PowerSharp!!!!

[Philbert]

If you look at my original comments when trying the PS chain, my first impulse was to see how it held up to abuse - stuff I would not intentionally do with a 'normal' chain.

If you run this chain the same way that you run normal chain I think that you will find it performs and holds up very favorably, in addition to the sharpening feature.

Philbert

 

[dboyd351]

Nelson727,
Thanks for the stump cutting report. Good to know how the system performs under a variety of circumstances. I've only used mine to limb one large Hickory, about 1/2 hour of straight cutting. It did very well on that, including some cuts where the 14 inch bar was buried, using an Echo 310, only a 30cc saw - obviously not pushing it too hard. At that point it was time to break out the bigger saw and the chain wasn't very dull yet. So initial impressions were pretty good, but I haven't gone thru the dull/sharpen cycle to test that. The new chain felt a little grabby, if anything, but cut well.

 

[Showme]

Interesting thread. I just bought a Poulan S25CVA that has a PowerSharp bar/chain system on it and was just going to pitch it. Seems that would be a little hasty. Now I'm kinda anxious to try it out.

 

[KiwiBro]

Has anyone at least tried milling with this chain yet?

 

[dboyd351]

Interesting thread. I just bought a Poulan S25CVA that has a PowerSharp bar/chain system on it and was just going to pitch it. Seems that would be a little hasty. Now I'm kinda anxious to try it out.

I know very little about the older Powersharp system, but it is supposed to be very different than the current Powersharp offering. The earlier version was not very well received. Search Powersharp on here and you should find the thread discussing it.

The old Powersharp you have on that S25CVA probably won't cut very well, but may be worth something as a collectors item since most owners threw theirs away long ago and they are now hard to find as a complete system, I believe.

 

[Showme]

I know very little about the older Powersharp system, but it is supposed to be very different than the current Powersharp offering. The earlier version was not very well received. Search Powersharp on here and you should find the thread discussing it.

The old Powersharp you have on that S25CVA probably won't cut very well, but may be worth something as a collectors item since most owners threw theirs away long ago and they are now hard to find as a complete system, I believe.

It isn't the old PowerSharp on the S25CVA. It's the new bar/chain/cassette version.

 

[dboyd351]

It isn't the old PowerSharp on the S25CVA. It's the new bar/chain/cassette version.

OK. I assumed it was the old version because I had a micro that came with the original Powersharp. Glad you got the new one - much better, I think.

 

[bigblackdodge]

In regards to Milling with the Power Sharp system.

Has anyone at least tried milling with this chain yet?

I don't currently do any milling work, but with my experience with this PS system it will leave a much rougher surface than conventional chain does. It noodles very well! But I've not tried to cut anything in the ripping alignment so I can't comment on how it would do. The rougher surface it leaves on the face of cut wood reminds me a lot of old barn wood.

 

[rocketnorton]

Interesting thread. I just bought a Poulan S25CVA that has a PowerSharp bar/chain system on it and was just going to pitch it. Seems that would be a little hasty. Now I'm kinda anxious to try it out.

+1. mine was a freebie yesterday. is craftsman version...

 

[rocketnorton]

got ahead of myself when I read same thought as mine... I have the old system, and was gonna pitch it too, get a "normal" clutch cover & b/c. I may try the Oregon set on this saw now after what ive read here.

 

[Philbert]

got ahead of myself when I read same thought as mine... I have the old system, and was gonna pitch it too, get a "normal" clutch cover & b/c. I may try the Oregon set on this saw now after what ive read here.

Make sure that you only use the new 'bar end sharpening cassette' with the new chain. As I understand it, the old and new systems are not compatible.

I have a 20+ year old Sears electric that came with the 'old' system. After the first chain wore out I removed the spring loaded stone (was round, like a tube of lipstick) and mounted a conventional chain. When this new system came out, I had to start with the 'starter kit' (bar, chain, stone, cassette) so that everything meets at the right angle, curvature, etc.

If you get the new system, maybe try and post a photo of the old and new chain side by side so that we can see the difference in the teeth?

Philbert

 

[rocketnorton]

will do... gives me incentive to keep saw [lookin] original. chains look similar but sure side by side there are diffs... will leave on but not use old set up w/new b/c. may have to take paint job off new ps bar...

