Rob D

I remember that Chipper Crazy that was 14 years ago now...

Ah here it was - 10 year ago now!

Yep gutted I never milled more of it and kept some as not come across anything like it since! Or now you mention it I do have an old bench type table gathering dust made from some of that wood. May resurrect that now you reminded me.

Yep we sponsor this and I put a listing and have had a couple of jobs from it. One job pretty much pays for the listing really...

Yep the tooth geometry is completely different to a standard chain - you would ruin a standard chain if you tried to sharpen it with the powersharp system as powersharp sharpens from top down.

I think if it works for you it's ideal - it didn't for me after numerous tries and testing - so much so we opted to no longer sell it [feedback on it was also pretty bad]. But as said we can agree on disagreeing and if it works for you all good.

I thought the chain was very cool and the sharpening tool an innovation until I used it and realised how wrong i could of been! First one or two goes it's ok and after that all down hill and if you hit something you never get it back to 'truly sharp'. We no longer sell them and unless they were greatly improved... once you have more experience of it and the chain is dull - you go through sharpening process - oh the chain is still dull - go through the sharpening process - still dull... you realise sadly it is more a gimmick. But it was great to see the new idea - but to my mind it simply does not work. There is as yet no easy way of sharpening chain other than pretty much the old fashioned way. Ref 'easy tensioners' agreed - why are they on there because personally I find them a PITA. No need and more fiddly than using a scrench - but I guess for homeowners who would not tension the chain otherwise maybe it works 🙄

We do now and again. But with no disrespect to the OP I'd be hesitant to put business someone's way until there was strong evidence that they were providing a good consistent service. It's more involved to do as people will ask 'oh you recommend this business to sharpen chains - are they good then?' and if you say 'yep should be fine' and it isn't - those people will come back to you with the complaint 😏

Yep but then it's a good opportunity to sell new chains with something like - buy 3 get 1 free type deal. A few home owners I know would have x6 chains - rotate them as they dulled - and then send x4 to get sharpened. So they may be open to buying multiple chains.

Yep that could be another big selling point if you could do square ground chain - you'd be the the one in the UK to offer it [to my knowledge].

I could see a very good business opportunity there - in that if you knew your stuff with chains/got your chains sharpening and service good enough like the guys in this thread are almost 'I had x6 25" chains so I thought sod it treat yourself to a Zombosis sharpen' then you know you are doing well. Also mostly everyone dislikes doing the depth guages and getting them right - every third or 4th sharpen they all need sorting and that would be a good thing to talk about.

Also - I keep seeing this in your posts 'if the venture didn't work out then...' well you'd have to sell on ebay and take the hit. He who dares Rodney! You don't mention also how much sharpening experience you have? Not trying to be funny - but are you good? If so why not hand sharpen and file until you have the money to buy a big expensive machine? If you are so so sharpening yourself then that's the first thing to improve and get right. Hand filing could be a way to kick start the business and test the water.

I reckon you could do alright with milling chains because they are long and expensive! But I would say to make it successful you'd need to buy a decent machine - maybe something like the vallorbe OAK - around £3.8k silly money - but it does the depth gauges at the same time and that could be a good 'angle' ie. gives a filed finish with correctly set depth gauges. It's automatic as well so if you got the set up nailed I expect you could get a lot done in a day. Also in the original post - you said that you don't think the general public or hobbyist would need this service or would use it - if you made it easy for them they would. There would be a lot to do to make a business like this successful I'd say. For instance: Making it easy for people to send their chains to you - I say chains because I would have a minimum of x3 chains to sharpen as I can't see how it would cover all the postage otherwise. As part of the service do 'free postage' where people go to a website and download a postage label 'free' [covered in the cost of the service but it's labelled as 'free'] Give advice - if their chain looks shagged - tell them but then offer to send them a new chain at a discount [where you would make more money plus it saves that deal ie. if you say 'I can't sharpen this as x,y,z reasons' - then who pays for the postage of them sending the chains to you? I'll give you a clue - it won't be them!

It's so hard to get info out of any manufacturers - we've not had any Echo 2511 TES saws for now around 4-5 months. And no date or idea of when they are in. It's hard to tell what's going on..

As a lead on from this supply issues now seem pretty bad - what compounds this is no clear details from manufacturers about when they can supply. I'd say this was down to 1) they don't know 2) they can then hedge their bets 3) they don't want to embarrass themselves It seems hard to get honest info. Sugihara - we put an order in April 2021 - still not being told when it will be produced [if ever?] Tsumura - April 2024 next order [no not a typo it's 2024]. Cannon - got a big order coming August this year 2022. Their lead time now up to 14-16 months GB - more in Dec 2022 Panther Mini - new order from new manufacturer late April/early May Oregon - can't get much info from them Stihl - we're not direct dealers but some stuff seems to be 3-4 months I can only see supply issues getting worse this year. Am still not really sure what is causing it - likely a few factors and variables going on.

