spudulike

How is the search for a nae home going:001_rolleyes: Badly I presume:lol: You really have to get over the fact that lots of tools doesn't always make the best engineer:sneaky2: That tool kit is about as big as my workshop!

If the saw is run flat out freestanding, if it gurgles, it is probably running rich, Max revs are 14700rpm but usually set to 13500 - 14000. If it has a blue coil, it will be limited to 14100rpm. If you are talking about the gurgle on mid revs free standing, dont worry about it, they all do it! If the top end revs have been tuned correctly, the plug will go a md tan colour after 30 mins to 1 hr use.

More than probable, the glass fibre ones degrade very quickly!

For the record - MS261 rev to 14,000rpm max, on a new top end 13,000 would be good for the first couple of months and then re-tach to circa 13,500 when bedded in.

As I think you probably now know, it isn't just the "Swap out Time", it is all the checks to make sure the new top end isn't going to go the same way as the first so pressure/Vac test, fuel pipes, breather, carb metering, pump diaphragm, guaze filter etc plus the final tach etc to ensure the saw will last for many years. Do a straight swap and not caring too much about the end result - an hour may do it but if there is an issue not found, you will be doing the job again very soon!

Nice idea, must dig out the Arc welder and try it again - what sort to you use? Guessing MIG? I know what you mean about your commercial time and the fact I can spend as long as I like. It is doing it on homeowner kit that it really pisses even me off:001_rolleyes:

Will post it to you in future:sneaky2::lol: So 3 mins is £2.50 then:thumbup: I just dig in and use what I have around me, the time it would have taken me to find someone to weld it would have been better spent just doing what I did!

Put both the crank bearings in - this is where one of those real big old school G clamps comes in real use, it can be difficult at times but these went in well - I always clean and lightly oil the seat, make sure that the inner bearing is flush with the inside crank case. The replacement crank has been fitted in to one side of he cases, a new gasket ready to be fitted but just ran out of time to get any further!

Generally, the majority of saws pull 150-170psi but it can depend on the tester used. If you are using a Gunson Hi Gauge then this is typical after 5-6 pulls with 70-90 on the first pull. If you read 140 or under then check the piston out as previously mentioned - a badly seized machine will only pull 50-90psi, you typically need 130+ for combustion.

Cheers Barrie, you are a gent, got another 5 litres of the stuff on the way - keep it in stock as I keep getting asked to change machines over:thumbup:

Barrie - I have nearly got through all those Aspen stickers you sent me - been busy converting and also stick them on customers machines when I know they run Aspen! Have you anymore?

Not a bad call if you weld, I only braze although I do have an arc welder but not used it. There are always a number of ways of doing jobs - I use burrs and a dremmel for most of my porting and knew it would do the job with little damage to the case.I did contemplate a close fit washer and epoxy/fiberglassing it in and belting it out or two close fitting washers pushed away from each other in to the face groove and bolted together! I had the idea, set a course, actuated it and it worked - can't get better than that:thumbup: It was a nice moment when I belted the thing and half of it fell out:thumbup:

Everybody has their own specific skill set, bet you are better up trees than I would be if I tried climbing:thumbup: What did happen to your MS200s:lol:

I don't think it would have made much of a difference as the race and the aluminium would have heated at the same time and expanded at similar rates despite the differences in rates of expansion of the two metals. This method only really works well if one part is put in the freezer and one in the oven! I guess you could have messed with heat and liquid nitrogen cooling spay but TBH, the diamond burr was always going to work but just took some time! Better than scrapping the cases!

All was going Sooooo well:001_rolleyes: until I found the flywheel side bearing had lost all its ball bearings leaving the centre to fall out leaving the outer race in place in a semi blind hole (semi blind as you can't just drive the outer race through as normal). So, what to do - I was thinking of all sorts and then thought bugger - diamond burr and grind it through on two sides. Two hours later and with minimal damage to the seat, the outer race caved and gave up the fight! What fun this saw is being:001_rolleyes:

On with the case of the MS460 and the blacksmith......or possibly butcher:001_rolleyes: The saw came with a spare crank....handy that so I needed to split the cases - bolts removed and my home made splitter in place - 10 mins later, job done. The joys of building a purpose made jig....no beating a saw with a mallet:thumbup: Pics below show the splitter before and after: -

