Curving cuts due to uneven wear on my Husky factory bar...ideas?

I usually flip my bars every 3rd sharpening. If I keep the chain out of the dirt/rocks, etc. I sharpen every other tank of fuel. You can always dress the bar with a flat file (put it in a vise and file perpendicular to the bar across the two sides) to keep it even. Whenever I go into the local saw shop to buy chain, they always dress the bar for me FOC before putting on the new chain. It's possible that you got a bad bar that would result in the uneven wear, but more than likely it's operator error..........lol.


NP

If the saw is cutting down and left that's because the teeth on the left side are sharper. You can fix that by correctly drawing the file across the teeth on the right side of the chain only. Remember it the points of the chain that do most of the cutting.

There's a good folder on bar maint here that you should check out. then if you have any questions ...let 'em rip.

Take off the bar and chain, put the bar in a vise upside down, and lay a quarter on it to see that the rails are uneven. Take your flat raker file and holding it perpendicular, file them even. Make sure you wear tough gloves as the edge can really slice you. Knock of the burrs and clean out the filings carefully so as not to get them into the roller nose bearing.

The reason the bar wears uneven is that it is oiled from the side and so one side can get more oil than the other.

I think its unevenly sharpened chain and not the bar.

The only way to avoid that is invest in a bar vise sharpener (one that clamps to the bar and holds the individual link inplace while you sharpen it. What this does, is allows you to put indentical pitch and angle on every link so that it cuts straight. When you freehand sharpen a chain, all the links do not sharpen the same, thus resulting in the curve cut. Also dont forget to take you rakers down everytime you sharpen. The rakers determine where the wood contacts the cutting tooth. If you don't take your rakers down the wood will be thrown above your cutting surface.

Every time you sharpen a link, it moves the cutting surface further back and thus you have to compensate the raker to throw the wood into contact with the link. Everyone says that a chain cuts best when new, but this should not be the case if you sharpen it correctly. In Fact a chain cuts best when it is almost done, because you have less metal passing through the wood, less weight, resulting in higher chain speed and less friction.

Just my cents. PS always make sure your chain is getting enough oil!!

Blah blah blah...... it's not rocket science, sharpening a chain...I do it freehand with my dremel all of the time and never have a problem with it not cutting straight.


Secondly....who is to say it's not the bar? Take the bar off put it in a vice and file it flat the best you can...it will be fine.

countrybois said:

Blah blah blah...... it's not rocket science, sharpening a chain...I do it freehand with my dremel all of the time and never have a problem with it not cutting straight.




Secondly....who is to say it's not the bar? Take the bar off put it in a vice and file it flat the best you can...it will be fine.

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Actually, the reason his bar is worn that way is because he was not sharpening his chain correctly. The chain links were pulling to the one side through the cut because they are not all perfectly angled, thus resulting in uneven bar wear.

My suggestion is to get a new bar and a bar vice sharpener. You don't need a new chain as long as you sharpen the exisitng one on the new bar ( dont sharpen the chain on the old bar) before you run it. Make sure you take the teeth back at least a good 6 or 7 aggressive strokes to make up for previous filing attempts. Country boy is partially rite, its not rocket science, but there is a wrong and a rite way to do things. Take the time to do it rite from the beginning and you will have longer chain lifes, straighter cuts, big noodles instead of chips and will only need to replace your bar if you get it hung up and bent. As long as your buying a bar might as well spend the extra couple $$ and get a bar with a replacable tip for when the sprocket wears out (when they get pointy and sharp). Oregon makes very nice bars.

Hope this helps

one more thing, If your planning on taking some trees down, taking the extra time to do it RITE, it will greatly increase the level of safety. The last thing you want is to fall a tree with dull, not properly raked, unevenly worn bar. Safety is achieved by taking the time to make sure you saw is dialed in, this is achieved by having the rite tools. ANY one with ANY intelligence will agree.

Arlo said:

countrybois said:

Blah blah blah...... it's not rocket science...
Take the bar off put it in a vice and file it flat the best you can...it will be fine.

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My suggestion is to get a new bar...

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Why stop there? Buy a new saw. Obviously your old one is not oiling properly.

LLigetfa said:

Arlo said:

countrybois said:

Blah blah blah...... it's not rocket science...
Take the bar off put it in a vice and file it flat the best you can...it will be fine.

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My suggestion is to get a new bar...

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Why stop there? Buy a new saw. Obviously your old one is not oiling properly.

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I guess you guys missed the point.

Safety is achieved by taking the time to make sure you saw is dialed in, this is achieved by having the rite tools. ANY one with ANY intelligence will agree.

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I have seen some people cutting firewood and leaning to one side, thus making the cuts curved to one side or the other.

Arlo said:

I guess you guys missed the point.

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No. You missed the point. Reread the OP's first post. He already bought a new bar.

LLigetfa said:

Arlo said:

I guess you guys missed the point.

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No. You missed the point. Reread the OP's first post. He already bought a new bar.

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You know what, I never have had to deal with flaming here before. Hmmm I guess the maturity level is going down. I was only trying to give the guys helpful info and I get flammed. Hmmm great feel here. Way to set an example for the newbies.

LLigetfa said:

Arlo said:

I guess you guys missed the point.

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No. You missed the point. Reread the OP's first post. He already bought a new bar.

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LOL ,...ok.

