Shawn, can you share some details on you chain preference? I'm going to be in the market for another chain for the 36" mill bar I own. I've used a loop of full skip full chisel Stihl so far with good results. I bought it square ground, and have maintained it the same. I cut trough about 4-5 .22 bullets today in a large pine log. I think I'm going to switch it to round to try and get the cutters close to the same length. So what say ye?
Some of the ripping chains I have now started out as RSL (stihl square). I was surprised when I first got them, at how close the geometry already was to the way I normally shape my chains for milling. So I ran them in the mill before reshaping them, and I couldn't find one difference between them. Cutting speed, surface quality, and stay-sharpness all were pretty much the same. However, re-shaping them into my normal milling grind (round ground 10 degree top angle) is much faster and you end up with a little more cutter when you're done, starting from RSL. I've never tried semi chisel, and I prefer skip sequence for reduced sharpening time. Full comp does cut a little faster and stay sharp a little longer, but that's probably going to be too much chain for a 36" bar + 90cc saw. Lately I've been migrating somewhat towards 404 chain, as it also cuts faster and stays sharper. I have a 30" setup for the 661 that I prefer over my 28" 3/8, but again it would be too much chain in a 36". And since I covered everything else, ill mention gauge too - .063 is where you wanna be. The wider groove allows a little more oil to be carried, and plus it gives you the option of switching out the tip to 404.
My bar is .063. I found it not so easy to do touch ups on the mill with a double bevel. I did convert to round and as close to 10degrees as I could eye up. I think I'll stick with full skip for reasons you mentioned, and full chisel. Thanks for your feedback.
Sounds like the name of the game is big chain, even bigger saw. How much more wood do you lose using .404" over 3/8"? Is it worth the trade off?
Right, I should really clarify - these are just my preferences, cause they work well with my system. I happen to have a lot of logs to play with, between the giant walnut and 8 more windfall red maples I had this year. I also built an 8' sliding table system for my vertical bandsaw, where I saw most of my lumber to final dimensions. So mostly what I'm trying to do with the chainsaw is break the logs down or saw full width live edge slabs. I'm not losing enough in the few cuts that I'm making with the chainsaw to matter either way. For me then, its just a heavy duty job, demanding heavy duty tools. If I didn't have as many logs or if I was sawing the lumber to dimension with the chainsaw, I probably would go with smaller pitch chains.
