it!

Warning: Filing the depth gauges down too far can result in a very dangerous saw! Each chain has specifications for how far down the depth gauges should be filed. Get a depth gauge tool at your chain saw dealer.

Get the Stihl maintenance and safety DVD for lessons on all this...
http://www.stihlusa.com/information/info_lit_video.html

 

[aokpops]

dremil . hand filed for years with carlton fileoplate.it takes about a dozen files per chain to hand file . the dremil stone about the same price last a lot longer. the dremil is a lot easer on the hands

 

[Gensetsteve]

When my saw started to cut curves I found I had filed the teeth on one side of the blade down further. When sharpening one side of the saw I had more purchase being right handed. Also one side had the wrong angle. Once I sused this no looking back. Next problem you may get is rakers need taking down otherwise your teeth are sharp but still only dust coming out.
I just bought a new MS180 for preping wood for my wood processor and am amazed at the power considering the weight. Also if you nak a chain there is very few teeth to sharpen.

 

[rtrsam]

Many years ago I made the determination that if a saw cut crooked it was dull. Plain and simple, if you defined sharp as being able to cut properly (and having been sharpened properly) then a sharp saw cut straight. Years of hearing people beef "This bar's bent!" only to sharpen the saw and demonstrate that the saw now cut straight, "bent bar" or not.


Of course I ended up eating my words. I was using this old Stihl 090 with the gear reduction unit, pulling 1/2" pitch chain around a 6' smooth roller nose Canon bar. I was sawing some pretty big stuff, and the chain sure looked sharp. No matter what, it cut crooked, turning to the right. I finally gave in and filed the chain; it still cut crooked. I was puzzled. Checked the rakers ("stops"). That's when I noticed, the chain had been assembled from three or four short pieces. What clued me in was there was round profile cutters and square profile cutters on the same chain (Oregon 10). I got to looking, and everywhere the chain had been linked there were two cutters facing the same direction. As it turned out, all 4 splices had two cutters and they all faced the same way. Therefor you had 8 more cutters on one side than the other, so naturally, one side of the cut got cut faster than the other, therefor a crooked cut, even though the chain was filed correctly (hand filed witha 1/4" file, but I was pretty good at that sort of thing).

I bought a roll of 10BC Oregon chain, and made a loop of all the same size and type of teeth with only one master link. Now the chain cut straight.

That saw had a lot of memories. I used it on a fire once fallign trees. At the end of the day some helpful copter pilot dumped a bucket load of ocean water on me and my saw. I went on home and took a couple days off. When I came back, I didn't need the big 090 so I left it in the shop. About a week later I noticed the chain was pretty much rusted into one piece, attached to the bar. I'd have thought all the oil I maunally pumped onto it would have prevented that. I'd have been wrong. A little work and a bit of diesel got thigns loosened up.

One more 090 tale; the kill switch didn't work. To stop the saw, you could just choke it, or reach up and pull the plug wire off the top of the saw. There was an errant wire sticking out of the rubber boot. Many a nasty shock was received from this thing, until I got smart and started getting OTHER people whe wanted to help with this big saw, to pull the wire for me...

 

[BeeVee]

I like sharpening my saw with the bar pointing in the direction of the light (sun or bulb) so that the light reflects off the (dull) cutting edge . When the light disappears you have a sharp edge ....learnt that from sharpening knives .
Make sure that you use a proper size file and keep the chain properly tensioned .

 

[dumbhunter]

heck i got you all beat, i mount my 7" dewalt grinder in my vise and go to town, in nothing flat you got a ruined chain. LOL nah i hand file them all. i always check my bars and file them till true again. but you can only do that just so much till the groove is to shallow and chain will want to cant to the side while running.

 

[treeclimber jul]

Hi,
It doesn't't take much dirt to dull a chain

There are a lot of things that can make a sharp chain cut circles...
Bent bar, Worn out side rails, Chain with different type cutters on each side, (rare, but I have had 2 Stihl chains with this problem)
Chain dull on one side, rakers different heights on each side, sharpened wrong.

