What type of saw chain

[Mike Drake]

Have a smaller 16” Husky chain saw now With .325 pitch and the OEM chain. For my old 55 I had various 3/8 pitch chains from Full Chisel down to Low Profile using the full chisel the most.

But, I never ripped much wood with a chainsaw. Cut some much smaller maple pieces with the .325 low profile and it was a lot of work and had to fight to control. This piece is 3 foot long and 24 inch diameter so want to split it straight. Is one type of chain better than the other or is there a specialty chain for ripping?

Thanks in advance.

 

[hockenbery]

This piece is 3 foot long and 24 inch diameter so want to split it straight. Is one type of chain better than the other or is there a specialty chain for ripping?

If your bar is straight and in good condition a sharp chain should cut cleanly.
It takes some skill with a saw to make a clean looking rip in a 3 foot long log with a 24” bar.
Takes a little more skill with a 16” bar.

You want to lay the log on its side make a long cut along the bark. This produces long streams of shavings that can clog the saw if you cut faster than they can clear.
A crotch being ripped . A ripped log section.

There are ripping chains. They are more prone to kick back. You need a lot of experience with a saw to use one.
Mine has 3 teeth in a row sharpened 20 degrees right, 20 degrees left, straight across.
Unless I’m ripping a pile of platter blanks I don’t put this chain on. It does a slightly cleaner surface.

 

[Mike Drake]

If your bar is straight and in good condition a sharp chain should cut cleanly.
It takes some skill with a saw to make a clean looking rip in a 3 foot long log with a 24” bar.
Takes a little more skill with a 16” bar.

You want to lay the log on its side make a long cut along the bark. This produces long streams of shavings that can clog the saw if you cut faster than they can clear.
A crotch being ripped View attachment 55991. A ripped log section. View attachment 55992

There are ripping chains. They are more prone to kick back. You need a lot of experience with a saw to use one.
Mine has 3 teeth in a row sharpened 20 degrees right, 20 degrees left, straight across.
Unless I’m ripping a pile of platter blanks I don’t put this chain on. It does a slightly cleaner surface.

Thanks for your insight.

 

[Tim Connell]

The low profile safety chains that come with most saws are almost worthless. Find a full chisel chain to match your specifications and you will be much happier. Most/all retailers with a physical presence only carry the low profile safety chains in stock, but the full chisel chains are available at Amazon and any other places that sell chains on line.

I stick with a full chisel chain as when I'm cutting blanks I'm usually doing as much cross cutting as ripping. Switching chains would take more time than what is lost by ripping with a standard full chisel chain.

 

[Paul M. Kaplowitz]

First of all why are you trying to rip a 3' log when the biggest bowl you can make is 24" in dia. ( equal to the diameter ) . First cut the lenth to equal the diameter, You need a saw with power and torque to rip large logs. I have a Sthil 440 Magnum that I have been using for more than a decade, it rips through any log easily. I use a Sthil skip tooth chain ( green marking on package.)

 

[hockenbery]

Most/all retailers with a physical presence only carry the low profile safety chains in stock,

Good advice to avoid the safety chains.

Depends on where you live and shop. I don’t think My Stihl dealer carries the safety chains.
I just tell him the length.
Their customers are cattle Ranchers, citrus grower, landscapers etc.

I don’t know what the big box stores carry.

 

[robo hippy]

I think the chains on my saws are called 'skip tooth'. They are made for ripping. They do a pretty good job of cross cutting also. If you can find a chainsaw 'store' go there and tell them what you are using the saw for. They can set you up. The big box stores, well let's say that most of the clerks there know very little about all of the different tools they sell.

Oh, if your saw is cutting in an arc rather than a straight line, the bar is worn out from the teeth pushing and pulling on that groove that houses the bottom of the chain. My saw shop fixed mine so I didn't have to replace it. Now it cuts straight again.

robo hippy

 

[Tim Connell]

The Stihl Dealers here don't stock the "yellow" full chisel chains, only the "green" semi-chisel anti kickback chains.

Both dealers have told me they will order anything I want, but I told them if I have to order chain, I'm going to cut out the middle man.

