Vintage Chainsaw Museum

[heimannm]

That is Kolve SS series chain. I have a piece of HP already, if you can provide a piece of that SS Series I may have the only display in the country with both variations in one place.

I will send a PM with my address. Thank you very much for helping me with this project.

FWIW, the Kolve chain and Atlas V-Pac (similar design) were evidently very well suited for cutting in dirty conditions. I've heard that a lot of people in the Northwest refer to the Kolve as "Mt. Saint Helen's Chain"; as I understand it a lot of that chain was used to harvest timber in the aftermath of the Mt. Saint Helens eruption. Kolve decided to discontinue the production of saw chain with ANSI and others required them to add additional anti-kickback features in their design. At least, that is the report I got from one dealer in NW Iowa that evidently sold a lot of it for use on timber in the Missouri river bottoms in his area. If you've ever cut river bottom/flooded timber you can attest to the fact that there is a lot of dirt and sand incorporated into the bark on those trees.



Mark

 

[Modifiedmark]

There are some in the PNW who will try to tell you the Kolve chain was invented for the ash coated trees of Mt. Saint Helen's.

I'm just going to say, we were selling that chain in the dealership I worked for before the Mt. Saint Helen's eruption.

 

[Jay Hansen]

Mark, do you have any of this type of chain in your collection? This is the first I have seen of this type. I got it from an old saw dealer that is no longer with us. If you want it I will send it to you.i have no idea who made it or what it is called. The only markings on it is a 50 stamped in the drivers
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That's Kolve chain. I tried it on my sawmill back in the 80s hoping for something that would stay sharp longer. It did maybe last a little longer between filings but it was hard to keep it cutting straight.

 

[Jay Hansen]

Mark, I have this loop of semi-skip. If you still need a piece I can shorten it to 32" which is still ok for me.

 

[heimannm]

That would be fantastic Jay. Ideally the section would have at least 7-8 drive links and 3 cutters so it shows the spacing pattern. If it works to start with a RH cutter (L-R) it would match the other pieces in the display.



BTW, I was just looking at the map to see if Glide was close enough to Redding to ask a favor, but 4-1/2 hours is probably too much...

Mark

 

[Jay Hansen]

That would be fantastic Jay. Ideally the section would have at least 7-8 drive links and 3 cutters so it shows the spacing pattern. If it works to start with a RH cutter (L-R) it would match the other pieces in the display.

View attachment 1049083

BTW, I was just looking at the map to see if Glide was close enough to Redding to ask a favor, but 4-1/2 hours is probably too much...

Mark

I'll just send you a long enough piece that you can trim it up to fit your plan. I also have some full skip semi chisel, would you like a piece of that too?

If you have something going in Redding that's important to you I'll make a trip. Also, if you know Howard Gubetta (how57), he lives in Weed and gets to Redding fairly often I think. Don't let something good slip by, we'll figure out a way to take care of you.

 

[heimannm]

Full skip semi-chisel would be great as well. The only skip I have at the moment is .404 Stihl square ground.

Mark

 

[Jay Hansen]

I have some 3/8 pitch round ground chisel in full skip too. I'll send a little dab of that along as well.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Full skip semi-chisel would be great as well. The only skip I have at the moment is .404 Stihl square ground.

Mark

How are you set for Barracuda chain?

 

[heimannm]

I have a couple rolls of Oregon 85 (.404), a smattering of McCulloch Mini 370 (3/8 LP with the bumpers) and one very worn modern Oregon Power Sharp with the carbide stone dresser still in tact. If you have anything different, a small representative sample would be great.





Mark

 

[Modifiedmark]

I have a couple rolls of Oregon 85 (.404), a smattering of McCulloch Mini 370 (3/8 LP with the bumpers) and one very worn modern Oregon Power Sharp with the carbide stone dresser still in tact. If you have anything different, a small representative sample would be great.

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View attachment 1049194

Mark

The .404 is the one I figured you might not have. I probably have some .325 barracuda chain and maybe some 1/4" I can send with the 5/8. I'm working on the house right now, might be a week or so till I get back in the shop to dig it out.

 

[Woodslasher]

I'll just send you a long enough piece that you can trim it up to fit your plan. I also have some full skip semi chisel, would you like a piece of that too?

If you have something going in Redding that's important to you I'll make a trip. Also, if you know Howard Gubetta (how57), he lives in Weed and gets to Redding fairly often I think. Don't let something good slip by, we'll figure out a way to take care of you.

I think cgraham1 lives in Redding also, just fyi.

 

[p35]

I am working on my chain display, these will eventually get mounted on a board and go up on the wall in the front room for all to see. If anyone out there has a piece of 5/8 pitch chain, 3/8 skip, 3/8 semi-skip, 404 semi-skip, or (laf laf) straddle scratcher chain I'd like to get a piece with two RH and two LH cutters. I have two or three loops of scratcher available, I just need to decide which one(s) I want to break apart for display purposes.

I have some 7/8" pitch (with forged chisel cutters) and 3/4" harvester chain, several examples of 9/16" pitch, 12 or so different 1/2" pitch, and plenty of others.

I am intrigued by this loop of Pioneer chain, (bottom loop, I know the upper one is Stihl carbide) bigger than 1/4" pitch but smaller than .325...did Pioneer also experiment with .315" pitch?

Mark

love your collection of chains i have been going to do this for years how are you going to mount them thanks Steve

 

[heimannm]

I have a piece of light grey simulated wood grain paneling, it will be almost 48"x48" and include some sprockets as well. I am hoping I can use some small wood screws or sheet metal screws through the rivet holes to attach them to the board. I was thinking about hot glue as another possible approach. I'll have to see what works best.

I will probably end up having to put together a sort of guide book to go with it with more detailed explanations/back stories for each of the different chains.

Mark

 

[Philbert]

I have seen some much smaller sawchain display boards, where a shallow rabbet is routed into the wood to accept / recess the tie straps and inside cutters on the inside, holding them stable. Then, a screw at each end to secure the piece.

Or, attach wood strips with kerfs to support the tie straps from below, letting you lift them out, if desired.

I have also seen some display boards where the chains just hang vertically by gravity.

Philbert

 

[heimannm]

Thanks to Wayne Sutton, I now have a few very nice examples of straddle chain and a section of Stihl square drive to include in the chain display.



The straddle chain does in fact straddle the bar, rather than having a drive link that rides in the groove.



Mark

 

[MacAttack]

That stuff must have been used in what, 40's? 50's? The bottom two kinda look like a modern chisel but with no depth gauges. Also that "straddle" chain is an interesting concept but in my mind I'd think would want to get pinched a lot. I've never even seen chain like that, cool find.

 

[Bill G]

That stuff must have been used in what, 40's? 50's? The bottom two kinda look like a modern chisel but with no depth gauges. Also that "straddle" chain is an interesting concept but in my mind I'd think would want to get pinched a lot. I've never even seen chain like that, cool find.

It was very short lived.

 

[heimannm]

We've been working on getting parts put away in the attic, spend most of the day Saturday and today on clutches, drums, and related.



When you get closer to the end, you find parts and pieces that don't have legitimate part numbers and so defy any conventional system of organization. I'll end up with 2 or 3 of those yellow/blue bins with a whole bunch of otherwise unidentified parts. I also have to go through several boxes of Oregon, Herr, GB, and other assorted drums and figure out how to organize them to make sure I can find one when I need it.







Mark

 

[Bill G]

Mark,

Looks good! I bet Menards loves you! I hope they are giving you a great discount instead of the ridiculous 10% scam.

Bill