I put them in sandwich baggies with a piece of paper telling me what they are. I have about 40 chains and keep them in a yellow tool bag and that way no matter what saw I take to cut with I just grab the bag and I know I will have a spare chain. It could be even more chains I have not counted them all.
Since I don't cut for a living, I have them all hanging on nails in the wall of my barn. Each length chain has an area with 4 nails. One for the bars, one for square filed, one for round filed full chisel, and the last for round filed semi-chisel. I keep my saws hanging without liquids or bars so that the rubber anti-vibe mounts don't take a beating
I take 1 extra new or freshly sharpened chain in its cardboard box along when I go cutting.All my other chains are new in boxes,a couple old worn ones that are saved for any stumps/work near fencelines & other new/good used chains & bars are hanging on south wall of shed.
I keep extra chains for my personal saws in the plastic containers they come in at the dealer. Keeps them protected and they stack so they're easy to store in an organized manner. I used to label each chain box with a Sharpie indicating the type of chain, but I don't swap bar lengths anymore, so now I just label the box with the saw it's used on. With chains from saws I'm working on or just extras I have that aren't for my personal saws I hang them nails with tags that note what type of chain it is. When it comes to my big novelty/collector saws (large pitch, long loops) I hang the bar & chain(s) together on a nail for storage & organization.
I bought some real cheap plastic sandwich 'boxes' - the walmart 'tupperware' - I write the chain info on the cover and keep my extra chains in the box with a little bar/chain on them. Cheers!
I don't go through a lot of chains in any one cutting session, but I've heard of guys keeping two containers (be it bag, box, etc) per chain. The containers are labeled for the type of chain, followed by "Sharp" or "Dull" so they can store them appropriately and easily identify which need attention when they get home.
Dull ones hang on the vise after use, sharp ones go on the nail. Its easy for me to see if the chain is dull or sharp, so I don't separate anything while cutting
It's not my method. As I said, it's just something I've heard of others doing. Always worth making suggestions when someone is asking.
I bought some really nice plastic containers too .................... they came filled with "Grandma's Potato Salad", a double win!!! Store my extra chains in those with some WD40 sprayed on them.
I keep around 5 or 6 new chains in an ammo can behind the seat of the truck along with a box of flat and round files, a scrench, an extra sprocket, an extra air filter , and a zip lock baggie of Cajun Ranch Pistachios .
I DO cut for a living and that's my method too. On the wall, above the chain grinder I have 2 nails for 14", 2 nails for 20" and one each for 28" and 36". I have 2 nails on the side of the work bench under the grinder where I hang REALLY dull chains; the ones that hit a piece of metal in the wood.
I try and keep the original boxes that the chains come in. I have one plastic storage bin that I keep dull and one with ready to use chains. I mark on the boxes with a black sharpie the length of chain and what saw I use them on. I get confused otherwise with 3/8 and .325 in 16 inch lengths...I use both.
I hang all of MINE on a peg board in my shop. Customer chains are labeled and stored on a separate peg board and locked up like Fort Knox.
I hang all of mine up. I'll put them in a box labeled so if I take a couple saws I can just swap chains easily by grabbing the box.
Kinda the same as I do - except mine weren't the cheapies. I get 3-4 chains in them and separate them with a piece of chipboard so they don't get tangled. I don't ever sharpen in the woods, just swap out chains so I keep them in the bottom of my saw box so they're ready to go. The extra chains are hanging on nails in the barn - much like everyone else.
I used to hand mine on nails with 'dull' and 'sharp' written above the nail - but I've found that I tend to keep the same chain each saw for a real long time - giving a few strokes after each cutting to keep them nice and sharp. I didn't like how the chains gathered a lot of dirt and dust on them from hanging till I needed them, and was a little concerned about rust (they are in a barn) so switched to the little boxes. Cheers!
