Chinese saw

[Bodders]

Completely disagree.

 

Chains do not perform well out of the box. The teeth are half dull and the depth gauges are far too high. It usually takes me 4-6 sharpens (and depth gauge drops) to get the chain to how I like it. Result is a chain that is no less smooth than out the box and I swear at least a third quicker.

 

With reference to the original poster, you need to learn to sharpen your chain by hand. Grinders have their place for heavily damaged chains, but are no use for day to day sharpening. And dump the Chinese chainsaw - there are many makes of saw that are quite reasonably priced for your needs and a thousand times better than Chinese rubbish. There is a very good video of a genuine Stihl being subjected to industry standard stress tests versus it's Chinese copy. Needless to say, the Chinese saw fell to pieces.

 

I Don't think it is something Oregon has over looked? They know chains. Wannabe logger - leave the depth gauges to factory standard. It can make the saw very unpredictable if you don't. It does make it cut faster by taking them down -yes. But why would the consumer put up with sub standard chains out the box? if you need to sharpen it before use then take it back? The first time I sharpen I do take the rakers down by two strokes but to suggest a chain is better when 3/4 through its usable life is odd to me?

[growforest]

I've used hundreds of feet of various chain production logging over the years, and all chain, without exception, is better when hand sharpened. And far better cutting after three or four sharpens. Stihl chain performs ok out of the box, but is better once sharpened. Never waste chain sharpening it first - put a tank through and then give it a polish. Oregon chain always needs more work, IMHO.

There was always an unspoken competition among felling teams to see how accurate sharpening could wring out a few more tanks from a chain. In softwood, with three eighths full chip stihl you can literally work your chain to the very last millimeter with little effect on performance. The aim is for every tooth to be the same size, right down to the wire.

Even in hardwoods, the chain cuts better in its middle 50%, but does start to perform less well as the cutter area gets smaller.

Chinese saws are sh*t. I've a 28 AV super hanging up somewhere bought early eighties. It would fuel up and run for a week non-stop without a beat. What useful machine recommends resting every hour?! Get your stihl to the shop, get it fixed and bin the rubbish. And learn to use a decent file.

[santacruz]

I feel that saw chain performs best in its last 25%, its marginal but thats my opinion. There should be more clear information given by dealers on those grinding machines, they have a number of serious issues. The worst being the heat they put into the cutters, makes the chain almost impossible to file afterwards, and if you do the file tends to ride too low in the cutter as it strugles to file the hardened area around the working edge and you end up with beaked cutters. Also blunts your file, I find one file will do one chain right down to the wear marks, but after trying to file a machine ground chain its blunt. In my opinion chains that come off those machines cut slow and are far from smooth. How many people do you know that know what they are doing with an axe that sharpen them with a powered grinding wheel. Answer none. I know that its got more to do with temper with an axe, but you cant get away from the fact that a file is best, and it costs one whole pound, and its very portable, and cordless, and light weight to, and there are holes in your combi can to transport it.

[Stubby]

I Don't think it is something Oregon has over looked? They know chains. Wannabe logger - leave the depth gauges to factory standard. It can make the saw very unpredictable if you don't. It does make it cut faster by taking them down -yes. But why would the consumer put up with sub standard chains out the box? if you need to sharpen it before use then take it back? The first time I sharpen I do take the rakers down by two strokes but to suggest a chain is better when 3/4 through its usable life is odd to me?

 

Its not odd when you think about it . The cutters are not as wide as when new so it has to remove less wood from the kirf so less effort is required so the chain spins a bit faster so it cuts a bit faster . Add that up at the end of the day .......

[Big J]

I Don't think it is something Oregon has over looked? They know chains. Wannabe logger - leave the depth gauges to factory standard. It can make the saw very unpredictable if you don't. It does make it cut faster by taking them down -yes. But why would the consumer put up with sub standard chains out the box? if you need to sharpen it before use then take it back? The first time I sharpen I do take the rakers down by two strokes but to suggest a chain is better when 3/4 through its usable life is odd to me?

 

It's Oregon chains that I typically use (I much prefer semi chisel over full - smoother, more durable and no slower IMO). With the thinning, there is so much repetition that it gives you a pretty good idea of small differences in sharpness/general performance. A new chain is undoubtedly slower.

 

As an example, a friend recently bought a new 660 on a 25 inch bar. First job is a monster Noble Fir needing to be chopped up. He didn't believe me that new chains were half blunt, so I sharpened it, took the depth gauges down and it cut a full 50% quicker. That was a Stihl full chisel chain.

 

I reckon that they have very tame performance out of the box as unless you are very adept at chain maintenance, an aggressively sharpened chain can be difficult to safely use in the hands of the inexperienced. Probably the same reason that stock saws usually have a fair bit more welly in them once ported/modified.

[Stubby]

It's Oregon chains that I typically use (I much prefer semi chisel over full - smoother, more durable and no slower IMO). With the thinning, there is so much repetition that it gives you a pretty good idea of small differences in sharpness/general performance. A new chain is undoubtedly slower.

 

As an example, a friend recently bought a new 660 on a 25 inch bar. First job is a monster Noble Fir needing to be chopped up. He didn't believe me that new chains were half blunt, so I sharpened it, took the depth gauges down and it cut a full 50% quicker. That was a Stihl full chisel chain.

 

I reckon that they have very tame performance out of the box as unless you are very adept at chain maintenance, an aggressively sharpened chain can be difficult to safely use in the hands of the inexperienced. Probably the same reason that stock saws usually have a fair bit more welly in them once ported/modified.

 

Agreed BigJ

[doobin]

I think the key here is that the more experienced cutter, and much more so in pulpwood, will prefer a bit more hook and slightly lower depth gauges. This can be solved by doing it yourself from new.

 

However, give that saw to a novice and they will be stalling the saw in the cut, and the much more frequent slight touches of the ground will quickly take the edge off the delicate hook.

 

Hence the reason for supplying the chains as they are- you can always take it away but you can't add it back on!

 

From a pro point of view also, you don't want the chain much different from stock when performing a boring cut on a tough beech or ash growing on the windswept hills around here. Two chains the same but sharpened differently are required when cutting hardwood or softwood, it's always been that way.

[Brownlie1985]

Which Chinese saw are you using ?

 

I have a 2500 and 5200 and parts are easy to get.

 

chains sharpen fine and I would use till it was low.

[Graham]

I used to do some climbing work for some fallers. Occasionally, when I needed a bigger saw, they'd send up one of their 051s. The cutting performance of them was unbelievable. On a half worn chain you had to physically hold them back they were so fast and aggressive. All down to their sharpening technique.

[WoodED]

No chain is as good as when its new. When they get to 25% they are gone. Its just not worth it when you are trying to get buried quick and fast in mature Douglas' butt. Bin it and try to keep it out the dirt FOREVER!

 

my saw chucks out bits of 2x4 untill it is completly done.