Rob D

Nice Bob and where are the pics!

I thought that blue bar rails were the sign of a bar being forced to cut with a blunt chain hence the heat build up and bluing of the metal.... Sort of makes sense with ebay saws as well!

Sounds good Alec keep us posted! I'll supply a few chains if you need.

So full skip is really all about better chip clearance and that's their advantage. This does tie in with why people always recommend them on 2 foot plus bars as under this the chain is exiting the wood before the chip is compacting therefore no point in using skip link chain.

Ditto the above... you can nip the bars to get a bit more life out of them but when you start doing this there is prob a new bar on the horizon. I got some of the bar rail closers that Baileys do and they work quite well on the long bars. Only thing I noticed was that they had to be re done quite regularly to keep the chain snug.

Cheers for asking anyways Mike.

That seems right - hence with skip and semi skip more room so better chip clearance. Though if you took full skip link why is this not slower than full comp - as if there are less cutters would this not mean less wood is being cut? (if chain speed is the same)

Yep that makes sense.... but where exactly is the waste stored before it gets fired out?

That's it something similar to this vid but slow mo and showing the saw working at the edge of the log.

Thanks - I understand how this bit works in theory but being a geek I want to see it work in practice...

Yep that's what I'm after.... perhaps Les can come up with the goods!

Not looking to debate the rational for asking the question just for helpful posts that might help answer it.

Yep I'd agree on that - they last a few sharpens and then... they still work just not the same as 'out the box'.

Most of it is tongue in cheek banter..... .... but there are a few as you say 'smart answers' - always going to be really just rise above 'em.

Yep I know I know but - considering it's our weapon of choice should we not know a bit more about the workings of it all... ... for instance there's been threads about - is skip link chain better and for what? Is square ground chain any use? If I knew a bit more about the theory of how it works then you can start tweaking things a bit more...

Cheers - would appreciate it if you could - not found anything on the net at all.....

Got to have something to while away these cold, lonely wet evenings

Cheers!

I've spent a long time looking at the various chains out there ie. different sorts of cutters etc etc but it seems very hard to actually find much on the actual physical process of how a chainsaw chain cuts through wood. I've heard that as the chain travels through the wood it's every other cutter pivots upwards to take it's chip out. Is this right? And if it is why is it!? The chips cut by the top plate get carried out but again not sure the exact process i.e. does the chip get carried beneath that cutter? Does that same cutter take another chip which gets carried along with the previous chip? It's easy to say 'the top plate chisels out a chip which is then carried in the gullet to be ejected near the saw' ....but I'd like to know more details on this! Is there any vids in slow mo? i,e. cutting right at the end of a log and then the footage slowed down that actually shows the process of how the chain cuts a chip out of the wood and then how that chip travels with the chain to be ejected. It would be nice to have concrete info backed up by proven facts! Ta!

Thanks for the feedback - if you could get some pics as well that would loverly! Glad all the equipment is working well.

Pleasure Mike - yep get them boards nice and neatly stickered asap (although some say that sycamore is a good one to end rear - i.e. stack upright with even spacing between somewhere off the ground and under cover - this is because it's more prone to sticker staining - ahh the joys of drying wood). I never used to pay as much attention as I should have to drying timber - but yes to to it properly takes as long as the cutting.

What chainsaw do you have? If an MS660 then I think this should be 104 d/l of .404 - and as well as the drive sprocket you'll also have to change the nose sprocket over to .404

Sorry only just seen this thread again.... 1) I don't have any skip link chain in 3/8" - I don't think anyone has in the UK. I think I'll try and get some in (won't be for 6 weeks) in 3/8 both .063 and .058. I have .404 oregon skip link ripping chain Why don't we have it available here? I suspect it's down to H&S. Kickback with a skip link chain will be more severe. If your sharpening is 'not great' then skip link is far more unforgiving - there'll be more vibration, more strain on the chainsaw, less control... 2)Why do skip link chains cut faster - tricky one and I don't know why for definite... I suspect it has something to do with better chip clearance in wider logs (2ft and up)... but if you search the net there is little to no real information on how the chain on a chainsaw cuts anyway.... so it's hard then to say why skip link is faster... 3) Stick with the 7T sprocket - you need the additional torque with skip chain. Why? Again I'm not knowledgeable enough to back up this with fact - but it's more aggressive chain so you want the additional power behind each tooth or it's more likely yo bog down. You could change up the rim for say a 30" or 28" bar though.... I do have Oregon .404 full skip square ground chain - not figured how to sharpen it properly yet though .... and also full skip oregon .404 ripping chain which is micro chisel so you could adapt the angle on this to use for cross cutting.

0.23 the best for me....

May have some yew in that length although is more 'rustic looking'. Would be good to give an idea of what the table will look like when finished i.e. a picture of an example table would be handy. Also where are you in the country?