The said it was Stihl's policy for them to stock only the low kickback chain unless the majority of their clientele were "professionals" (loggers, arborists, etc).

 

[Richard Coers]

A traditional rip chain has no angle on the tooth, but I have never found it to be catchy. I do use Hockenberry's technique. Raker height is more critical than tooth angle and I find very few people ever dress the raker height down when they file the teeth.

 

[Mike Drake]

First of all why are you trying to rip a 3' log when the biggest bowl you can make is 24" in dia. ( equal to the diameter ) . First cut the lenth to equal the diameter, You need a saw with power and torque to rip large logs. I have a Sthil 440 Magnum that I have been using for more than a decade, it rips through any log easily. I use a Sthil skip tooth chain ( green marking on package.)

Good point. Thought was I could pick the better sections before cutting to size but it would be more work and prone to error.

Thanks!

 

[Mike Drake]

I think the chains on my saws are called 'skip tooth'. They are made for ripping. They do a pretty good job of cross cutting also. If you can find a chainsaw 'store' go there and tell them what you are using the saw for. They can set you up. The big box stores, well let's say that most of the clerks there know very little about all of the different tools they sell.

Oh, if your saw is cutting in an arc rather than a straight line, the bar is worn out from the teeth pushing and pulling on that groove that houses the bottom of the chain. My saw shop fixed mine so I didn't have to replace it. Now it cuts straight again.

robo hippy

That was one piece I was wondering about. Saw where they have both skip tooth and something called “hybrid”. Learned long ago that in addition to bar issues, an improperly sharpened chain can give you an arc, also.

I appreciate your input.

 

[Mike Drake]

Full chisel is my preferred chain, just haven’t bought one for this saw as I don’t cut 5-10 cord of wood per year to heat with anymore. Looks like I will check with my saw guy and see if he has Stihl (it is just better saw chain than anything else I have tried) saw chain in .325 full chisel skip tooth. If not, he can tell me who does. Southern Indiana cuts a lot of timber, my saw shop is Amish and my hardware store is, too. Only True Value that I have been that is 5 acres, provides rough cut lumber of all native species and reps Powermatic, Laguna, Grizzly, and a few others.

I appreciate all the feedback.

 

[Dave Landers]

I use full comp chain (not skip tooth). I like full chisel, but semi-chisel works fine too - I use whatever is in the "sharp chain tub". And not "safety" aka "low kickback" chain (with Stihl, yellow not green box). I'm not brand-loyal with my chain - usually it's stihl or oregon, but whatever is available when I wear one out.

I have no problems ripping with sharp chain and properly set depth gages (aka rakers). Ripping along the axis of the tree, as others have mentioned. Ripping cross-grain (i.e. from the end of the log) is slow and tough and rough on both chain and operator - and is mostly unnecessary for cutting turning billets (cutting large slabs is another matter). I usually cut to length first, then rip - reduces the size of the rip cut. Also leaves the rest of the log whole if I'm processing it later.

If your bar is shorter than the length of your log section, you can either make a diagonal cut (assuming your bar is still longer than the diameter), or cut with the grain from both ends of theology (but be very careful burying the bar tip - I always keep the power head low (tip high) so the top corner of the bar tip doesn't engage and kick back.

You need a big enough power head to run skip tooth - usually you only see that on larger saws. I would expect the power head on a saw with a 16" bar may not be big enough unless you downgraded the bar.

 

[Neil S]

On my 72cc Husky I run a full square chisel skip chain on the 28" bar when I'm ripping larger diameter logs for turning.

It's an excellent chain for that purpose, but one of its downsides is sharpening it, which you have to do yourself because most saw shops (other than in forestry regions) don't know how to do that. It's a tricky tooth profile to sharpen with a specialised file and three angles to control at the same time, which can take some time to master.

How To Sharpen Square Chisel Chain With | Madsen's Shop

www.madsens1.com

​

Also, because full square chain pulls full length noodles I had to modify the sprocket cover to get adequate shavings clearance.

