Was chain sawing a dead Monterey Pine today & had a few basic questions

[Ralph Mowery]

Could you explain how to use the IFR and Bird to tune the chain saw ? I have a Bird and 8924c I could use on mine. (GRIN)

[Pico Rico]

first, you have to get that chain saw moving REALLY fast.

[Jeff Liebermann]

It's a Husqvarna 136. My guess is about 25 years old. I got it in a trade for some repair work because it needed a new carburetor. Some cleaning and adjusting solved that problem. The repair job in the photo was just the fuel line. I got tired of replacing it and replaced it with a thicker equivalent. In order to make it fit, I had to enlarge the hole in one of the plastic parts. The required tearing it down to what you see in the photo. It was also useful for cleaning out the oily sawdust from odd corners. A simple job that ended up taking about 5 hrs work.

The engine is very different. The 445 is a reduced emissions X-torq machine which is quite different from my old 136:

That looks brand new. The sprocket doesn't have the tradition gouge down the middle from the drive links. I have a fair collection of chains for each saw (I think I have about 6 saws), each with its own matching rim sprocket. If you're not a heavy user (i.e. not doing logging) you probably don't need to go to such extremes. However, I like to use my chains well past the traditional point where they should be recycled, so matching the wear is required.

Incidentally, Bailey's is for professional loggers. They know just about everything there is to know about using chain saws for logging, but are not terribly interested in homeowners. Locally, you might try giving Webb's a visit:

Something is wrong with that picture. You're suppose to have bar lube and grease just oozing out of the bar and chain. It looks dry to me.

My take on the narrow kerf bars and chains is that if you don't lube them properly, the reduced contact area between the chain and bar will ruin both somewhat faster than a standard bar and chain. I have a few narrow kerf bars in my pile that I traded out with owners because of this problem. I plan to grind the bars flat again, but haven't had the time or interest. Oddly, I've never bothered to compare the normal and narrow kerfs cutting abilities. These days, I just hire the locals to do my tree work for me. I'm getting too old for this type of exercise.

[Jeff Liebermann]

I may have the opportunity to test the IFR with a chain saw. The IFR-1500 currently has a very dead power supply. I thought I had it fixed, but it didn't last: I've tried to repair it by replacing almost every part in the AC section without success. I'm going to try replacing it completely with a 117VAC only PC desktop power supply (I don't need DC operation). If that doesn't work, it's either eBay or the chain saw.

Also, the Wiltron sweeper on the left decided to celebrate its 30th(?) birthday with a volcanic eruption of one of the PS electrolytics. It's been moved to the "to be fixed" pile. The HP 141T spectrum analyzer on the right was upgraded to a slightly better mutation. I have 3 such mainframes with assorted plugins. The glass bottle to the left of the IFR-1500 is environmentally incorrect mercury.

Workbench, without the chain saw:

Here's the shop the last time it was presentable:

It's amazing what I can accomplish in the 2 sq-ft of empty benchtop space remaining.

[Jeff Liebermann]

Not really. Just use a carbide chain: (1:16) The catches are that the chain costs $25/ft in 100ft rolls and requires a diamond wheel to resharpen.

[Martin Eastburn]

If you want a thin kerf then use a band saw. Metal bandsaws are portable. Maybe use the metal blade or make/get one made for it in wood teeth. Vari-pitch teeth ?

Martin

[Charlie+]

On Wed, 1 Oct 2014 09:54:10 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D." wrote as underneath :

What they say in 4. is obviously true, but just dont push it to cut so fast that the chain slows down, a slow chain is more grabby, less cutty! Hence the kickback warning... C+

[Jeff Liebermann]

It's called "chainsaw bar lube". It's main features are that it will stick to just about anything, make a huge mess, mix with sawdust to form tar, and not get launched by the moving chain leaving what's left to actually lubricate the bar and chain. If you look in a mirror after sawing, and notice that you have a black greasy line down the centerline of your face and chest, you might need to add some additional "tackifier":

The grease is the "sprocket grease", which lubricates the bar tip sprocket:

Unless you're doing wood carving with a chain saw, a clean bar and chain is usually an indication of lubrication failure, or a compulsive clean freak.

