noodling oak

To much pressure or possibly hand placement? Body placement?

I cut to the right, until I lined myself up behind the saw and let it do the work.

Pushing to hard will cause it?

that is a beautiful scene...love the stacks...as for the cutting to the right i had the same problem until i relaxed the grip a bit and let the saw do the work

I have the same issue.

I always thought it was the saw.

Never thought it could be...........................me.

If it happens with a new bar & chain:
Sounds like you are forcing it to cut by pushing down with your top grip.
When I get in a hurry & force the saw to cut, I get the same thing.

Try relaxing more on the top grip. Let the bumper teeth hook in & just medium leverage pressure with the trigger grip.

steeltowninwv said:

noodled lots of oak today....why cant i noodle straight?..crooked as he**....cuts to the right......this even happens with new bar and new chain...i cant figure it out......

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With a new bar and chain you should be able to torque the saw left or right and get the bar to cut either left or right making an S turn if you choose. The weight of the power head being to the left of the bar is enough to torque the bar and make it cut to the right if you use a relaxed grip. Try to counteract this by a slight opposite torque.

Sounds to me like possibly your chain may have dull cutters on one side (like you hit stone or metal) and it only affected cutters on one side of the chain....also maybe your oiler hole is clogged? Happened to me many times over the years......

Keep your feet planted in same spot,just move your shoulders.Lean to whatever direction is needed.Its called the 'woodturner's sway' If you move your feet your cuts will be off.I can freehand rip within 1/8" of a line when chain is sharp & hands/arms stay steady.Though sometimes I can get just as good just eyeballing it.

Large bucking/felling dawgs really help power through the cut & keep things straight also....

It depends on a lot on info. If your running through a knot or even twisted curly stuff your bar can take the path of least resistance. Even if everything is perfect. (It can happpen in a monster cross cut to)

Scotty Overkill said:

Sounds to me like possibly your chain may have dull cutters on one side (like you hit stone or metal) and it only affected cutters on one side of the chain....also maybe your oiler hole is clogged? Happened to me many times over the years......

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Bingo, any time I've had a noodle cut curve on me is when I've had a chain with uneven sharpness or some heavy knots that caused it. Otherwise when I noodle I let the saw do most of the work, if you're having to force it too much, you need to touch up your chain.

DexterDay said:

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Awesome looking stacks Dexter!

Most likely problem is one side of your chain is sharper than the other causing that side to cut faster and thus making a curved cut.

I disagree on the one side of the chain being sharper because he said it happens with a new chain.

Could the chain be too loose? Could the bar be bad?

I have had the same bar for years...though i dont do a great deal of cutting...

Maybe i need a new one?

keninmich said:

I have had the same bar for years...though i dont do a great deal of cutting...

Maybe i need a new one?

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Have you ever had the bar "dressed"? From time to time, the rails need re-ground, they can "mushroom" on you, making it a lot harder to cut in general. It's possible that they may need dressed.....

Thanks Scotty......tell me what "dressed" entails?

Something i can do myself or does it need to be taken in to the dealer?

keninmich said:

Thanks Scotty......tell me what "dressed" entails?

Something i can do myself or does it need to be taken in to the dealer?

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here's a video on bar dressing



and another

Thank you scotvl!

keninmich said:

Thank you scotvl!

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no problem, i was going to try and tell you how i do it but thought a video is worth a million words.
I just use a large flat file and go at it flat on my work bench.

scotvl said:

no problem, i was going to try and tell you how i do it but thought a video is worth a million words.
I just use a large flat file and go at it flat on my work bench.

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Same here.Clamp the bar in my 120 yr old Sargent handsaw sharpening vise,few minutes with file & its ready to reinstall.

DexterDay said:

To much pressure or possibly hand placement? Body placement?

I cut to the right, until I lined myself up behind the saw and let it do the work.

Pushing to hard will cause it?

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Nice stacks you have.

OK sorry i missed the new chain thing. I dont know if that is the problem though, bar dressed. They make a tool to close the rails of the bar i and some to file it. The tool that closes the gap costs more than a bar so unless you cut ALOT or have a bunch of saws it would just be better to buy a new bar. I bet i have cut 20 cords of wood maybe double that with my saw and as far as i know the bar is still fine.

Ken, if you've never dressed the bar, and it needs dressed, you'll be amazed in the difference it can make. It also pays to "flip" your bar from time to time so as to even out the wear. Let us know if you find the bar to need dressing.

Sometimes I dress my chainsaw bar in a spiffy velveteen suit . . . at other times I dress it up in a little black dress.

yea i flip my bar most times i change a chain out or put it back on.