I only use that chain for ripping and wouldn't bother with it if I wasn't regularly ripping larger logs.

 

[Brian Gustin]

You need a big enough power head to run skip tooth - usually you only see that on larger saws. I would expect the power head on a saw with a 16" bar may not be big enough unless you downgraded the bar.

Not true - My Wen 40V (16 inch bar) battery powered saw came equipped standard with a 3/8 Lo-Profile skip-tooth chain. Skip Tooth chain actually can reduce drag - On bigger saws, Skip Tooth was used on larger bars (over 24 inch) because it allowed more clearance between teeth for saw dust/chips to clear out, which allowed the bigger bar to cut faster. (and yes that skip tooth chain had safety guard links)

There's not a big performance improvement to use skip tooth on shorter bars, though it does require less power to run the chain.

Ripping chain is basically a skip-tooth configuration with a more straight across (5 degree) top angle on the cutter (and 90 degree rake angle on the side, much like a rip cut handsaw vs crosscut handsaw) Any saw chain can be made into a very effective ripping chain if you want to modify it by grinding away an equal number of right vs left cutters (or use a skip tooth chain), and then grind your cutter teeth to the 5 degree top angle... It can be just as effective (But slower to cut and easier to clog) to simply grind a regular full sequence saw chain to the rip cut angles, which is what I do when I cannot find the very hard to find skip-tooth 3/8 low profile saw chains. Either way my Wen 40V cordless does a very nice job with any chain I put on it, but my battery runs longer when I am able to use the skip tooth chain.

As for chisel vs semi-chisel vs chipper (Typically Chipper chain is more often found on harvesters, feller-bunchers, firewood processors, etc. , and larger .404 - 3/4 pitch saw chain) the semi-chisel profile tends to be a bit more durable (having to sharpen less often) while still offering good cutting efficiency, great for cross cutting logs.. Chisel chain was often specified by the pro loggers I serviced for their Felling saws (Cuts faster and they always re-sharpened before each tree - faster you can make your cut and get away, the better) and some would buy semi-chisel for their landing saws (bucking & trimming work) , but more often they'd both all of their saws with the same bar length so they didn't need to think about it when swapping chains. I did have a couple customers that custom ordered square chisel chain from me (and it required a special file to sharpen it), but I don't think there was a lot of difference between that chain and standard round-ground chisel... but they swore it cut twice as fast as regular chisel.... Only problem IMHO with Chisel was it was too easy to bump it into dirt or when transporting (banging around in truck bed, etc), and dent or ding or dull the chisel corners, so you'd have to resharpen again even if you hadn't even run the chain yet.. so Overall I'd prefer semi-chisel myself. (Which most of the 3/8 low profile chains are)

 

[Dean Center]

Raker height is more critical than tooth angle and I find very few people ever dress the raker height down when they file the teeth.

Last year I bought the peculiar Stihl 2 in 1 Easy Cut saw sharpener. I've been really surprised at how well the chains perform after using it, compared with a host of previous sharpening gadgets. It has 3 files in it, 2 round files for the teeth and a flat file for the guides (often referred to as rakers). I think Richard is right--filing down those guides makes a big difference. Who knew?

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I have been sawing with the Stihl's saws chain that came with my saw and the chain for the shorter bar I bought at the same time, I use them for felling trees and slabbing the logs.

I also sharpen the chains myself and file the rakers down, when slabbing the logs I always hold the saw at an angle to control the long slices of wood that come out when sawing that way.

I got a picture where I show the angle I hold the saw with a red line on the wood.

 

[Dave Landers]

Not true - My Wen 40V (16 inch bar) battery powered saw came equipped standard with a 3/8 Lo-Profile skip-tooth chain. Skip Tooth chain actually can reduce drag - On bigger saws, Skip Tooth was used on larger bars (over 24 inch) because it allowed more clearance between teeth for saw dust/chips to clear out, which allowed the bigger bar to cut faster. (and yes that skip tooth chain had safety guard links)

OK good info. My experience was with folks with long bars.