Does the saw always cut a curve the SAME way???? If so the I would suspect the chain, or bar rails warn uneven. Set bar without chain on a level, flat surface, on edge and see if it stands up vertical.. if it tips over or wont stand up the rails are uneven.
I have sharpened ALOT of chains with one file, and not had any problems. One thing to note, the chain cuts better if you use the next size down file when the tooth is about half way gone.

Get a raker gage, (Oregon or Stihl has them) .025 I think for your application, and flat file and every time you sharpen, touch up the rakers. This will help each tooth to cut at the same depth, even if the teeth are different lengths

The best might be to watch someone who knows how do it.

Hope this helps

 

[treeclimber jul]

180 For 99

HOW much to ship to 99362????

How do you like that MS180? My dealer has his annual customer appreciation day coming up. I can buy one new for $99 with a 12" b/c on it.

I would buy 2 at that price!!!!!!!!

 

[sacred_dog]

Success!!!!

YAY!

after all this BS and crazy gazillions of different opinions, I have discovered a permanent 100 dollar fix. I bought a used chain sharpener, learned how to use it, and now everything is PERFECT every time!!!

I considered buying that Oregon 511A knock off from Northern tool, but found a really good used Foley with a chain break and spinner for 100 bucks.

I run the chain through just a couple of tanks of gas, then change it. I have a bunch of extra chains now, and DAYUM! I'm one bad daddy! watch out! Hooya!

I am COMPLETELY delighted.

all those hand sharpeners are BS to me. I tried for year after year and I am a kind of TOOL guy too. I have worked in construction for 25 years, am also a sculptor, work on cars, the works... but sharpening those chains was gonna turn me into a texas chain saw massacre er in NY state! .... UNTIL I got the chain sharpener.

do yourself a favor. Do what the pros do. If yr gonna cut the wood, have a machine sharpen the blade.

and contrary to what anyone says, it takes only MINUTES to sharpen a chain. More like 10. and is sort of FUN too.

if you can't learn to use the chain saw sharpener. take it to a shop. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to learn to use a chain sharpener, but you can't be a dullard either.

LIFE IS GOOD AGAIN.

thanks for all the input guys.

now GET BACK TO WORK!

 

[mtfallsmikey]

thanks for all the input guys:

here is my ugly reality:

I am a bruiser of a man (could PROBABLY cut trees with a chainsaw if the blade was WELDED to the body and dull as a butter knife.)

Am VERY handy with hand tools (although not a "wrench")

I'm too smart for my own good. (which often makes me a dumb ass)

and (here is the kicker) I am impatient (although safe).

I think I must slow down with the file, pay closer attention to the angles, INSPECT the existing condition of the blade, knock off the drags, and check my damned bar (although i have recently dressed it).

but I REALLY appreciate all the input.

and YES< I will contact the guy from Binghamton, just to make sure. I'm near Oneonta, but travel through binghamton often enough.

Tim

when I die and go to heaven, I am going to harshly discuss chainsaw blades and the designs of KNEES with God...

I forgot when it is, do a search...there's a GTG (get-to-gether) in N.Y. soon, with folks from here on the site...you will learn more in one day hanging around, with some real decent folks, than reading 20 books, or watching vids.

I think he was referring to the file.

You'll still be using the Save-Edge files long after others go crap-ola (not a shill!)

 

[super3]

a file is good 4 5 times then put in trash tom trees LI NY opcorn:

You are using the wrong files then, try a good one.

 

[Henry G.]

Although this thread is all over the place there is plenty of good advice, and I'll keep mine short.

Are you using new files? Old ones dont sharpen worth a damn.
Ditto on the props for save edge files, they are FAR superior and last a long time.
The raker depth thing was great advice, they have to be constantly lowered, I like mine almost where the saw is grabby.
1-2 tanks of fuel is GREAT for a chain-how many do you think you should get per sharpening? More than that and you are wasting time cutting with a dull chain that could be sharpened again in 5 minutes. More like 3 once you learn.
Get a guide, I like the Husky roller.