What’s the Best Chain?

In my business I get this question constantly and for me to answer this question I really have to explain it in depth so no one is confessed about the difference between Chain. Hope this doesn’t confuse anyone.Semi chisel for a guy learning his skills, really is the best choice for several reasons.Until you learn to file your chains yourself, you are better off with a chain that will take a few dips in the dirt without trashing the chain.The leading edge is rounded and is not so reliant on a full point to cut efficiently.A little dulling will hamper your efforts but will not kill your cutting teeth.By keeping your chain out of the dirt,semi chisel can often go several tanks of fuel before needing a touch up with a file.I find that I actually get more done with a semi chisel than a full chisel,I spend more time cutting rather than sharpening.The only exception is a climbing saw which is always rigged with a full chisel.

A Full chisel however is faster but much more tempormental.Once the leading point is gone,it takes a good bit of effort to file back to a good solid point.Any rounding of that leading point will render the chain worthless until its restored.

Safety chain generally has a semi chisel tooth behind the rakers, and is often falsely labeled as "anti kickback".There is no such thing as any chain that is "anti kickback",but it does have a longer raker that will dampen the efforts of the cuttingtooth from grabbing and kicking the nose of the bar up and back.If you are new to the game and work unsupervised by an experienced woodcutter, stay with the safety chain until you are not only comfortable with your skills but have learned to recognize pinch points,front nose clearance,and a wide variety of other obstacles that can result in kickback.The trick is to recognize a kickback situation before it even gets going and tackle your cut in a different fashion.

Skip and semi skip are worthless on small horsepower and short bars.The whole point of a semi or skip tooth chain is to allow you to pull a longer bar/chain by minimizing the drag on the engine with fewer teeth.Generally speaking you dont find any skip chains on any bars less than 28 inches. Again people get confused on RSLFK (Full Chisel Full Skip) and it’s application, it’s good Chain but again it’s for bars 28 inches of greater. Hope this explains the difference in application of Chain in there appropriate differences by application. Have a nice day. Stumper

 

Thank you Mike Bayern for reading my Post...
Have a nice day Mike...
Stumper

 

Great review of the basics of cutters! I agree that semi-chisel is under rated. I like it around here for dirty work, which is a substantial amount of what I'm doing. Stays sharp longer and definitely sharpens faster. You can get semi-chisel without the extra bumper (e.g. Stihl RM) which can cut very quickly indeed. As always, the fastest chain is always the sharp one, no matter what the cutter shape, skip/full comp, etc.

 

Thanks for reading my Post Canadian border VT.
Have a nice day....
Stumper

 

Thanks for posting.. always looking to learn

 

Good thread. !
I disagree on the semi skip and full skip.
The fewer cutters the more power to the cutters that are there.
As a general rule I agree with your post. For a new person.
Most new guys haven't gotten to the point where they make boring cuts. .
However. It is easier to file full skip round filed chisel bit than full comp semi chisel.
Much fewer teeth to file.
If someone is cutting Hard hardwood then full comp is smoother in the cut.
For soft woods like conifers and the cottonwood/aspen/poplar species full and semi skip are great.

Biggest trick is to KEEP THE CHAIN AWAY FROM DIRT AND ROCKS !!!!

 

Cold Trigger Finger thank you for reading my Post .
A lot of this information is not met for the novice...
I was writing this Post as not to confuse people as my Post explains ".
Have a nice day Stumper

 

Yup. There'san encyclopedia of knowledge that works out in what , power head wood diameter , bar length, chain type and wood condition equates to what works.
Good thread !!

 

Nicely put Cold Trigger Finger...
Thanks for reading my Post!
Have a nice day...
Stumper

 

I think for the average firewood cutter semi chisel is the best. Even though full chisel cuts faster I wonder if it is worth the faster cutting speed. It dulls faster, meaning you have to sharpen more frequently. Since you have to sharpen it more frequently, it wears out sooner.

I have a video test chain on a mighty MS170



Full chisel is about 20% faster on that saw.