 

[robo hippy]

Well, many things I have never considered here. I do sharpen my own chains, and use a round file. I make sure to count the number of strokes per tooth. That keeps it pretty close to keeping the teeth all the same size. Those who really know how to sharpen their chains no longer laugh at me...... I want to keep this part as simple as possible. I do have a chain sharpener, but haven't used it yet. I do have CBN wheels for it, from Ken Rizza.

robo hippy

 

[hughie]

I started out with a 16'' McCulloch made by Electrolux in Italy, it was cheap worked well for a bottom of the market saw. Eventually bought a Skil 661 28" bar, never looked back, a great saw starts first time every time. Tried a electric sharpener, but the good ones are high priced where I am, so I settled for a Skil hand sharpener a 2 in 1 suits me very well as I am often out in the field. Its effective, simple and lightweight

 

[Neil S]

I started out with a 16'' McCulloch made by Electrolux in Italy

My first chainsaw was also a McCulloch (a G-70) , which was made in the US sometime in the early 70s. It had a 70cc engine and ran a 1/2"pitch chain. It was my workhorse for many years before I couldn't get parts for it anymore. Husky eventually bought them out after passing through various ownerships in between. I then went with Husky. I'll be pleased if any of them last as well as the G-70.

 

[Norm Marentette]

Don't mean to get off topic but would anyone rec. a chain sharpener for a 18 inch Still chainsaw? Ripping the max size for my 1836 laguna ( I make as large as possible bowls and hollow forms. Just getting expensive sharpening 4 chains.

 

[Bob Brown]

Beautiful Lab .

 

[Paul M. Kaplowitz]

The Sthil 2 in 1 is the best sharpener I have found to date.

 

[robo hippy]

I bought a box of the round files, and a guide for the raker teeth. There is an angle mark on the teeth which show the correct angle, and also tell you when the tooth is worn down to the point where the chain is no good any more. Cut/sharpen on the push stroke, not the pull stroke. It is not too difficult to get close enough. As for the raker teeth, maybe every second or third time I use the saw, I will take the flat file to the raker teeth, and maybe 4 swipes will do it.

robo hippy

 

[Rick White]

Have a smaller 16” Husky chain saw now With .325 pitch and the OEM chain. For my old 55 I had various 3/8 pitch chains from Full Chisel down to Low Profile using the full chisel the most.

But, I never ripped much wood with a chainsaw. Cut some much smaller maple pieces with the .325 low profile and it was a lot of work and had to fight to control. This piece is 3 foot long and 24 inch diameter so want to split it straight. Is one type of chain better than the other or is there a specialty chain for ripping?

Thanks in advance.

There are several schools of thought depending on experience level and type of saw and chain you are using. I found that more HP (cc size) is better, length of bar (longer is better) and a freshly sharpened or new chain. You can swap to a Rip Chain... but a Crosscut chain (the normal one) works okay but is a little slower. The sharpening angles are different between them. If you are splitting your round in half top to bottom you will find that it takes longer and your chain will dull much faster if you cut 90 degrees into the end grin. This produces smoke, a burned chain and likely a dull one after a couple of through cuts. If you start with the chain lined up along the bark surface (the side grain), then raise it about 10 - 30 degrees with the bar tip hanging over the log's end and cut end to end, you will produce long slivers of shavings and the chain won't burn. Fight the urge to angle the bar 90 degrees to the log, because the saw will struggle cutting directly into the end grain. Keep the bar angle low in the kerf and your shavings will be nice long slivers. This is in contrast to cutting directly across the grain such as standing the long on one end and cutting straight down. This technique produces short chip type sawdust verses long slivers and the saw will struggle to cut quickly as it does the other way. If you are using a smaller 16"-18" bar you may have to reverse the cut direction every few cuts to span the log evenly. After a year of splitting short logs with a 16" Stihl, I bought a 28" Husqvarna with twice the HP and boy what an improvement! The high HP and longer bar made a world of difference and put a big grin on my face the first time I used it to split 24"-30" wide oak, maple and walnut logs. I split logs about 24" long over an hour and the chain was still pretty sharp. My back and shoulders were not tired at all. The bigger saw was twice the cost of a smaller one, but as my grandpa used to say "The price only hurts once but you will be happy the rest of the way and glad every time you pick it up."

