hey everyone, ive heard of many different types of chains, half skip, full skip, etc. and different aggressiveness as well. can anyone share what the difference is and what the most aggressive one is? also which one is best suited for your average firewood cutting?
This place is the best... Cutter Sequence : http://www.madsens1.com/bnc_sequence.htm Pitch & Gauge : http://www.madsens1.com/bnc_pitch_gauge.htm Square & Round : http://www.madsens1.com/bnc_teeth_types.htm Average firewood cutting... if your wood is dirty use semi-chisel/ round and the sequence depends on what size bar on what size saw. Many use chisel, it dulls quicker but cuts better. I can't tell much of a difference, but sure can tell when chisel gets dull. Welcome to FHC Jon!
That's easy Jon... Pallet Pete's sharpened chains... ... ... everytime I use mine now, I can't believe how much better they are since Pete got at em'. Welcome to the Firewood Hoarders Club.
There is three cutter shapes. 1 Semi chisel or chipper 2 round ground chisel 3 square ground chisel The skips are generally used for longer bars in big wood to help keep your saw in its power range. For general firewood, semi chisel is a great choice. Cuts almost as fast as chisel but works a lot better in dirty conditions. Stays sharper longer.
There is also safety or low kick back chain as well which have an extra bumper link to help with kickback. I dont run these chains unless I have them free on a saw and then its usually till it dulls.
Any sort of detailed lesson on chain is something I'd like to be paid hourly for. (Just kidding guys) As it would take a lot of time and fill up pages of this forum. (It's actually here, just in many different threads. ) Chisel cuts faster than semi but semi will hold an edge longer especially in dirty wood. Green label or "safety" chain generally cuts slower than "professional/aggressive/standard" yellow-label chain. Skip chain, be it half/semi skip or full skip, usually cuts slower than full comp chain but requires less power from the saw, clears chips better in long cuts (big wood!) and takes less time to re-sharpen due to it having fewer cutters. Square-filed or square-ground chain is faster than round filed (if both are properly sharpened) but takes either an expensive machine or lots of skill to hand-file. The most aggressive chain would be full-comp square-filed chisel chain (Stihl calls it RSL or RSLK, Oregon calls it CL). My personal favorite for firewood use is sharp chain. OK, I know that doesn't help but honestly, I run round-filed chisel chain for 95% of what I cut. (Stihl RS)
Sharp RS round filed........... 90% of what I cut also. Trees dragged through the dirt, hollowed by ants, or ones that grew along a bike trail or road get the semi-chisel.