 

[rocketnorton]

Make sure that you only use the new 'bar end sharpening cassette' with the new chain. A I understand it, the old and new systems are not compatible.

I have a 20+ year old Sears electric that came with the 'old' system. After the first chain wore out I removed the spring loaded stone (was round, like a tube of lipstick) and mounted a conventional chain. When this new system came out, I had to start with the 'starter kit' (bar, chain, stone, cassette) so that everything meets at the right angle, curvature, etc.

If you get the new system, maybe try and post a photo of the old and new chain side by side so that we can see the difference in the teeth?

Philbert

heres pics of saw & chain...View attachment 303046View attachment 303048View attachment 303050

 

[Philbert]

EDIT: Here is a sketch of the older PowerSharp chain, (aka 'Barracuda chain') to replace the missing photo:



And a stock photo:



That's a classic!

Philbert

 

[dboyd351]

heres pics of saw & chain...View attachment 303046View attachment 303048View attachment 303050

WOW! Look at the angle of the cutters on that last photo!

 

[moparman]

I know very little about the older Powersharp system, but it is supposed to be very different than the current Powersharp offering. The earlier version was not very well received. Search Powersharp on here and you should find the thread discussing it.

The old Powersharp you have on that S25CVA probably won't cut very well, but may be worth something as a collectors item since most owners threw theirs away long ago and they are now hard to find as a complete system, I believe.

The original Oregon powersharp chain designation 91TS (circa 1980) worked fine and sharpened good when used with chainsaws equipped with rotating round sharpening stone system - eg. McCulloch mini-mac series, Poulan Micro series, etc. The problem was with sharpener systems with curved stone shaped like the current Oregon sharpener stone. You had to move the stone lever sideways back and forth to get a consistent sharpen, plus some ham-fisted people thought that if a little stone contact with cutter was good, then a lot of contact would be better and destroyed their chains - also the glued bond between stone and backing lever was not the greatest and the stone or pieces would break off. McCulloch sold a great many powersharp equipped saws at the time. Sears felt that it was such a good feature that virtually all their saws were equipped with powersharp chain - at this time Sears sold a lot of chainsaws.
91TS chain would cut faster than any of Oregon's other mini chains at the time. The problem was the very high kickback from the 91TS chain - it would not meet the 1985 UL kickback standard for consumer saws (or for that matter wouldn't meet standard for professional saws under 3.8 cu in either). They had no option but to cease selling 91TS chain.
At a later date Oregon introduced 91LX powersharp chain with a very long bumper on drive link. Evidently the only testing done by Oregon was kickback testing. This chain was crap - it didn't cut as good as 91TS, but it's major problem was that after you sharpened the chain , you couldn't cut wood. They screwed up the cutter geometry so that the stone sharpened the cutters and depth gauge to same height.
Needless to say, this chain was not very popular and gave powersharp chain a bad name.
Oregon finally figured out how to correct cutter geometry and made bumper on drive link much smaller so that it did not interfere so much with sharpening; and from photos it appears that the curved stone is offset to bar nose radius so depth gauge is not eliminated during sharpening. Oregon tried to get the saw manufacturers interested in their latest design but wanted to sell the stone and plastic with chain to them at too high a price. No interest so they are selling it to retailers - retail price much more that should be.

 

[moparman]

WOW! Look at the angle of the cutters on that last photo!

That is not the original powersharp 91TS chain used on the Craftsman branded Poulan S25, that is the 91LX chain. Great photo illustrating why 91LX can't be sharpened - the bumper drivelink is in the way of depth gauge preventing depth gauge from being ground down. I realize that photo shows nose of bar, but it is basically same radius as the chain supported by chainsaw drive sprocket when it is being sharpened.

 

[SawTroll]

Just forget that thing, if you have the slightest clue about sharpening a chain. It is made for those that don't, and of course to make money at their expence!

 

[old guy]

I had one of those Sears-Roper saws back in the 70's with that sharpener built in and the thing I remember the most was that chain would grab small twigs, branches and switches and smack them back in my face, that didn't happen with regular chain, couldn,t wait to replace it.

John

 

[dboyd351]

Moparman,
Thanks for the information.