Chain saw blade sharpening ?

[Bird]

DFB, when I called Country Home Products before, the guy told me I could save a few dollars by buying locally, because of their shipping and handling charge. Well, this morning I called again and ordered 3 of the master links from them ($1 each plus $4.95 S&H). $7.95 is probably a lot cheaper than running all over the country looking for them. Not the first time I've tried to save a couple of bucks and spent more in the long run./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[JonE]

Sharpener & chain profile

As promised here it is. FWIW.

 

[JonE]

Re: Sharpener & chain profile

Let's try a slighly smaller picture.

 

[MChalkley]

Richard - I can't say how much I love a compression release, but I can say how much I hate not having one. I've had days where, after cutting for 4 or 5 hours, I had to get somebody else to start the 044 because I couldn't grip the starter handle tight enough to pull it. A compression release would fix that.

MarkC

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Richard, Oregon makes a lot of different styles of chain, I would probably buy one loop of whatever chain they are recommending just to see if I liked it before I committed to 20 of them. I have used both low-kickback chain and chisel chain but they are on different saws so I cannot directly compare them. The chisel chain cuts much better on the much bigger saw that it is on. I also understand that it is easier to hand sharpen the rounded style cutters with a file by hand than it is to sharpen the square edged ones.

HOWEVER, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT EVERYONE CONSIDER CAREFULLY WHETHER OR NOT TO USE LOW-KICKBACK CHAIN.

I have used both. I am scared of chainsaws. I like my ten fingers and ten toes. I have seen a picture of a guy who got cut by a kickback where his neck joins his body. He lived, but the picture was as ghastly and sickening as it could have been. Most of us cut wood alone, let's be careful out there.
p.s. I am being so whiny because MR. Chainsaw got a little too close to MR. Foot last week while limbing. I didn't get hurt, but if my wife sees this message then SHE will probably hurt me then for general purpose.
<safety rant mode off>

 

[Thomas]

Re: Sharpener & chain profile

JonE,
Looks like a handy unit.

When the top of the cutting tooth starts to wear down,can this unit also level the top of the chain raker to keep level with the cutting tooth?

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[gordon]

Tom the 257 would do fine with a twenty inch bar very easy to come by. I know the best deals on bars I've found have been on e-bay. Anywhere from 10-50 dollars cheaper than mail order or local dealer.

I feel that a 24 inch bar would be to big for that saw. you could get by with it if you kept your rakers set to 20 thousandths and ran light handed on the saw---didn't ride hard on pressure in order to keep rpms up. You would be most happy with a 20 inch bar and for a chain I would go with a standard chipper or a round ground chisel. Those two chains are both good allaround chains.

One main reason that people go to a semi-skip or full-skip is on bigger bars this gives a spot for the wood shavings to ride out of the cut and it allows for rpms to stay higher and to also take a bigger bite. But the down side is an added kickback factor if the chain catches and the less teeth you have for a given bar lengh the sharper they have to be in order to do the same job. Also these chains aren't that great for limbing they will catch and kickback. Thats why I gave the standard chain as your best bet.
Hope this helps
Gordon

 

[gordon]

Re: Sharpener & chain profile

Like most tools once you have one you just can't even think about how you got by without one. That grinder is made over in Italy?? Where did you buy it from?
Gordon

 

[TomG]

Thanks Gordon. Good information as usual.

A question on kickback that might be good for novice saw users who are considering a saw (I qualify as a novice). The manual that came with my 257 mentioned an 'integral kickback brake,' or some such label. It seems to be a pendulum that actuates the brake if the saw moves too rapidly. It's not clear from the manual if all models have this feature, or how well it actually works. However, the idea seems like a very desirable feature, especially for novice users.

 

[Bird]

TomG, all models do NOT have the anti-kickback brake. I consider myself something of a novice, too, but I've had just a little experience with Craftsman, Homelite, Poulan, McCullough, and Stihl saws and have used saws both with and without the brake. Fortunately for me, I've never had one kick back enough to activate it on the ones that had it. Right now, my brother's Stihl has it and my Poulan does not.

Bird