The best way to answer this question is by yourself. Get an Oregon chain. Get x2 of the Rotatech chains. Use them side by side and decide if it's worth paying more for the Oregon. It's very similar to the question of what chainsaws you run - some folks buy a saw off ebay for £120 and others buy a Husky 560 or Stihl 400 C-M for up to £900. So who made the 'right' choice? Why would you buy a chainsaw that is almost 9 times the price? Is it worth it? It does the same thing - you put fuel in and cut wood. You can buy 7 or 8 of the cheaper version... For some it is and for some it isn't. But the only way to find out is to do it yourself as it's more about you than the chainsaw or the chain. It sounds profound and wise but it really isn't. People will give you conflicting advice - don't listen to them - work it out yourself. It changes over time and 'where you are at' - when I started I bought second hand gear - these days I only sell second hand gear. So is it best to buy second hand gear - or new every time? There is no right or wrong. It depends on your circumstances. I remember doing my training [and this is going back 20 years at Sparshalt, Winchester]. I was skint and mainly doing gardening but wanting to get into treework. They were selling helmets at one of the open days. They had the climbing helmet with chinstrap for £5-00 extra than the ground helmet with peaked cap without the chinstrap. I figured I could buy the cheaper helmet and grind the peak off and add some elasto to make a climbing helmet. I was told 'don't be a twat' so I had to take it back and swap it over! I don't know why I'm typing that but it's the same sort of dilemma. And no I'm not saying you're a twat if you buy Rotatech chains as they are good chains for the price - I'm just putting it out there. In summary - try both - think about how you find them, make some vids and youtube them - what works for you - stick to that. Rinse and repeat a year later to see if anything has changed. If you have a considered approach what works for you is the right way to go and others can go forth and multiply

Depends on the weather and time of year! I'm going to start climbing again this year - but only if I can buy my own woodland.

Looks really good - not cheap as I suppose for any team you need at least 2+ sets. I'm not familiar with what else is out there and how it compares. Having used a cheap and cheerful blue tooth communicator I couldn't believe how less stressful it made the work!

That is a bloody monster! Can't remember seeing the original thread so thanks for re posting.

Just watching this - I know it's a long one - someone else posted it earlier in the thread I think... the hour plus put me off initially I only just got round to listening to it [as it's a long one!]. But worth it as another viewpoint and this was in Sept 2015.

Yep - as they say never let a good crisis go to waste when you can further your own agenda in a righteous appearing manner.

Yep and I don't quite get this 'cash grab' of Russians who may have nothing to do or even strongly disagree with what is happening. How do they judge whose assets to seize? Do you need to be over a few £million and where will those assets go further down the line? Does it start with the uber rich and then start filtering down? Do you get a receipt? 'Russian nationals will also soon have a limit to how much they can hold in British bank accounts, however the limit is yet to be set.' How does the average Russian person have any hand in what a leader does? Not sure all this freezing of bank accounts is that healthy [like in Canada for the truckers protest]. Or at least there should be some evidence on someone and some sort of process and transparency before doing it. Ukraine: UK to freeze assets of major Russian banks in new sanctions WWW.CITYAM.COM All major Russian banks will be shut out from operating in the UK and large Russian firms will be blocked from raising...

Yep I think you are both being insulting but I see Andy as more an 'arbtalk local' who should be little more understanding 😅 Emotions are so hot right now - probably none of us is the enemy but playing out to our own anxiety and fears - and who could blame anyone for that?

Yep I'm not saying he isn't being insulting - but two wrongs don't make a right. And his wife is Ukranian - he's directly involved - and you've made up the scenario that if he doesn't fly over there and take part somehow he's not allowed to have strong viewpoints? He gets to feel very strongly about it without having to do anything to prove himself. And are we helping? As in I genuinely have no faith in the governments motives behind anything they do. The sanctions they are imposing will not hurt Putin as much as normal people. And for all we know it could simply be a big wealth grab for the West. £100 billion grabbed - £2 billion in aid back - thanks very much! [this is a pure guess]. Maybe we are maybe we aren't. We just don't know. We get fed narratives which incite our emotions. I try not to watch the main stream news these days as it effects me so much. We gone straight from Covid to this - it's seamless worry and anxiety.

Yep - and I wonder how it ranks if you're the one who actually pulls the trigger? Being more philosophical - can you say 'I was obeying orders'. Can you really imagine the children you are about to torch and the physical pain and suffering you are about to cause on people that had nothing to do with it? It's not one that can be easily answered if answered at all.