Here is a curious one, the case of the MS460 and the blacksmith:001_rolleyes: I received a MS460 as a box of parts, the saw had a new cylinder with some dubious porting work - porting is all about widening ports, possibly changing port durations and a load of other stuff - this saw had the outer part of the port significantly widened causing a step in the surface as the cylinder port flows over the gasket and in to the muffler - not too clever but will live with it. The strangest thing was the flywheel had been removed with heat and an angle grinder - how strange is that??? The pics show the crank stub shaft with the flywheel removed and the oil filler cap - yup, bizzare:confused1:

If the machine is lightly used then probably not, it may just be a bit of dirt in the seat or the metering arm set too high etc Needles have the capacity to last 10-15 years - you can remove the item and check for the wear in the form of a ridge on the rubber tip.

The providers of pensions can take a great chunk out of your paments in the initial years. The positive is that you make payments BEFORE paying tax so the payments are tax free, the negatives are the constrictions of drawing down the pension and paying tax when you do draw it down - these are better now than a few years back. Personally, I am a fan of equity ISAs, you invest after paying tax but they are tax free when you pull the money out inclusive of any gains. The only tax you pay is on the dividends that are in the make up of the ISA you are investing in (Thanks to Gordon Brown) but the provider does that bit for you. I can't advise but just say what works for me. Property buy to let have both rental income and property increasing value, equity has dividends and stocks value increase. The important bit with both is to RE-INVEST the inreases giving compound increases in value! That is what really counts!

Don't know, never had any!

Sounds like the saw has flooded, take the plug out, turn the ignition off, turn the saw uside down and pull the saw over fast - you should get lots of fuel and heavy vapour out of the plug hole. Let it dry out for an hour, dry the plug - a plumbers torch or gas hob is excellent for this. Reassemble and pull the saw over on fast idle but NO choke. See if the saw coughs. If it doesn't, try choke for 3-5 pulls and see if it fires - don't do it any more as you will only flood it. If the saw continues to flood and not fire, I would think your needle valve is leaking and this is why the saw isn't firing!

My uneducated guess would say that when gold was increasing in value, equities were flat-lining and since 2011, equities have been in substantial growth and gold has declined.

Personally I would check the piston out by taking the exhaust off and looking at it through the exhaust port. I generally find that the owners of these saws are weekend warriors and have issues grasping what 50:1 fuel to oil is and also use old fuel mix in them which generally seizes them leaving them with low compression. If the saw has a nice lot of compression and the piston is OK then the most likely cause for lack of start is the metering arm height not letting fuel through to the metering section in the carb or the carb just needs a good clean up and check over!

One method is to push the piston in to the bore so flush with the base of the cylinder, push one skirt hard to one side of the cylinder and a 3 thou feeler gauge and no more should be able to be pushed in to the skirt gap on the other side! I tend to check compression with a Gunson Hi Gauge, do the skirt check you have just done and also push the piston with no rings up and down the bore with your thumb over the plug hole - you should get a good feeling of a compression buffer even without the ring - all are a bit subjective but are good for me - I also do use calipers and get a good idea of wear through this. If the saw is a bit slappy, struggles to make 140/145psi and measures up with piston skirt wear, it gets a new piston.....a Meteor at £30 is really a no brainer decision! Slap sounds worse at very low revs - it can sound like a very worn clutch so you can pull the clutch off, start it and roll down the revs and see if it slaps - more common on longer stroke engines - 026 and 038 are susceptible to this , the 346 less so as the piston is supported well with the cylinder bore extensions on the base of the cylinder......just what I have found, others opinions may differ - thats life:sneaky2: I have had a MS260 in once that had a piston so slappy and worn, one of the skirts shattered! Now fixed and running - I will put pics of a MS460 I am currently working on, one muther of a job:thumbdown:

Think we have been here before:001_rolleyes: My take on life is to make sure you start on your pension pot/savings or rainy day fund as young as possible, that way the nest egg has a far longer time to grow. Common invetments are property or equity (Stocks, shares, bonds, ISAs, Guilts etc) I have found that people are either comfortable with property or equity but seldom both, both can give damn good results if approached in the correct manner and can make a real difference if invested in, you just have to select something you are comfortable with and has a chance of growing over a reasonable period of time!