 

[Marc Banka]

Can anyone tell me the spec or guideline as to how far below the tip of the teeth should the top of the raker be. I can’t find the information, maybe missed it. Taking off a bit every is and then, or four strokes as Reed mentioned doesn’t quite do it for me.

Id like to put a straight edge across the teeth and measure the gap to the rakers.

 

[Kirk Yarina]

Well, many things I have never considered here. I do sharpen my own chains, and use a round file. I make sure to count the number of strokes per tooth. That keeps it pretty close to keeping the teeth all the same size. Those who really know how to sharpen their chains no longer laugh at me...... I want to keep this part as simple as possible. I do have a chain sharpener, but haven't used it yet. I do have CBN wheels for it, from Ken Rizza.

robo hippy

I just got one of Ken's 4" CBN wheels for my baby Oregon grinder. It might be a reflection on my chain sharpening skills (2-in-1, grinder after several filings), but the first chain cut so well, compared to the ones done on the conventional wheel, that I went back through the sharpened chain collection and lightly touched all of them up. The future son-in-law has been cutting firewood here, along with pruning out some serious apple dead wood, and agrees they cut better. You should give yours a try.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Can anyone tell me the spec or guideline as to how far below the tip of the teeth should the top of the raker be. I can’t find the information, maybe missed it. Taking off a bit every is and then, or four strokes as Reed mentioned doesn’t quite do it for me.

Id like to put a straight edge across the teeth and measure the gap to the rakers.

Typically it would be .020" to .030" There's likely a cheap raker filing guide on Ebay : https://www.ebay.com/itm/323665077795 and probably on Amazon too

 

[Marc Banka]

Typically it would be .020" to .030" There's likely a cheap raker filing guide on Ebay : https://www.ebay.com/itm/323665077795 and probably on Amazon too

Thank you, Brian.
I have those tools. Maybe it’s not a match for my chains? When I use it, it doesn’t remove anything, seems way too high. So, I guessed at .020, which brought the chain back to life. Maybe I’ll try still a bit more aggressive, closer to .030

 

[Rick White]

Don't mean to get off topic but would anyone rec. a chain sharpener for a 18 inch Still chainsaw? Ripping the max size for my 1836 laguna ( I make as large as possible bowls and hollow forms. Just getting expensive sharpening 4 chains.

I ran into the higher costs to have a shop sharpen all my chains and the wait times could be longer than I wanted... up to a week. I tried hand held files and combo jigs (with round and flat files side by side) with angles marked on the holders like the Stihl and my success rate wasn't to my liking and kind of slow. Because I was a little inexperienced I had to resharpen some chains a few times before they cut adequately. The small hand held sharpeners are very convenient for a quick touch up in the field, but it's just as quick to swap out a 2nd or 3rd chain you brought with you that you know is already very sharp

I ended up spending about $350 on sale for an Oregon brand (compound chop saw style) angling grinder with the pink wheels. Not the hydraulic clamping one, but the medium priced manual clamp one. It has two setup angles for each brand of chain plus a nice depth stop. The chain clamp even has a "to and away" adjustable angle. Swapping from the skinny wheel to the wider one is pretty quick. The new chain boxes usually have these sharpening specs printed on the box or inside on the instruction sheet. My learning curve was very fast and suddenly I was sharpening a dozen chains pretty quickly with great results. I Googled each manufacturers sharpening specs and adjusted the Oregon jig angles when needed for different chain brands (Husky, Stihl, and yes a small electric Makita). After sharpening every other tooth you need to swap the jig angle to grind the remaining unsharpened teeth left in between. It's much faster to sharpen just the right side teeth on all chains, then change the jig angle as needed and catch all the left side teeth you skipped over on the first run through on your chains. This method really speeds up the process when you have several same sized dull chains to sharpen. My neighbor found out I had the Oregon sharpener and now wants me to sharpen all his chains too. The diameter of the pink stone wheels do get a tiny bit smaller with use and leave a lot of steel dust behind the grinder to wipe up. You can burn the chain if you hold the wheel down too long in the tooth. It's better to do a couple of quick and gentle bobs up and down to prevent blueing the tooth. After a year I tried the CBN wheels from Woodturners Wonders ( got them on a discount at the AAW Symposium from Ken Rizza) and there is very little black dust behind the grinder. The chain teeth don't burn now if I hold the wheel in place too long. You must be careful not to drop and crack the pink stone wheels, and occasionally true up the cutting edge. In contrast to the CBN wheels that need no edge treatment and if accidentally dropped they won't crack. I'm very happy with the upgraded wheels. There are several You Tube videos about different brands of electric angle grinders and a few of the knock off brands. The ones featuring the three Oregon brand grinders seemed to be the best ones to watch.