Arlo said:

You know what, I never have had to deal with flaming here before...

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Don't take it personal.

this is why this site is so good. so many opinions. all good. i have a husky 345 and it has been cutting a c shaped slice. so i read a little, apparently not enough. i sharpened and sharpened and sharpened. using the tool that husky makes for doing everything at the same time. i thought i would have it covered because i tried doing everything one at a time and thought and maybe did do a lousy job. so i went out and bought the tool. it made no difference. i guess i'll take off the bar and have a look see. i think i tried so much that i might have wasted a chain. i tried looking on you tube and found some videos of what to do, but not enough close ups of what they were doing, so it never made it into this thick skull. i'm just a simple electrician not a saw man.

savageactor7 said:

If the saw is cutting down and left that's because the teeth on the left side are sharper. You can fix that by correctly drawing the file across the teeth on the right side of the chain only. Remember it the points of the chain that do most of the cutting.

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I think it is actually the opposite. The sharper cutters are taking more wood faster so you start to curve toward the duller side since it is taking less wood slower.

They make this cool, nifty, almost pointless to the master sharpeners, tool. It holds a small section of flat file in a 90 degree block, and you press it against the bar and then run it down the length. some german company makes it. oregon has one to. pointless waste of 19 dollars when i bought it. oh, wait, it actually works great, dresses the bar nicely, was not that expensive, and cures the uneven rails delima. only thing is is that human hands have to power it, so still a chance of buggering up the process. I run it on the bar every other flipping, just one pass, and then inspect the bar to see that the file actaully touched both rails all the way down. if not then i run her again. I know, what a way to needlessly wear a bar out. And I sharpen by hand too. but my cuts are nice and straight. unless Iv'e benn drinking. Oh, wait I would never drink and saw, cant saw whilst driving. Cheers!

wendell said:

savageactor7 said:

If the saw is cutting down and left that's because the teeth on the left side are sharper. You can fix that by correctly drawing the file across the teeth on the right side of the chain only. Remember it the points of the chain that do most of the cutting.

Click to expand...

I think it is actually the opposite. The sharper cutters are taking more wood faster so you start to curve toward the duller side since it is taking less wood slower.

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Well OK then, the OP did claim his saw was cutting to the left so wouldn't that make the left side sharper? And the simple solution to sharpen the right side only?

PINEBURNER said:

They make this cool, nifty, almost pointless to the master sharpeners, tool. It holds a small section of flat file in a 90 degree block, and you press it against the bar and then run it down the length. some german company makes it. oregon has one to. pointless waste of 19 dollars when i bought it. oh, wait, it actually works great, dresses the bar nicely, was not that expensive, and cures the uneven rails delima. only thing is is that human hands have to power it, so still a chance of buggering up the process. I run it on the bar every other flipping, just one pass, and then inspect the bar to see that the file actaully touched both rails all the way down. if not then i run her again. I know, what a way to needlessly wear a bar out. And I sharpen by hand too. but my cuts are nice and straight. unless Iv'e benn drinking. Oh, wait I would never drink and saw, cant saw whilst driving. Cheers!

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A short piece of right angle stock works great for this and is cheap. Hold one side of the stock against the side of the bar and a file at an angle on the top and make passes along the bar. you can even use small spring clamps to hold the file on the stock. This is basically what is used to sharpen side edges on skis. You can buy these in ski shops and online or make your own.

If it is cutting to the left, the right side is sharper. The right side is taking more wood and maybe the way to think of it is the left side is dragging, pulling the bar to the left. Like a zero turn mower, you brake on the side you want to turn to or speed up on the side you want to turn away from.

I'd have a pro cut that chain for you and go from there

jcims said:

Hi Folks,

A few weeks ago I noticed that all of my cuts were curving to the left as i passed through the wood. I thought that the bar may have been bent, but after pulling it of noted that the left plate in the bar was actually worn more than the right, all away around the bar (i flip it fairly regularly). It's almost as if one side was made of softer steel...

This was the factory bar and survived about three years of light-moderate use. I replaced it and all is well, but i just wonder if there is anything i could be doing to cause this.

Thanks!

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Uneven rail wear is a fact of chainsaw life. If you still have the OEM bar you can take it to a saw shop and have it trued for about $5. I get mine done every year. If you don't still have it you wasted a bunch of money.

One thing not mentioned yet, is chain loose in the bar grove?
I picked up a Homelite saw and it did not cut strait at all. Turns out the saw had a .050 chain in a .058 bar, quite sloppy. I put a .058 chain on it and it cut much better.

Baileys makes a tool to tighten up the bar "Chain Saw Bar Rail Closer"

wendell said:

If it is cutting to the left, the right side is sharper. The right side is taking more wood and maybe the way to think of it is the left side is dragging, pulling the bar to the left. Like a zero turn mower, you brake on the side you want to turn to or speed up on the side you want to turn away from.

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hummm I dunno about that.

Another thing too. Lets suppose you have a pro saw from a dealer and while the wife is shopping at walmart or TSC you meander into the chainsaw dept and see a bargain on your size chain. BE CAREFUL most pro saws are equipped with .058. If you buy a chain at a BB store the length might match up but those BB store bars and chains are for .050 ..that could leave you with a chain that rocks from side to side est so if you horse it with leverage...as opposed to just letting the chain do the cutting.