Coletti

I have just had a call as well and was told it's to do with the heat around the muffler. He said it hasn't actually come from the UK, it's a complaint that has been lodged abroad. To be honest, I can't say I really notice any more heat with it than I do with the 360tes or my older 280tes

Don't take my word for it, try looking it up. I did and found the best place to start was old files.

Theres nothing wrong with the material files are made from if heat treated correctly. Files are high carbon tool steel, the same material many knives are made from and very similar to 01 tool steel which is one of the most popular steels used in knife making. I'm not trying to be pedantic but the point I am making is that it is a much better steel to start with in knife making than "mystery steels" such as leaf springs or circular saw blades. A files qualities are much better known than the afformentioned, especially older files. Fact is that they are much easier to heat treat properly than unknown steals, hence my suggestion and bias to suggesting an old file as a starting point for any budding knife maker. Don't just take my word for it though. I'm no metallurgist so please, be my guest and have a search in places such as the British blades forum though as that's what I did when I first took an interest in knife making. I'd like to note that I am only commenting from what I have read on the subject when I first began to take an interest in it.

Yes, unknown is what I meant (silly autocorrect). I agree with what you are saying but from reading, I understand that they are not all the same and without knowing exactly what it's qualities are it can't be heat treated properly. It's what's known as a "mystery steel" in knife making as you can't be sure of its composition. Yes file steel can different but they are all very similar and similarly easy to hear treat to make a good knife hence suggesting that a file is the best place to start for any knife maker.

Files are great for knives as long as it is heat treated correctly. I hear leaf springs are good but due to there in known qualities they can be hard to heat treat correctly. The quality of a knife is determined not only by the steel used but more so by the heat treatment and temper process which in steel with unknown qualities can differ vastly, hence me suggesting to use files as they are, more often than not, of a similar high carbon steel that can be heat treated and tempered easily in a diy fashion so to speak

That is rather hard, all the ones I have made are between 56 and 60. Due to grinding the ones I have made I have no option but to normalise and re heat treat/temper due to the heat produced when grinding. It's a pretty simple process though as long as you have a decent torch, a magnet and some cooking oil to quench

I beg to differ. you'll not find much better steel and if heat treated correctly they can be bent past 45 degrees and still spring back to nearly strait

If you fancy having a play at knife making, files are the water to go. Good steel and can be had for pittance at a bootsale. It's all about the heat treating. A good heat treated will give the steel the right qualities for a brilliant knife

Hs81t if your looking for a finer cut. All I have is the hs81r and as long as it's kept sharp it's fine. Cracking hedge trimmer

Mine was 1/4 pitch and came with this fancy bar which I believe is a sugihara pro lite carving bar in 1/4 .50 but was swiftly swapped for the stihl gear as it cuts better. Shame as it did look good with it on

Nobody thought husqvarna was or looked cheap before they started adding the grey and that wasn't many years ago...

People say echo is plasticy but I don't see its got anymore plastic than the equivalent stihl or hisky models have and in my opinion, plastic, overall is more durable than anything cast

I was cutting side by side with a guy using a 576xp, both with a 20" bar buried in London plane and he had to look twice at it, very nearly kept up. A very capable saw is all I can saw and very well balanced

The 620 is a beast! Had mine 18 months with no issues

It will yes but as stated it requires an extra drive link. It's 6 and 2 3s really. You either fit the standard bar and source longer chains or mod the bar and fit standard chains or just wait for the Sugi bar. My bar was already modded for my 260tes so I'll just wear it out then replace with the sugihara

A little I suppose, you'll only need to mod a bar once in a blue moon though and it's not a difficult task, less than ten mins but if you're happy to wait then why not. I can guarantee you'll not be disappointed when you do switch though.

Surely it'll not need the extra link as they will be designed to fit properly. I modded my ms150 bar and it fits fine with the standard chains

Nice work, as with his other vids. Does make me cringe to see people doing it without chainsaw trousers though

I posted a video on the arbtalk FB page yesterday comparing the 2. Admittedly the echo was a touch sharper than the stihl but the stihl was 5-6 seconds slower than the echo. On sharp chains it would be closer but with both saws standard I don't see the stihl being able to keep up with the echo and as above...the echo is smaller, lighter and more powerful

Nothing wrong with that at all, good work. Keep at it and you'll be carving all sorts in no time. Might I suggest getting some Danish oil for treatment too. I use a 50/50 mix of Danish oil and white spirits (or something similar) for mine and use a small pump sprayer for application

Get a bit more ballast on and it'll lift more I'm guessing. Looks a tidy little machine!

What's the lift capacity on one of these?

Thank you, the timber has been down 3-4 years but it was dead standing for 5 or so years before that. I have but a few pieces of this elm left of various diamiter and I get a bit reluctant to use it as I'm not sure when I'll next some . Got a load of milled boards from the same Tree, all approx 3"×2", I'm yet to think of something decent to make with it though. @ all. Thank you for the input. I had originally thought £100 but I always doubt what anything I make is worth, hence starting to think £50 but think I may just stick to the £100. The boiled linseed gives a lovely finish to any timber, a lot of gun stocks are treated with it, I'll just have to check it's food safe

Thanks fot this, was thinking maybe £50 for 10 was a little over the odds but it would seem it's under and maybe I should charge a little more...these are approx 12" and in English elm so no common timber by any means. What oils are food safe out of curiosity as I hadn't considered that.

I don't know them, just gor a referral via Facebook. She would like 10 and I think to get them all cut, sanded and oiled it'll take me half a day so was thinking along the lines of £50 for all 10. I personally think that's reasonable but I'm always dubious as to weather people will think it's expensive