chainsaw

Yes what was it then?,,

This one IIRC:

I find it easier to just have a stash of sharp chains on hand to swap in as required. Also the powered sharpener seems to be able to get a much sharper edge than I can manage with the file.

Were they 'good' ones? (Silky etc)

Depending on how it's used or if it's a 'pull saw' (Japanese, coping, fret, band, wire etc), it can be, especially if you allow the cut to be in an area that becomes in compression during the cut.

I spent much of my youth sat on or holding timber for Dad as he was a keen woodworker and it was important that I *held* any unsupported 'end', not lifted (or it would pinch his saw) or it be allowed to drop whilst being cut though.

Cheers, T i m

Anyone tried the dremel chain sharpening attachment?

I think one of them was a cheap one, but the other was a Wolf.

I did a lot of the work during the day time when my wife was at work, otherwise I'd have got her to press on the branch to keep the cut open. Surprisingly a cut on the upper side of the branch (having made an initial cut on the underside to prevent splintering) tended to close up, despite the weight of the branch which you'd expect to open the cut.

I found the best trick was to remove the blade from the cut after I'd pulled it towards me on the cutting stroke, and then re-insert it at the other end of the stroke, rather than trying to push it away from me, because that was when the blade got stuck.

This was cedar, which seems to be a very hard wood compared with pine/larch. It was still alive and so was green rather than dry wood.

I had a Ryobi 4 stroke combi / strimmer power head for a bit. It was a pile of crap alas. (power output was not that good, it did not run well at certain angles (typically those required when hedge trimming), but the biggest weakness was the plastic components in the valve train that made it almost impossible to tune and keep running reliably. Replaced it with a Stihl KM 94 RC-E KombiEngine, which is vastly better in every way.

I have one of those, use with a non-Dremel motor etc. It's OK and I have sharpened a few chains with it successfully. Its major advantage is that it sets the angle for you fairly well (though not immovably).

I've bought a dedicated sharpener (offer at Lidl/Aldi, can't remember which) but I haven't tried it yet.

I would expect a cheap one to blunt quickly and bend rather than snap as they generally use a lower grade steel.

I would consider Wolf a branding exercise than a real make as such (although they may well be).

If you do enough pruning (to justify the cost) I would suggest having a look at the 'Silky' brand saws as they are very good (and what the pro's generally use). It was an eye opener to me when I saw daughter first remove a fairly substantial limb with one where it was easier / safer to do by hand than with her chainsaw. I thought we were going to be there a while but ... ;-)

It is handy having a helper for all sorts of things as it often makes the job easier and often quicker (even if the helper isn't actually doing much of the actual work), especially if they are a 'good' helper (thinking ahead, staying alert, not actually getting in your way). ;-)

I think it's surprising how much sideways movement you can get in green wood and so if there was any weight on the limb past where you were cutting that can cause the cut to close (sideways) sufficiently to pinch a saw.

Turning it into a 'pull saw' etc. ;-)

I think it's a good carving wood (red cedar?) and I think it's used a lot for untreated external cladding for it's long lasting properties?

I have often used an old panel saw on hanging dead wood as the blade can be better suited than a saw 'designed' for use in green timber etc.

When splitting wood I learned just how strong wood can be, if you don't have a nice straight section of grain.

With a straight bit of timber in the hydraulic splitter it would regularly split pretty quickly easily as soon as there was any real pressure between the blade and anvil. Something with a side branch in it might split up to the joint but the rest would often resist all the force of the splitter (10 tonne?).

I split about 5 x 1 tonne bags of ash going from about 6 to 24" in diameter and made the mistake of leaving all the bits that looked likely to fight back to the end. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

I think daughter bought one of those (we have both local) and did find it 'ok' (as in it seemed to work and was quite quick when set-up) but as she never had any issue sharpening them by hand, I don't think it got used that much.

I think the advantage of sharpening by hand is you can be a little bit more conservative re how much you file away on each tooth, making the blade last a bit longer?

Whilst working in someone's back garden their neighbour brought his cheapo saw out and asked if they could sharpen it for him. She brought it home and sharpened it and took it back when passing that evening. Whilst advising that he now pay extra care because of how sharp it was, the chain guard went to slid off and she nicked herself as she tried to catch it. ;-(

That was very similar to the safety instructions I was giving her with her first scalpel for crafting when she was a kid and I dropped the thing on my hand ... 'Yeah, nice demo Dad' ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Many power tools have a soft start from EU regulations.

Generator MCBs should be tolerant of short term transients.

Most of the time you will get away with the start current from power tools.

I find that you need to sharpen about every hour, and it takes about ten minutes, and the file lasts about a chainsaw week at best.

Electric sharpeners mean you have to take the sodding chain off and that takes even longer...

Agreed. I have an old Wolfgarten pruning attachment which is much better than the newer Wolf one but neither match the Silky for quality. Silky are definitely expensive though.

Perhaps you were thinking of something like this:

That's why many of the newer / better bits of kit are a hybrid, they are 4/ in that they have conventional valves but still use a petrol / oil mix for lubrication.

But may be going more 'hybrid' as the emissions and noise are restricted.

Stihls '4-Mix' range are such.

Cheers, T i m

I have a similar sounding one by Darlac - designed for the end of an extending pole. Curved pull saw configuration, very sharp and quick - although difficult to undercut the branch with if working at much height (partly because the limited angle you can get from the ground and partly the amount of leverage any weight on the end of the pole gets on *you* when extended out at 5m or more (plus the weight of the pole)

I find if you have a few sharpened and ready, its quick to just swap a chain.

It never occurred to me that it *might* be possible to sharpen the blades on a chainsaw chain in situ, because of the problem of rotating the chain slow enough to do each tooth in turn. I suppose if you mark the teeth that are exposed and that you have sharpened, you can run the chainsaw and stop it - and hope that sooner or later it will stop with different teeth exposed.

But it's so easy to remove the chain on my saw, and it's something I have to do anyway every few times I use it, to clean out oil-impregnated wood shavings that accumulate at the "inward" end of the blade (ie by the cog that connects to the motor or engine, under the screw-on cover). A screw driver blade, with the chain still in situ, never gets everything out: I've found that the chain and blade need to be unhooked so the waste can be removed properly and any excess oil can be wiped off.

Pull it round by hand, easier with an electric chainsaw.

The cement tower.

Bill