Which chain?

[Will C]

Do you lot reckon a normal or skip chain is better for seasoned wood? 
if it’s any odds I’m looking at Oak and Mac.

 

Cheers

[GarethM]

Think you might need to post your current size and length of chain for any help 🙂.

[Will C]

I don’t see the size or length makes any odds to weather skip ripping chain is better than regular ripping chain for seasoned wood but if it keeps you happy it’s 120 drive link  .404 chain!

[Dan Maynard]

I think the advantage of skip is requiring less power to keep chain speed up, so length is relevant. Suck it and see I reckon, start with your normal chain and if it struggles then splash the cash.

[slack ma girdle]

The big disadvantage of skip chain the resulting damage when you hit something,  less teeth massively inceases the amount of damage.

One nail can result in loss of half a tooth. I have stopped using skip chain.

[trigger_andy]

14 hours ago, Will C said:

Do you lot reckon a normal or skip chain is better for seasoned wood? 
if it’s any odds I’m looking at Oak and Mac.

 

Cheers

From my limited understanding skip chain better suits longer bars and hyper-skip better suits 48"+ plus bars. Less strain on the saw and allows the cutters to clear the chip better. The down side is a less smooth finish compared with a regular chain and far more frequent sharpening. 

 

Seasoned Oak could prove difficult to mill though. I tried re-sawing a 20 year plus seasoned 6" oak slab and with a regular milling chain filed to 10 degrees I only got as far as 3" into the slab before I completely dulled the chain.  With a Skip or Hyper-skip I think Id have got 1/3rd to half as far as that. I gave up. At the same time I milled some 20 year dried Ash and sailed though that with no issues. 

 

 

[Will C]

No one knows how old the oak is but the sap wood has rotted off leaving some amazing figuring so I will try but I’m not to stressed if it’s logs!

[trigger_andy]

18 minutes ago, Will C said:

No one knows how old the oak is but the sap wood has rotted off leaving some amazing figuring so I will try but I’m not to stressed if it’s logs!

If it’s still a log then I’ll hazard a guess the MC is still over 40%. I’m sure it will mill just fine.