 

[Dave Delo]

Marc, you might like to take a look at one of these from Westcoast Saw.
https://westcoastsaw.com/products/depth-plate

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I used round file for many years and then found the Stihl 2 in 1 and what a great change. Recently got a Harbor electric and cannot believe how much better than my hand sharpening.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Thank you, Brian.
I have those tools. Maybe it’s not a match for my chains? When I use it, it doesn’t remove anything, seems way too high. So, I guessed at .020, which brought the chain back to life. Maybe I’ll try still a bit more aggressive, closer to .030

It is simple enough to measure your raker clearance - You need to focus on a straight flat section of the bar, locate any two sequential cutters on the SAME SIDE of the chain (left or right) and place a known straight edge across the top plate of the cutters (on a chisel chain they'll rest right on the "points" of the cutter) and then measure the distance from the raker of the rear-most of the cutters to the straight edge (feeler gauge) and that's your raker height.

To use the tool properly the raker has to fit in the slot on the tool, and the flat of the tool needs to tuck (on new cutters there's often very little space for error) right snugly on the flat of the tool, tip of cutter would be just touching where the metal starts to bend down to form the raker slot.

I myself prefer the Oregon branded tool (I can't quite recall the part number of it) which had a wider slot to accommodate safety ramp chain (they have a ramp style drive link that will sit right beside the raker) and only the tip of the tool was formed to the raker height gauge, it was far easier to use to hand file rakers than the tool I linked at ebay. Unfortunately I was unable to find one for sale online. But basically the tool is designed so that the filing gauge part of the tool will give you the .025" raker clearance when the tool is properly indexed on the cutter tooth (for that raker). As I used to hand file saw chains myself (as many as 25 chains a day during firewood season) I found the oregon raker gauge to be far superior. However, when you go to file rakers after filing your chain, if you do rakers after each sharpening, you'd probably only need one stroke of the flat file to get rakers set nicely (only taking a couple thou off) so the raker gauge, if it wobbles to one side slightly, would make it seem your rakers are too low.

AH-HA! Found one - Oregon part number 22290 (if you look at the one from Jacks small engines, bear in mind that price is based on the fact that Oregon sells to dealers in packs of 10, so $55 would be the 10-pack price... I used to sell them myself, so would order 1 of that part number and get a 10-pack)

 

[Mike Drake]

There are several schools of thought depending on experience level and type of saw and chain you are using. I found that more HP (cc size) is better, length of bar (longer is better) and a freshly sharpened or new chain. You can swap to a Rip Chain... but a Crosscut chain (the normal one) works okay but is a little slower. The sharpening angles are different between them. If you are splitting your round in half top to bottom you will find that it takes longer and your chain will dull much faster if you cut 90 degrees into the end grin. This produces smoke, a burned chain and likely a dull one after a couple of through cuts. If you start with the chain lined up along the bark surface (the side grain), then raise it about 10 - 30 degrees with the bar tip hanging over the log's end and cut end to end, you will produce long slivers of shavings and the chain won't burn. Fight the urge to angle the bar 90 degrees to the log, because the saw will struggle cutting directly into the end grain. Keep the bar angle low in the kerf and your shavings will be nice long slivers. This is in contrast to cutting directly across the grain such as standing the long on one end and cutting straight down. This technique produces short chip type sawdust verses long slivers and the saw will struggle to cut quickly as it does the other way. If you are using a smaller 16"-18" bar you may have to reverse the cut direction every few cuts to span the log evenly. After a year of splitting short logs with a 16" Stihl, I bought a 28" Husqvarna with twice the HP and boy what an improvement! The high HP and longer bar made a world of difference and put a big grin on my face the first time I used it to split 24"-30" wide oak, maple and walnut logs. I split logs about 24" long over an hour and the chain was still pretty sharp. My back and shoulders were not tired at all. The bigger saw was twice the cost of a smaller one, but as my grandpa used to say "The price only hurts once but you will be happy the rest of the way and glad every time you pick it up."

