So as the title says: how often to square the rails, grease the tip, clean the groove? How bout wear on the heal of the bar. I will admit i never do much of any of this. I got about 30 cords on a husqvarna branded oregon bar on my 372, still goen strong. Also thoughts or tricks for fixing bent, or tweaked bars.
I clean the bar on the regular with an air compressor, i use Brunox Lub&Cor or WD40 for the tip and if edges occure ill use a flat file to get rid of it.
Use some WD40 or this stuff on the new one, i just can recommend it. If its to oily/sticky/filthy you could also clean it, 1st with some Brake Cleaner and lubricated a while later. Otherwise it could get blocked at some point.
The 20” bar that came stock on my Husq 450 locked up after about 20 tanks of fuel. Tried brake cleaner and it wouldn’t budge. Replaced it with a 18”. I’ve greased it maybe twice in the last 3 years. No problems. I square it up with a file and clean the groove and flip it over every other sharpen
I clean the groove and grease the tip when I swap chains, which is often because somehow or another, if there's a frozen dirt clod, rock or fence within 30 feet of what I'm cutting,,,I'm gonna' dull my chain!! I keep a small putty knife and brake cleaner in my tool bag, it works well for cleaning the oil/fuel caps before re-filling as well. I dress the bar whenever I start to notice wear.
I don't dress rails till I notice it needs them. The Oregon/Husky's needed it quite a bit more frequently than the SugiHara I've been using, I have yet to touch one of them. I do grease tips regularly and clean the groove every time I flip the bar. I average probably 10-12 cord per season since I've been supplying my parents with wood besides my own.
had this since the 80's iirc. Works slick to square up a bar, can take off little to nothing and you can see instantly when it's square . As for fixing bends and tweaks that is usually pretty easy. Need some pics though. I grease usually at every fill-up but only after using a splinter to scrape out the hole. As for flipping I always put the deepest groove down, just a simple check with my thumb and whatever I used to clean out the groove.
I do flip my bars when i change chains. I have never greased a bar tip in my life, and have owned and used chainsaws for 30 years. I think this has caused me to buy more bars than i should have. But other than the bars the saws came with i think i have bought about about 10 or 11 bars over the years. At least two got wrecked in falling mishaps. And at least 4 got pinched and the tips wouldnt turn any more. All the other ones i bought just for fun or to have a long bar for a big tree i found in the woods. By the way it is alot easier to tweak or wreck a long bar. One of the reasons i decided if i cant get it done with a 20 to 28 im just gona leave it to someone else.
To be honest I really don't know if greasing helps or not, my most expensive bar, 59" Stihl , can't even be greased. I do it just because I can't see how it can hurt.
I file the bar edge every few years or as needed. I have many bars and multiple saws to there might not be many hours on each saw. The husky bars seem softer. The heel I just smooth out but when it's worn it's worn. Tips if replaceable can be. Grease the bar tip every few times you use it if it has the holes. Clean the Grove out so it can oil like it's suppose too.
Im gona try to get more better at taking care of the bars. Its true, if you cut 10 cords spread between 3 saws thats really not much wear on a bar.
I like this but I havent found an updated version. Been looking at Pfred and Oregon manual bar edge dressers. Not finished looking yet.
