What brand bar do you run?

[arrow]

Don't get too concerned with rail wear. I flip my bars every time I switch loops and when I replace the loops (I run 2 loops per saw), I replace the bar, no exceptions. When I flip any bar I check the rails for wear and burrs and file them as needed. The trick if you will to mitigating bar wear is using a good bar oil and tensioning the chain properly. I keep my bar oilers on the plus side all the time.

What wears out a bar faster than it should beyond your suggestions, is uneven cutter sharpening. Differential cutter length put side stresses on the bar and is why some chainsaws "turn" within the cut. When this happens, consider it is also wearing out the bar. Sort of like riding a brake or clutch pedal.

 

[yomax4]

What wears out a bar faster than it should beyond your suggestions, is uneven cutter sharpening. Differential cutter length put side stresses on the bar and is why some chainsaws "turn" within the cut. When this happens, consider it is also wearing out the bar. Sort of like riding a brake or clutch pedal.

My cuts don't turn but Some cutters are bigger or smaller than others due to rocks and crap. This could be my issue. Assorted sized cutters are probably the result of my electric grinder. It's easy to over sharpen.

 

[arrow]

My cuts don't turn but Some cutters are bigger or smaller than others due to rocks and crap. This could be my issue. Assorted sized cutters are probably the result of my electric grinder. It's easy to over sharpen.

This problem occurs when one side of the cutters is sharpened differently than the other. I had a friend who when seeing how his saw was turning in the cut, examined his chain. The right side was sharpened almost an 1/8th of an inch shorter than the left. He had one of those $29 Harbor Freight sharpeners that I guess wasn't calibrated that well.

 

[John_Mc]

If you use a progressive depth gauge tool to set the height of your depth gauges (a.k.a. "rakers"), there is far less need to keep all of your cutter lengths the same. These set the depth gauge height specifically for the tooth that follows them, which is as it should be. Both are used as shown in the second photo: they rest on top of one cutter, with the depth gauge poking up through the hole, and rest against the base of the cutter in front. The depth gauge is set by reference to the cutter associated with it, controlling the chip size for that cutter. They will set the correct height for that cutter regardless of the height of any other cutter.

The non-progessive types of depth gauges rest across two cutters to establish a depth gauge height. Since the cutters top plate slopes downward as you move to the back of the cutter, the height of the cutter changes depending on the cutter length. When cutters are two different lengths, you get two different heights, and the depth gauge will not be filed to the correct height for the cutter which follows it. One random cutter being off might not have much of an effect. The problem gets bigger when all of the cutters one on side are sharpened to a different length than the other. This often happens for several reasons: 1) a cheap or mis-adjusted grinder sharpens one side differently than the other, 2) a person hand-filing sharpens more aggressively with their dominant hand on one side, than with their other hand on the other side. If they are following the often-recommended idea of "counting strokes" to keep cutters the same, they slowly work the cutters on one side out of sync with the other, 3) If you hit a rock or dirt, you usually damage the cutters on one side more than the other. Sharpening until you remove the damage would leave the cutters on one side longer than the other. In this case,using the non-progressive gauge bridging across two cutters will set all of the depth gauges for left hand cutters at a different height in relation to that cutter than those for right hand cutter. Since the teeth on one side are taking a bigger bite than the ones on the other, this results in a chain that wants to cut on a curve. It also causes uneven wear on the bar rails, which increases the tendency to cut on a curve. The only way to avoid this when using a non-progressive depth gauge tool is to keep all cutters the same length.

Non-progressive depth gauge tools:

 

[yomax4]

If you use a progressive depth gauge tool to set the height of your depth gauges (a.k.a. "rakers"), there is far less need to keep all of your cutter lengths the same. These set the depth gauge height specifically for the tooth that follows them, which is as it should be. Both are used as shown in the second photo: they rest on top of one cutter, with the depth gauge poking up through the hole, and rest against the base of the cutter in front. The depth gauge is set by reference to the cutter associated with it, controlling the chip size for that cutter. They will set the correct height for that cutter regardless of the height of any other cutter.

View attachment 657178 View attachment 657179

The non-progessive types of depth gauges rest across two cutters to establish a depth gauge height. Since the cutters top plate slopes downward as you move to the back of the cutter, the height of the cutter changes depending on the cutter length. When cutters are two different lengths, you get two different heights, and the depth gauge will not be filed to the correct height for the cutter which follows it. One random cutter being off might not have much of an effect. The problem gets bigger when all of the cutters one on side are sharpened to a different length than the other. This often happens for several reasons: 1) a cheap or mis-adjusted grinder sharpens one side differently than the other, 2) a person hand-filing sharpens more aggressively with their dominant hand on one side, than with their other hand on the other side. If they are following the often-recommended idea of "counting strokes" to keep cutters the same, they slowly work the cutters on one side out of sync with the other, 3) If you hit a rock or dirt, you usually damage the cutters on one side more than the other. Sharpening until you remove the damage would leave the cutters on one side longer than the other. In this case,using the non-progressive gauge bridging across two cutters will set all of the depth gauges for left hand cutters at a different height in relation to that cutter than those for right hand cutter. Since the teeth on one side are taking a bigger bite than the ones on the other, this results in a chain that wants to cut on a curve. It also causes uneven wear on the bar rails, which increases the tendency to cut on a curve. The only way to avoid this when using a non-progressive depth gauge tool is to keep all cutters the same length.

Non-progressive depth gauge tools:
View attachment 657182

I have the Non Progressive. Looks like the Progressive is what I need.

 

[John_Mc]

I have the Non Progressive. Looks like the Progressive is what I need.

They do work well. It's not an excuse to totally abuse the chain, or ignore unevenly worn bar rails. but it does let you avoid filing off a lot of a cutter's life because some other cutters got damaged. I still try to keep the cutters in the ballpark, but I worry much less about the odd one or two cutters, or smaller variations between left-handed and right-handed cutters.

If you have trouble locating what you need, let me know and I'll try to dig up some online links.

 

[TMGT]

I really like my Carlton bars, this is a 24" on my Makita/Dolmar 6401

 

[Pilot]

Power Pruner (now Echo), great machine, bought it in about 1994, probably been in the shop once. I can reach limbs 13+ feet high. Very easy to start. Only complaint is it leaks bar oil. Also have a Shindaiwa 357, gives me a little trouble now and then, it will go to the shop as soon as I log off. When it runs, it is a real tiger. Light weight which is good for this 77 year old coot. Also have a Husqvarna, starts really easily. Good saw. Lastly, a Stihl. Very popular brand in this area, but I hate the thing, has always been hard to start, but it did cut well when I first got it (used).
For those with arthritis in your hands, get inch wide straps, hook to the starter handle and starting is a lot easier on the hands.

 

[crazyal]

Update. It appears the the post office lost the bar. On the 21st all tracking just went dead. The seller is refunding my money but I'm going to wait one more week just in case and then order it a second time through them. I did talk with the local post office and they didn't really have much more information than what the web says. But she did seam to think a glitch happened as she remembers that date as being common for packages just vanishing. The last time she saw something like this it took over 2 months for the item to show up. If I end up with two bars I'll just keep the second vs sending it back. It wasn't that expensive so buying an extra spare isn't the end of the world.

 

[crazyal]

The bar showed up last night. 3 weeks for priority mail isn't as "priority" as I would of liked but all is well. It's a 24" bar so maybe 28" to 30" long. The mailman stuffed it into my box with almost a 1/3 hanging out and the door open which meant I didn't need to go to the PO to pick it up. This weekend I'll put it on and try it out.