Raker depth

I normally try for about .050 cutter/raker difference- raker being lower of course. Tonight while cutting clean slab wood, had to go for a chain swap. Of course, didn't have a sharp chain. So, after sharpening a spare, I checked raker depth and decided to go more. So- I went .100 deep on the rakers for this one chain, just for bundled slab wood. Wood is Lodgepole Pine, saw is a 6401 with a 24" bar. I'll use it after work tomorrow.
Am I good, or did I mess up a chain more than I should have? Thanks, JB

 

Funny I was looking at that today, I cleaned out my truck and found a bunch of raker gauge dealios. The Oregon ones are 0.050, but the Stihl ones are 0.065.

I took the rakers down too far on a chain once and it was non-usable. It would suck the saw into the log so hard that it would darn near rip out of my hands. Had to pull up as hard as I could while cutting to keep it from feeding too hard.

Had a "perfessional log cutter" (more like a drunk with a Wild Thang) tell me I didn't need them there rakers. He grinds them all off so it cuts better.

 

.050 is to deep, so .100 is way too deep.

.025 to .030 is about where I set mine.

 

Oem is .025-.030 on most. More than that it becomes very easy to stall the saw. Likely not notice it to much on shorter bars, but when running 32" and longer it going to start bouncing and grabbing like mad not a pleasant experience when hanging on to a 42" bar full comp with 122 cc's behind it. Milling is a different story not sure what is common there but again you want a smooth cut not chattering all over the place. Even on the big beam saws .030 is about max for the depth gauges more than that and they do not cut correctly.

 

There was an old sawyer done the road that would grind rakers off chains - he had his hands on my neighbors MS170(that I now own).
I had to buy a new chain, that little saw would stall in a 2" sapling.

I'd be more concerned cutting slabwood with the corners to grab on, I guess you have a sawbuck and strap it down tight?

 

I too thought the .050 number was large. The raker gauge I have is also .025 or .030.

Curious nate are you sure that stihl gauge said .065?

I just started use I g the gauge I have to check what I had been doing by feel or eye. If I take them too far down the saw does start jumping a bit in the cut.

 

.035" is about the limit on a worn out chain for me. Newer chain is between .025-.030".

 

Nate was that maybe a bar groove gauge?

 

Maybe Nate has a gauge for the big bigger and bigest of the harvestor chains. On some of those the cutting tooth is 1"+ high. 1"+ long I could see those using spec such as mentioned .05-.1"

 

Woodlands that .65mm = .0256"

 

I went out and looked. The Oregon one is 0.050". The Stihl ones just say 0,65. (Yes, with a comma?!) I'm guessing that should mean 0.65mm?

I don't remember where the Oregon one came from, maybe with some harvester chain. Either way I now have two loops of saw chain with the rakers to 0.050" I should have known better when a 40-50% chain gauging down to the raker min line.

 

I run .025 in softwoods ,i like how it bore cuts over the .030,chain seems to stay sharp longer also

 

It is marked 0,65, which means 0.65mm. I figured out that the Germans use , instead of . in numbers.

That is about 0.025" 1mm is ~0.039"

Not sure what the Oregon Gauge-It is for at 0.050". I'll probably use it for my processor chains and see how well it works. Faster cut would be gooder.

 

But didnt you say it was for a harvester chain....isnt that a much larger chain?

 

I use Oregon 18H which is .404" .080" gauge. It's quite a bit larger than most chainsaw chain.

 

No chance to try it tonight, got home too late and it's raining again. May be the weekend before I can see how bad I messed it up. Good thing, that chain is rock rashed pretty bad, I'll prob. just dedicate it as a "creek chain". I have a lot of overgrowth in the creek but I'll hit mud/rock on most low cuts.
basod- the slab is in a 4' x 8' bundle so I cut as much as I can before it gets too loose. The rest goes to the sawbuck and gets strapped in. I've had chunks smack my shins in the past, I take precautions now. Thanks, JB

 

.05 and beyond is probably best suited for harvester chain