Chainsaw not cutting straight

[countrryboy]

Make sure the drive link gauge is the same as the bar. I was once dismantling a 4ft Ash stem with a MS660 off the spikes so put a new chain on before I started to make life easier. After much wrestling and cursing I found they had used the wrong chain to make up the loop in the shop. I was not amused.

Nightmare bad enough lugging a 660 up a tree, bad enough on ground, rarely use mine apart from milling

Mind turning up 1 night shift way down south on railways with my shiny new bar, unfortunately they gave me a husky bar 1.5mm when stihls run on 1.6mm, chain must of been worn as I somehow got it on but so tight u had u had to push the chain on a stump as u revved it to get it moving. It eventually loosened up dunno wot got worn down chain or bar?
Still no idea how I managed to cut that shift

 

[rem284]

Never knew that.
All the old boys used to use it all the time in the woods, mibbee the old fashioned oil pumps could cope better?

If u use engine oil just make sure u check the oil levels halfway throu ur petrol fill.
As engine oil could empty quickier than the proper stuff, depending on ur pump setting.
Even on the railways quite recently a lad I cut with used engine oil instead of proper bar oil, no idea why wasn't much cheaper.

Myself and a pal were self employed cutters starting when we were 20. We both bought husky 266's. He was always tinkering on with cars so had loads of waste oil. When he said he was just going to use that instead of buying oil. I told him not to because I thought it would knack the oil pump. He did and it did knacker the pump. We both had been employed cutters on an estate since the age of 16 and I am pretty sure the foreman there had told us not to use waste oil for that reason. I have just gave my 37 year old 266 to my son who is a fulltime tree surgeon and he loves it. I think they should revert back to having a separate on/off switch. And separate choke and throttle lock systems. Simple

 

[Waz77]

Used engine oil is also cancerous and sprays a mist in your face when not in the cut, used to use new engine oil from morrisons years ago cos it was cheap as chips, or vegetable oil in an emergency

 

[VSS]

Rather than create a new thread, I have just run out of chain oil, just to get me through until I can get into town I have used some engine oil, it's only a small Stihl saw for general purpose use in the garden, before I use it I thought I would ask for advice.
Thanks
Richard

I wouldn't worry about it too much if I was you. My dad used a chainsaw for best part of 20 years without even knowing that there was such a thing as chain oil.

 

[VSS]

I think they should revert back to having a separate on/off switch. And separate choke and throttle lock systems. Simple

Agreed, 100%

 

[nick.308]

got a question, I was once told that if you send a chain to get professionally sharpened the teeth get heated up when sharpened with a grinder so afterwards you cant ever get as good edge when you sharpen them manually with a file.
Any truth in this?

 

[countrryboy]

got a question, I was once told that if you send a chain to get professionally sharpened the teeth get heated up when sharpened with a grinder so afterwards you cant ever get as good edge when you sharpen them manually with a file.
Any truth in this?

To an extent, if they sharpen it correctly with a grinder ( assuming it needs loads taken off) it should be done gently in a few hits so not to heat the cutters.
That should be ok to file.
But if they just do 1 hit and heat chain u will struggle with a hand file after.

Was cutting for an old timer I know last week who's on a harvester now and he still sharpens all his harvester chains by hand. Bugger that, think most run a 70 or 80cm bar, a few teeth per chain and a few chains.
Was quite shocked by that, reckons can get them sharper by hand, but he was a proper old skool cutter back in the day and a bloody good harvester operator now.

 

[countrryboy]

Used engine oil is also cancerous and sprays a mist in your face when not in the cut, used to use new engine oil from morrisons years ago cos it was cheap as chips, or vegetable oil in an emergency

That's wot I thought was the reason.

Before my time rem but an old boss used to talk about it in his stories but that could off been pre 2 series as he used to drag with a pony and load wagons by hand.
In those days still quickier to sned with the axe and just fell and cross cut with saw
Sure I've heard boys on 1st thinnings doing the same but they mainly ran the brilliant 254s.
Can't mind any mentioning about the pumps.

Would the pump be going as u ran it dry??
They always said u had to stop mid fill to top up oil tank.
I'm back with that old cutter next week will ask him the craic, just surprised never heard off it before.
I'm sure just when I started cutting on railways a couple of lads were moaning they had been stopped using waste oil by some H&S guy and that was on a big rail job with bosses everywhere.


Site I just started at today was warned yellow card if ur caught putting ur combi or saw on the ground without a spill kit under it. I might not last the day!!
Just gone a bit crazy

 

[gixer1]

The electric sharpeners are usually way too savage, as some have stated, little and often is a better approach, a few strokes with a good file it better, you will feel the resistance on the file change, best way to sharpen is lock the bar in a vice level, Mark one tooth with a black permanent marker and do all the cutters in one direction then flip the saw 180 deg and do the opposing cutters, start at the end of the bar, lock the chain brake on, do all the ones you can on the top of the bar then rotate the chain and reapply the brake as you go until back at your original mark.

The most common fault is the wrong angle and people going too hard with the file.

If you hit one good soil covered log when sawing it can dramatically knock the sharpness off a chain, also don’t force the saw, let the chain cut and always run the saw flat out when cutting.

And don’t buy a Stihl they’re for homo’s...real men buy Husqvarna (joking aside, stihl stopped letting you mail order parts so can be a pain if you want genuine parts and they have some clamshell design saws that are expensive to fix if anything goes wrong)

I can’t see past my old 365 husqy...not the lightest but built like a tank.