This is what a properly lubricated bar and chain should look like:

[Martin Eastburn]

But then you are cutting fire wood or maybe wood working wood (I hope). Martin

[Harry K]

I can only hope that post was a joke from beginning to end. Most chainsaws don't even have a place to grease the sprocket any more and a saw dripping oil is over-oiling. As for a black streak down your chest and face, if yo u do your saw is badly abused and has broken parts on the bar cover.

Harry K

[Jeff Liebermann]

Oil - 1. Kick the can over and it dumps oil on the floor. 2. Does not require a pump, grease gun, or spatula to apply.

Grease - 1. Kick the can over and nothing gets dumped onto the floor. 2. Requires a pump, grease gun, spatula, or shovel to apply.

[Jeff Liebermann]

Please re-read what I actually wrote: Something is wrong with that picture. You're suppose to have bar lube and grease just oozing out of the bar and chain. It looks dry to me. The oil goes on the bar and chain. The grease goes on the sprocket. The typical way to lube the sprocket is to use a grease gun until it comes out of the bar, thus producing a greasy looking bar. I did not suggest using grease on the bar or oil on the sprocket.

This might help: "How to Lubricate your Chainsaw Sprocket" Whenever I add bar oil/lube to the oil tank on my saws, or put away the saws for the day, I also lube the bar sprocket with grease.

"What is the difference between oil and grease"? ...oil is the general term that applies to all liquid lubricants, while greases are oils that have been mixed with a thickening agent, which turns them into a semi-solid material.

However, if you're into ecology, you might want to look into using vegetable oils for bar lube: I couldn't resist trying it. It worked quite well on a saw with a new blade and chain. However, with a much older and sloppier chain, I was consuming vegetable oil far too quickly and emptied the tank before I ran out of gasoline. It also tended to sling oil more than ordinary petroleum based bar oil. On the other hand, it smelled good, washed out of my clothes easily, and the smell made me crave fried food.

[Harry K]

Which is exactly how a well adjusted saw WILL look.

You stop greasing at the firs sign of oozing out...IF YOU EVEN HAVE A BAR THAT CAN BE GREASED. Most don't anymore.

CORRECTION; Thus producing a bar that has been heavily over greased.

Then your saw has a problem of over - oiling no matter what you use.

Jeff, please post about things you know. You very obviously have no clue about chainsaw lubrication...or chainsaws for that matter.

To begin with there is no chainsaw in the entire world that has a "blade", it is a "bar".

As I said in my first post. You just HAVE TO BE KIDDING.

harry k

[Jeff Liebermann]

I suspect the difference is that I don't wipe the bar before storing the chain saw. I leave all the oil, grease, and goo in place, which inhibits rusting. If it's a choice between oil and rust, I'll take the oil.

With your fairly modern saws and bars, you're probably ok.

There's some controversy over greasing sprocket tips. Stihl bars are not intended to be greased and allegedly last longer. The claim is that greasing the tip brings in more dirt, which causes more wear. The higher speed motors rotate the sprocket fast enough to throw any type of grease or oil from the sprocket. Still pump some of the chain oil into the sprocket bearing for lubrication.

This discusses some of the issues involved:

All of my assorted saws are quite ancient and do not run at high speeds. All of my bars are equally old and have grease holes. I grease the sprockets. I added 3 more gas saws and one electric since I took this picture:

Probably the same as the MS170. No grease hole.

Incidentally, you might find this spreadsheet useful: It's a table and graph of gas/oil mix for 32;1, 40:1, and 50:1 mixes.

[Harry K]

Running old saws you have some excuse for the advice you are handing out. The newer saws...at least since the 80s... usually don't have a greasable sprocket and for sure don't leave enough oil, grease and goo to even wipe off the bar.

You advise to 'squiret some grease on the spocket' any how. Does no good at all unless there is hole there to squirt it in. Any you put on the sprocket sticking out of the bar is going to be slung off.

Harry K