Chain 'recycling'

[jacspath]

Well you creative girls and boys who are into recycling just about everything on the farm, I'm interested in what you do with worn out chainsaw chains that can no longer be sharpened effectively. That is after they get used on rocks to the point that they won't even hack their way through plywood? I'd love to come up with something before I just chuck them.

And, while I'm thinking about it, same question with the blades where the grove has been worn so wide that the chain might start flipping off. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[ericm979]

You can have the bar grooves resized. There's a bar-squeezing tool that narrows the groove. A good shop should have one. Some guys run chains of the next gauge size up, i.e. .058 on a worn .050 bar.

I use a bench mounted chain grinder to sharpen damaged chains. You can grind the teeth pretty far before there's not enough tooth left. Race chains sometimes are ground to only have a tiny sliver of tooth. Get a progressive depth gauge guide if you're going to do that.

If a few teeth are too far gone or are broken, leave them or sharpen what's left as well as you can. Especially on a long chain they wont' matter much.

 

[Thunder chicken]

Around here, people mount the chain (broke into a length) around exterior window frames.
keeps the riff-raff out. (Black bears that is!)

I just got 8 chains from the garbage at work that were apparently ‘rocked’, but a bit of work with the file and hit the depth gauges and they’ll be good for a while yet.
A new, sharp file is usually overlooked.

 

[ArlyA]

I work at a recycling yard, so I just throw them in steel bin heading out.. We wear chains out all the time. Go through about 3 per summer.

 

[mcfarmall]

Chuck 'em. I've got enough junk lying around. Makes about as much sense as keeping blown fuses.

 

[WranglerX]

IF they are worn beyond usability I donate then to neighbors scrap metal dumpster, and in return he lets me take scrap metal I can use for blacksmithing and other projects.....

 

[Doughknob]

Well, dont just chuck em into a landfill! I have an 'iron pile' in my tree line. I chuck steel there and then once every year or two, haul a load to the scrap yard and make a few bucks.

 

[MossRoad]

Come on guys, get creative....

 

[CobyRupert]

Not creative, but I save them for cutting tree roots or trees with hardware. It’s good to have several old ones so you can switch them out when you hit the stuff you know you’re going to hit without wrecking a good chain.
There’s always a “little more” on chains, just be aware they may bite and kick hard when you bring an old one out of retirement.

 

[Tinhack]

I've seen a few guys on U-tube make custom knives out of them and motorcycle chain. They look pretty cool too. The steel blade has sort of a chain shadow look. I'm not a knife maker but I sure like to watch them being made. Nearly like watching paint dry but it's interesting.

 

[SmallChange]

String them together, with a good one in the middle, to throw over a high branch and cut down using two ropes?

 

[JasperFrank]

Well you creative girls and boys who are into recycling just about everything on the farm, I'm interested in what you do with worn out chainsaw chains that can no longer be sharpened effectively. That is after they get used on rocks to the point that they won't even hack their way through plywood? I'd love to come up with something before I just chuck them.

And, while I'm thinking about it, same question with the blades where the grove has been worn so wide that the chain might start flipping off. Thanks for your thoughts.

Almost hesitant on this suggestion...... yet this is what I do.... I chop the chains up into 3 inch segments. Then I use these as flailing chains attatched to a spindle on my gas weed eater. This is very dangerous, yet it is the best I've ever found to get rid of the monster blackberrys, that we have in the PNW. If you know how to use the weed eater this way, meaning always knowing, the plain you are working with... so you don't break a widow, people and pets are not going to be around you, and being in full protective gear - I wear a motorcycle helmet with a full shield, double jeans, padded coat, padded thick leather gloves, steel toe work boots..... I look like the Mitchlin tire man; this makes quick work of black berries and small brush saplings as the flails rip all the stalks into little pieces that are easy to rake up.

 

[the old grind]

I sharpen chains for five other guys too with one's HFT sharpener and good technique. They like the cut with depth gauges ground much lower than spec. (.060" - .080" vs say .030"-.040") They stall 'em a lot, or rev too high too (saw, not grinder) but get a lot of life from a sharpening. I toss 'em when the teeth are shorter than they are wide.