 

Great footage 94Bullitt I like this...
Have a nice day...
Stumper

 

For the average guy or girl maybe. But , that somewhat broad window of how well a sharp chain cuts is imho the place most should attempt to attain to.
Nice vid.
A guy I know here showed me is Timberline chain sharpener. I haven't tried one yet as they are around $110. I think. He has been running a saw for a lot of years doing his own wood and had several different folding jigs ect. All round filed. He REALLY IS ENTHUSIASTIC !!!!! About this new hand rotary chain tooth round sharpener.
Apparently it is very precise.
I think it is a great tool if it gets a guys chain sharp.
If I could get a good pair of glasses or contacts with readers I would order a box of Oberg Double ended chisel bit files and weld up a fileing stand . ( 4 half ton pickup leaf springs as legs welded to an old bar . so u can sit at it. Put your toe in the belly of the bar and use 2 hands on the file. ) . If I could get a motor for my Simington 451A (small motor)
I would just go back to chisel grinding. Either that or get a new Simington 451 C "I think it is designated at.
I've chisel ground with Bell , Neilson, all the Silveys and all the Simington grinders. They are all good . I like the SDM4 and the Simington 451A the best . yes I like the SDM4 better than the Pro Sharp
I wish I had invested my money in buying up every chisel bit chain grinder I could back in the day. Easy doubling my money maybe even tripling it.

Back to the topic at hand tho.
Some semi chisel safety chains just never seem to cut worth a hoot. Some cut great . If anyone has any insights as to which semi chisel chain cuts best , I'de sure like to know. For me its just hit and miss .
Now chisel bit chains , I know !!

 

I have a Northern tool/ roughneck grinder. It is not bad but I don't think it is what a high end grinder would be. There is a little slop in it here an there.

 

Stihl RM chain does not have bumper link and is not "safety" or "low kick back" by ANSI. It will cut faster than RM3 or similar "low kickback" chains but not as fast as full chisel.

Also, as a general rule Stihl cutter steel is somewhat harder than Oregon and Carlton. This means that Stihl cutters will stay sharper a little longer but it will also take a little more time and effort to sharpen once dull.

 

Yup. For Northern Southeast Alaska I run Stihl 3/8 , 063 ga. Semi skip chisel ground chisel bit for falling timber . There's only 1 maybe 2 fairly good saw shops that I've found in the Interior. Ok maybe 3. And they r all in Fairbanks. The Woodway, Rod's Saw Shop and the Stihl dealer over by the tracks.
In S.E. there's Timber and Marine. The Stihl dealer and Hal's Equipment. Both are in Ketchikan.
I Think there is a pro saw stocking dealer for Husky in Wasilla and APR is a Stihl dealer.
Tok has a couple saw shops. 1 Stihl and 1 Husky. But , if you want a Stihl in Tok ya gotta deal with Brice. That's an experience. But . I can call him for any part for any Stihl I'm running , short of an 084 or 880 . And he has the parts on the shelf.

Anyway. I dunno how I got off on that track.

Ok , back to the subject at hand.
Thank you for the heads up on Stihl chain. .
One problem I see is guys not taking the time to cut clean wood . Regardless what chain someone is running. Keeping that chain sharp is Most important. Even trying to keep them sharp , they end up dull eventually. But, it's a lot better to cut 2 cord before a chain is dull than 1/2 or 1 cord.
I've fell climbed and bucked 50,000 board feet of spruce , hemlock and cedar in 7 hours and my chain still cut like it had just come off the grinder. At least I thot it did till the next morning. But usually I only get 15-20 bushel on a chain. A bushel is 1,000 bd ft gross woods scale. If I'm bucking blowdown it goes down.
Semi chisel might last a bit longer. BUT ! That's a Big but. Limbing Sitka spruce with semi chisel chain is not something I wish to do any more than I already have. I've run well over a hundred feet of semi chisel and full chipper chain. When I was chasing under towers. It was ok bucking . But bumping knots and limbing sucked. !!

 

Still I don't disagree that semi chisel is the best chain for new cutters.

 

Bryce @ Polar Equipment is my local dealer here in Tok. He has gotten himself married and on a short leash. She has made him way less excitable. He has lots of parts and treats us well.

 

Yup, Brice is a good hand. If Alaskan dealers could convince Stihl to go back to supplying the Arctic versions of their pro saws , I would buy one from him.

 

They have them at Listers in Whitehorse