Make sure the bar is flush against the saw. A little debris between the bar and saw can make it cut crookedI have an update! Some good and bad news.
The good news is, I got the 10-10A running. My second carb kit doesn't arrive until monday, but while I'm waiting, I got thinking today and decided to pull off the carb from one of the other 10-10 saws that also uses an SDC and inspect it.
I noticed right away that the carb didn't noticeably smell like bad old gas, so I carefully took the cover off the diaphragm side and felt that it still appeared to be relatively soft and supple.
At that point I figured I had nothing to lose, so I stuck it on the saw I've been working on, got everything connected in(used the heat gun and needle nose plier trick for the fuel line), filled the tank, primed it a little, and a few pulls later it roared into life with a triumphant cloud of white smoke before settling down into a steady idle. The automatic and manual oil pump works great. Feels good.
After that I got the brand new bar and chain that I bought for the saw on, which was trickier to do than I anticipated, followed by taking it out to a big downed alder for some test cuts.
I thought it cut wonderfully, these old saws are no joke. My >>>limited
The bad:
I noticed right away that my cuts are curving off to the right, the saw also has a tendency to rattle/chatter a bit when this is happening once it's about halfway into the log. The bar is new, so I know it's not worn out, and I made sure to match the gauge of the chain with the bar. The chain is facing the correct direction. The chain was admittedly fresh out of the box. I don't know how sharp chains generally are new from the box, but I wanted to get a feel for how it cut as-is before I start attempting to learn the art of sharpening myself. I realize that this could very well be the source of the problem right there, but I'd like to hear other thoughts and advice before I proceed.
Second, I noticed that after I had gotten the bar and chain on and went to put the clutch cover/chain brake back on, that it would appear the rim of the clutch drum or something has been grinding into the clutch cover at some point in the saws past. See pics:
View attachment 850229
View attachment 850230
I couldn't figure out why it might have been doing this, so instead of potentially making things worse I decided to use the older style, no brake clutch cover off of one of the other saws for now.
By the way, using a saw without a chain brake for the first time amazed me at how safe having one makes you feel, which is probably a bad thing. I was extra alert and cautious when I was making my test cuts.
Also, how do you find the sweet spot for a carb? When I swapped the carb over I left the adjustments the way they were, but I'm really curious how one knows when everything is just right. When it's too low or too high, or how you know if it's running lean or rich, etc...
Please forgive my inexperience when it comes to this area of saw tuning/maintenance. I might have some bucking experience, but these things like sharpening and carb tuning are all new territory to me.
I've really appreciated the helpful and kind comments and advice from everyone so far. Thanks!
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