Another reason to keep your saw sharp.....

[DodgyNomad]

Besides the obvious, I've noticed when you take apart a saw that's been running a dull blade, the amount of debris that gets stuck in every nook and cranny goes way up.

Big chips fly off and away, but when you're making flour, the fine dust eventually seems to work it's way into everything, clogs the air filter, gets all over the carb, linkages and passages, cooling fins, even the clutch assembly and bearing. Really makes a mess when mixed with the bar oil and gets all packed in around the sprocket. Saw this just tonight while working on the neighbors Stihl, who's notorious for running chains to the point of making the wood smoke when cutting, Fine fine dust throughout the saw.

 

[firefighterjake]

Ah ha, another one of those "blade saws" . . . just giving you a hard time . . . I know I used to slip once in a while and talk about the chainsaw's "blade" . . . while meaning chain.

And yes . . . you are spot on right about the fine sawdust really building up and making a mess with duller chains.

 

[iamlucky13]

I'm impressed how well sawdust mixed with bar oil sticks to the saw if you let it dry. The mess could only get worse with finer shavings in smaller nooks and crannies.

That aside, I wonder if people who run dull chains realize they could actually save time (in addition to gas and effort) overall by taking a couple minutes to sharpen the teeth when (or preferably before) they start seeing flour.

 

[Rossco]

Not always the case.

Super dry snag wood produces fine dust regardless.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Yes and no. I've seen saws that have chains that are razor sharp but the owner has failed to pay attention to his depth rakers. Isolate the cause before having your neighbor go at his cutting teeth with a file. The teeth may be already quite sharp but they aren't planing into the wood correctly.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Not always the case.

Super dry snag wood produces fine dust regardless.

Yes, that's been my experience, too. And different types of wood behave differently. This past summer I was cutting both oak and sycamore. I noticed I was getting a lot of dust from the sycamore, and was bummed because I didn't have much time on that chain since the last sharpening. So I took a whack at some white oak, and got nice clean chips. I went back and forth for a few cuts on each. The sycamore produced a lot of dust, and the oak gave me clean chips just like a sharp chain should. Both were fairly dry. They'd been down a year.

Central is absolutely right about the rakers. They are as important as the teeth. I like using the Pferd sharpener every two tanks to keep the rakers and the teeth dressed.