Chain Saw chain - followup

Just in case anyone is interested, I contacted Rapco and got a quote for a

62 link (31 cutters) complete, ready-to-install, chain for my 18" bar chainsaw. Price would be $121. I'll see how slow the oak cutting goes but might go for it.

Steve.

Reply to
SteveF
Loading thread data ...

Steve, I cut 'Blackjack' Live Oak for my barbeque (The cooker's running about 60 hours a month. 'Course, that just means three shoulders a month... but...)

I run through about a face cord a month that way. The oak around here is full of silica, because we live in a sandy-soil area. Sand inclusions are scattered throughout the wood. The wood is well-cured, dry, stringy as hell, and almost impossible to split by mechanical means.

My Oregon off-the-shelf chains will buck up at least one face cord per sharpening. They last through six or seven judicious touch-ups. Usually they die from stretch before they die from lack of metal to sharpen.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

On Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:41:32 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" quickly quoth:

So have you bought a chain breaker/maker and removed a link, or is that not possible, Lloyd?

Reply to
Larry Jaques

It is possible, indeed. But by the time they've stretched too far for the bar to take up, they seem to stretch much more easily... not sure what causes that. I shortened a couple, then gave up. OTOH, I can cook a lot of pork butt on one chain.

FWIW, I don't think it's very good for the life of your drive sprocket to use a badly stretched chain, anyway. On the surface of it, it looks to me like only one tooth would be doing the driving at any particular position, and that the chain would 'slip' a bit every time one driving tooth disengaged, until the next one took up the fraction of an inch to the next link close enough to a tooth to engage first. A new clutch is more expensive than a new chain, at least for my two saws.

LLoyd

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

I sort of twisted up my mental image of that when I typed. One tooth should be bottomed out in the sprocket, the rest will probably be riding higher on the teeth than they should under load. Anywho... it doesn't sound like a good situation, since there would be a lot of sliding friction between teeth and links.

Anyone have a more experienced view of the mechanics?

(and yes... About the ONLY use I have for my chain saws is cutting wood for the cooker )

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

On Tue, 07 Nov 2006 19:29:37 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" quickly quoth:

Then it's not wise at all to attempt repairs.

"Ewwwwwwww!" said the non-Muslim guy who doesn't eat pork.

I had no idea they stretched that much before failure! Dem roundy holes start ovulatin', wot?

Curious: Did you mike any of the pin separation widths to see if it was distributed evenly thoughout the chain or just in a few links?

Reply to
Larry Jaques

It is like trying to make a bigger module onto the same diameter with the same number of teeth. I doesn't work. In the end, only one tooth takes the load, or the chain has to wander away from the center to get the bigger module. But that doesn't work due to the chain tension.

Wonder that they didn't come with the saying "New chain, new sprockets" as they say for motor-cycles. Also wonder, that there are no O-ring chain-saw saw-chains (wouldn't that be the right name? :-)) like for motor-cycles.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Mueller

Hmmmm.... I'm not a biker, so not familiar with those. Expound, please.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

O-ring chains have O ring on the pin between the two links. They are by far more resistant to dirt than conventional chains. Lubrification doesn't leave it's place, dirt can't come in. The wear on the rollers is minimal (for conventional and O-ring), because it is rolling on the sprocket and not gliding (at least in theory).

Looks like this (only one half drawn): - ======| |= O| |O =| |============= #| |# #| |#

= link O O-ring | | pin # roller

An even better drawing :-))

Explanation

Nick

Reply to
Nick Mueller

Sounds like a good idea for chains that don't get really hot. Chainsaw chains usually do. I think the o-rings would degrade (or melt) at the skin-sizzling temperature my chain runs in tough wood. You dare not touch the chain, or it will leave a clear 3rd-degree 'Oregon brand' in your flesh.

The few pyrotechnic machines I've built with chain/sprocket drive must use dry chains, lest explosive dusts accumulate on them.

I can see several good apps for the sealed chain, though; so thanks for the education.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

That chain-site I gave you (interesting, BTW) says they can stand over

120°C. OK, maybe not enough for that application -> yet another patent fading away ...

That smell will remind you how good the BBQ will taste ... ;-)

Nick

Reply to
Nick Mueller

O-ring seals on the links between the inner and outer plates . Makes for a much wider chain , and would require a bunch more horsepower for the wider kerf on a chainsaw ... I change the sprockets every time I install a new drive chain . They wear in sets , like gears . A new chain on worn sprockets will shortly be stretched to conform to the old chain's wear pattern . At a hundred (or more !) bucks a pop the additional cost is well worth it .

Reply to
Snag

I alternate 2 chains on the same sprocket. When both chains are shot, I buy 2 more and a new sprocket. Been doing this for 30 years now, works for me.

PDW

Reply to
Peter

You're referring to a chainsaw ? Still , youre wearing them in as a set . All components worn equally ...

Reply to
Snag

Holy shit Nick! You actually answered/participated in an off topic thread (by your posted standards).

Ken.

Reply to
Ken Davey

I pay less than $20 each per chain put together from a roll at the local hardware store. Same size chain as yours. I have been heating with wood in upstate NY and northern MN (20 years in MN) since 1974. In MN I go through about 10 cord each year. I get it in eight foot lengths and cut to 16". I burn oak.

One chain started at the beginning of the cutting season requires seven or eight touchups with the file each season. The chain gets a professional sharpening ($3) at the start of each season whether it needs it or not.

There is no way in hell I would pay $120+ for a chain. It just ain't gonna cut that much faster and I doubt it will outlast six generic chains.

By the way the original sprocket is still working just fine.

Reply to
Unknown

On Tue, 7 Nov 2006 23:34:01 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ken Davey" quickly quoth:

MOST of his posts nowadays are off topic. Just plonk the whining troll and forget him like so many of us have.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Steve,

I just finished fighting my way through 20 cords of dry oak. I thought of buying the carbide chain but my local dealer said I'd hate it. And I see no way to resharp the chain with any equipment I have. So, cost of the chain has to include a resharpening unit for carbide.

Anyway, I found the chain with the sharp corner (chipper?) lasted a little better than the round corner (chisel?). I settled in to a routine of cut one gas tank and then resharpen the chain. Wore one chain clear out doing the 20 cords.

I'll NEVER let a load of wood sit and dry out again.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

I think that correct geometry on the cutters will solve your oak problem. Got any saw shops in your area?

That said on my shop wood saws I wouldn't go back to plain steel for anything. Carbide blades have outlasted everything else by many years. The performance difference between the two is amazing, router bits are another case of carbide being so much better.

120 big ones is a not a lot of money if the preformance equals what I've seen with circular blades. Please report back if you decide to do this..I'm interested in one myself. Where can they be sharpened or repaired?

ED

Reply to
ED

How can you judge this, when you have filtered me?

Who is "many", actually? Gunner, you and a handful others of the OT-gang.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Mueller

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.