Great summary, Rick. I appreciate it.

 

[robo hippy]

Some one told a story once about a chainsaw owner who filed all the raker teeth down to zero. The saw cut fine for a few seconds, then stalled out...... They don't take much adjusting to keep the saw running fine. Only problem is to not dress them down at all because the teeth get lower and the rakers keep the saw from cutting. I do have one of the raker guides, and I would guess they can be found in the big box stores, but for sure the chainsaw stores.

robo hippy

 

[Dave Delo]

I normally run full chisel on my Makita 6100 in 18, 20 & 24 inch. Just for giggles, I bought a loop of 24" skip-tooth from Cutters Choice in Erie, PA. 24 is the max bar size for that saw so I wanted to lighten the load a bit on the saw and see if it would noodle as good as the full chisel. One of the highlights of this saw is that it's a noodle monster. Never even begins to clog the clutch cover. Anyway, 1st test on some maple worked out well. Think I'll dedicate that bar and chain on that saw and use the other bars on my other saw.

 

[Dave Landers]

Some one told a story once about a chainsaw owner who filed all the raker teeth down to zero.

A friend told me some of the forest service/fire crew guys he cut with would break or file off the rakers on all their chain. Makes the chain really aggressive and requires the operator to control the cut. For these guys, it was all about speed (and not a small dose of one-upmanship I expect).

 

[Marc Banka]

Thank you again, Brian.
I have an Oregon gauge, but the one with the slot in the middle of the tool. I‘ll get some of the ones you mentioned.
I was able to find the spot where the tool sits lowest. A bit better. I filed them all, then measured the raker heights. All are less than .020, closer to .015. That gauge is an odd tool, where filing the rakers also files the gauge thinner. Maybe it sets the rakers at .025 when the gauge is half worn? I guess that’s why they sell them in ten packs.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Thank you again, Brian.
I have an Oregon gauge, but the one with the slot in the middle of the tool. I‘ll get some of the ones you mentioned.
I was able to find the spot where the tool sits lowest. A bit better. I filed them all, then measured the raker heights. All are less than .020, closer to .015. That gauge is an odd tool, where filing the rakers also files the gauge thinner. Maybe it sets the rakers at .025 when the gauge is half worn? I guess that’s why they sell them in ten packs.

That's why I got to dislike the middle-slot gauges - their accuracy depended on all cutters being at the same height and the bar being perfectly flat for the chain to sit perfectly flat- if a cutter tipped back due to a little pressure on it causing it to tilt, (Easy to do if the chain is not well tensioned, if it hangs even a little loose off the bottom, the cutters like to tilt, causing cutter edges to sit a bit higher than they should for gauge purposes) it throws off everything else. The "good" gauge, once you have it snug in and apply a little "forward" pressure , makes the raker and the cutter sit nice and flat in relation to each other, for a more accurate filing, because you'd be gauging from just the one cutter,and the one behind it, instead of the cutter ahead & behind with the middle-slot tool. Mine lasted through hundreds of filings because once the file started to skim across the tool surface, it was time to stop filing. They packaged them in 10 packs because they were basically cheap, and cost of packaging singles would have doubled or tripled the price of one tool... they were basically meant for dealer impulse purchase at the counter items... while buying a new chain(s), customer might buy a couple (or a box) of files, a flat file, and "throw in one of them tools for another buck or two"