Practice sharpening and you’ll get there.

regards,
Gixer

 

[CarlW]

Grinders are too brutal. I always use a hand file. As @gixer1 says, it's nice to feel the resistance, or, as my dad used to say, better to make mistakes slowly...

I don't understand why using a grinder and overheating the teeth would make subsequent sharpening with a file difficult, though. Surely, you'd just end up tempering it (and ruining it in a different way)? If you dunked it when red, then I'd understand the point.

Best,

Carl

 

[Acm]

When I first read this post I have to be honest I thought it was a wind up!
I wouldn’t expect a chainsaw that cost £65 to cut anything straight. Or anything at all really. But to the op, buy yourself a secondhand husky or stihl, I cut about 50 m2 a year for home use and do a fair bit of cutting back and fencing work and honestly a good chainsaw is a joy to own and use. I’ve got a stihl 261 for fencing, a husky 576 for firewood processing and a stihl 441for cutting up large cord. I’ve also got a stihl 088 in the loft but she rarely comes out as there’s not much call for a 32 inch bar!
If your using it to heat your home it’s worth Having a reliable well made saw. There’s a reason the good brands are 5-10x more money.
The basic crosscutting and felling courses are also invaluable and good fun. But if your already happy using a saw as your are probably not necessary.

my number one bit of advice would be to always tell someone where your going and how long your going to be and keep a small pack of quick clot and a tourniquet or leather belt in reach.

 

[Alantoo]

I don't understand why using a grinder and overheating the teeth would make subsequent sharpening with a file difficult, though.

Best,

Carl

I could't understand that either...

I did discover, from a comment on here a few years ago and subsequent research, that the actual cutting edge is formed by the chrome plating on the tooth. Sharpening removes the steel and thus exposes fresh chrome. As such the steel does not need to be particularly hard in itself so is readily file-able. May not even have enough carbon to harden with heat and quench.

The only reason for the claimed difficulty to file sharp after grinding I could think of was carbide inclusion...bits of the grind wheel embedded in the surface of the steel.

Though that still doesn't explain why the first sharpening of a new blade, ground sharp in production, doesn't produce the same problem conditions for the file.

Alan

 

[CarlW]

I could't understand that either...

I did discover, from a comment on here a few years ago and subsequent research, that the actual cutting edge is formed by the chrome plating on the tooth. Sharpening removes the steel and thus exposes fresh chrome. As such the steel does not need to be particularly hard in itself so is readily file-able. May not even have enough carbon to harden with heat and quench.

The only reason for the claimed difficulty to file sharp after grinding I could think of was carbide inclusion...bits of the grind wheel embedded in the surface of the steel.

Though that still doesn't explain why the first sharpening of a new blade that was ground sharp in production doesn't produce the same problem conditions for the file.

Alan

That is extremely interesting about the chrome! I didn't know that.

I too am not fully-convinced by the idea of carbide inclusion (for the same reasons as you).

Ref carbon content of the chain, perhaps one of you smiths should see if you can make a Damascus knife from an old chain. That would be cool (if it hardens, as you say).

 

[VSS]

Ref carbon content of the chain, perhaps one of you smiths should see if you can make a Damascus knife from an old chain. That would be cool (if it hardens, as you say).

That has been done. There were some photos floating about on Instagram a while back of just such a blade. Can't remember who crafted it though. Might have been Twisted Horseshoe Knives?

 

[CarlW]

That has been done. There were some photos floating about on Instagram a while back of just such a blade. Can't remember who crafted it though. Might have been Twisted Horseshoe Knives?

Nice. Will have a surf!

 

[Kalahari]

Grinders are too brutal. I always use a hand file. As @gixer1 says, it's nice to feel the resistance, or, as my dad used to say, better to make mistakes slowly...

I don't understand why using a grinder and overheating the teeth would make subsequent sharpening with a file difficult, though. Surely, you'd just end up tempering it (and ruining it in a different way)? If you dunked it when red, then I'd understand the point.

Best,

Carl

Because of the relatively large surface area to mass of the tooth ratio I reckon (but don't know) that if you overheat the tooth it might cool fast enough to harden the surface. Just a thought,

David.

 

[CarlW]

Because of the relatively large surface area to mass of the tooth ratio I reckon (but don't know) that if you overheat the tooth it might cool fast enough to harden the surface. Just a thought,

David.

That's interesting. The chain acts as a heatsink?

 

[Kalahari]

That's interesting. The chain acts as a heatsink?

I suspect so. It is a very long time since I was at Uni studying engineering though so it might all be rubbish!

David.

 

[CarlW]

I suspect so. It is a very long time since I was at Uni studying engineering though so it might all be rubbish!

David.

I now have to go out and buy one of those ridiculous grinders in order to put this to the test. In the meantime, my instinct remains in the cooking-your chain-hard-is-a-myth camp...

 

[Alantoo]

Because of the relatively large surface area to mass of the tooth ratio I reckon (but don't know) that if you overheat the tooth it might cool fast enough to harden the surface. Just a thought,

David.

Not likely. But nice try.

Your mass differential hardening notion could only apply to the last few molecules of edge, which would then easily be removed as a small percentage part of the first bit of file swarf...the file would just scoop under the hard section.

If the temperature is raised enough to show tempering colours behind the edge, then tempering is what will happen...tempering/softening/toughening. The greater mass may absorb the heat rapidly, but will then subsequently temper the molecules of the edge as the heat evens out and runs back to the edge as the whole lot cools down...the heat can't just go one way and then not return!

As @CarlW said earlier you need to build in a quench above red heat to arrest the inevitable process of tempering/normalisation...notwithstanding whether there is enough carbon in the tooth steel in the first place.

Alan