Dave… until there was a thread on "safety chain" here I'd never heard of it. (I ought to get out once in a while) Guess if I had chains with high rakers (so that's what makes it safe huh? ) I'd want to take em down too. Goofy is one word I'd call em… Guess if I wanted a safety chain that was really safe, I'd change out the sprockets and put a bike chain on…
Currently I am setting up paypal and a secure online debit credit system for the website. As for the chain I have never done that before but Id give it a go with a dremel. Might be fun!
Great price compared to what I pay, I'm thinking it was 8 or 9 bucks per chain...next time I have 5 dull ones I will be sending your way. Only thing is, I don't use my saw much, so it may be a while.
So, I'd like to see a "safety chain demo" where the screaming saw gets laid down on a leg showing us how it does no harm because… wait for it… it's a safety chain. If we ever needed proof that some genius engineers are "a little off", this might be it…
Best way to take the safety humps off of a safety chain is a bench grinder Pete. Just be careful, and make a couple passes around the loop to keep it cool enough to handle. Not a 10 minute job, I have had very good results doing this.
Fortunately I have one Stihl shop literally within walking distance of my house, and the other shop is within walking distance of my office. But I sharpen my own for now. If I need help, you'll be my go to guy, Pete!
Thanks fellas! Ill give the bench grinder a shot too. My little dremmel makes quick work o stuff as well. It will be a race! Who knows maybe ill add removing safety links to my list of services.
What are your tolerances? I started using a caliper a couple of months ago with my grinder and found that I can get cutters to within 8-12 thousandths which seems to be good enough for a straight cut... I find myself checking each cutter after it's ground which takes a while but gives a really uniform chain..
I have discovered that the grinder is very close ( no slop ) already so the easiest way is to find the smallest tooth and go around however many times it takes clean the chain up. In most cases it's 2 passes to get even teeth. I have been doing this for linemen without complaint but it might depend heavily on your grinder as well! When we got started we measured the difference too however it was really a waste of time and I decided to skip the step all together and simply set the caliper to the smallest tooth.
I picked up an Oregon 510a a couple of years ago, but I still don't have a ton of experience with it.. I'm not 100% convinced that the wheel comes down in the same position every time I pull it down. I've found that slight pressure toward the cutter during the downstroke allows me to take off a couple of thousandths at a time. I've tried to just pull straight down using the shortest cutter theory but just can't seem to get all of the teeth the same length consistently, so I've gone to measuring each tooth after grinding it.. I also don't use the shortest cutter anymore for a gauge. I find the second shortest one which means I don't have to take as much material off of the chain overall. Sure, there's a cutter flying through the wood saying "look at me, I'm too short and dull so I don't have to do any work" but it hasn't really changed how well the saw cuts and will give me more life to the chains. Takes me about 30 minutes to do one chain (off of my 16" bar) and get it really good..
That really is a good deal after thinking about it. I already have a sharpener but for someone that doesn't this would be great. I know locally sharpening costs more then that and you still have to wait a week to get them back. Would be an easy way to get them done and you know it is being sharpened by someone that actually knows what they are doing and not some kid that works in the back of the shop and doesn't have any idea what they are doing
Finally got around to using one of the chains you sharpened for me. Tried one of the 338's small chains this morning Pete. The small angle change you talked about, and made, when sharpening it helped noticeably… The saw had always seemed to "grab" too much wood for the torque, when I'd use a new chain before. Now, slicker'n a smelt… likin' that small saw even more now… Once I get a new chain guard replaced on the 257, looking forward to trying that one too. Thanks Pete!
Hoping the new chain wear guard will be here tomorrow. Can't wait to tear into the oak! So, am I gonna need a safety harness to hang on to that 257 … ?
