Cant cut straight
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Unevenly sharpened teeth or rakers.
Top plate angle difference from one side of cutter teeth to other.
Worn bar or wrong size chain on bar
Top plate angle difference from one side of cutter teeth to other.
Worn bar or wrong size chain on bar
I'm betting a worn bar. Probably from using used motor oil.
Take off the bar, turn it upside down, and lay a quarter on the edge. If the quarter isn't perpendicular to the bar, it's worn. Put it in a vise and file down the high side with a raker file. Chamfer the edges a bit so you don't slice your fingers open.
Take off the bar, turn it upside down, and lay a quarter on the edge. If the quarter isn't perpendicular to the bar, it's worn. Put it in a vise and file down the high side with a raker file. Chamfer the edges a bit so you don't slice your fingers open.
Also the the rails can get pushed out from the groove at different angles; you need a bar rail closing tool to fix that ($20 from Baileys). Also for filing your rails it is best to use a 90 degree guide that files both sides to a uniform height. This is another cheap tool that is worth having in your inventory if you are going to maintain your own saw. The first link below is to a PDF version of a guide to bar and chain maintence that Oregon puts out, and the others are to the two tools I mentioned.
(broken link removed)
Rail closing tool
90 degree rail filing guide
(broken link removed)
Rail closing tool
90 degree rail filing guide
saw chain's are cheap. Get a spar and see if it cut's straight, if it does, it's your chain being unevenly sharpened. It's always good to have a spar anyways.
atvdave said:
See above, but a pristine new chain sitting on a worn bar or uneven rails will pull left or right as the the chain is sitting at an angle on the bar. God bar maintenance is as important as good chain filing if you want straight cuts.
I agree with 100% on that, the point I was trying to make is that having a extra chain handy is a good idea. If something like this happens you can replace the chain and know right away if it's the chain causing the problem. However one shouldn't skip on bar maintenance either.
On my craftsman I have 5 chains, and my 5100s I have 3 extra. I hate sharping chains in the field, I just replace them and sharpen them at home.
On my craftsman I have 5 chains, and my 5100s I have 3 extra. I hate sharping chains in the field, I just replace them and sharpen them at home.
Bar oil is injected on the left side of the chain so the left side is better lubricated than the right which causes uneven wear on the bar. The bar is made to be flipped over so that you can extend the wear but eventually it has to get filed.
LLigetfa said:
BWAAAAAHAHAHAHA
Does the right side of the chain and sprocket wear faster too? Me don't think so. Me thinks it's because of the 12,000+ RPM the chain is running and the side to side cutting action caused by the angle of the top plate of the cutter teeth. Bars are designed to flip over but not for LLs reason.
The right side of the chain does wear faster. Now sprocket designs vary so YMMV too. The right side of the sprocket might not wear faster because of the tight radius and worn right side of the chain, so there is less pressure on that side of the sprocket.LEES WOOD-CO said:
If the bar is not designed to be flipped over because of wear, what pray tell, might be the reason for it?
The bottom of the bar is where most wear is going to occur because that is where the chain is being forced against the bar when cutting and side to side action is happeneing because of the angled teeth going through the wood.. If you use the top of your bar consistently for cutting then the top of your bar will wear faster. Also there is some "chain slap" which occurs at the end of your bar on the bottom due to centrifical force of the chain going around the tip and changing directions.
Your theory of the right side wearing faster is just bogus. It woodn't matter how many times you flipped it, (the right side is ALWAYS the right side) the bar wood eventually wear through on the right side and that is something I have never seen. The only way I can see a bar wear on one side more than another is if there is a bend in the bar and the chain has to follow that bend.
Your theory of the right side wearing faster is just bogus. It woodn't matter how many times you flipped it, (the right side is ALWAYS the right side) the bar wood eventually wear through on the right side and that is something I have never seen. The only way I can see a bar wear on one side more than another is if there is a bend in the bar and the chain has to follow that bend.
Ummm... I never said anything about the ride side getting flipped to the left to even out wear. Puleezee... nobody can be THAT stupid!LEES WOOD-CO said:
Go dig up a few of your well used bars and lay a quarter on the edges of each of them and then come back and tell me that they don't predominantly wear more on the right side. In fact, I challenge everyone on this forum to do likewise and report back.
In my lifetime I've had many supposed experts try to tell me it's all about how the chain is sharpened and I've won every arguement with a quarter.
I don't have to check ,I already know.Like I said I have never seen right side wear. I'm not a weekend wood warrior and it's my business to know and if I don't know it costs me $ so I figure it out. If my saw wasn't cutting properly I woodn't get the correct trim on a valuable export log or my processor woodn't be cutting to it's maximum capacity or my fellers wood complain about man handling a saw on a bore cut. I don't accept inadequate equipment in my line up and bar issues with side wear is non-existenet. Maybe your buying cheap azz bars and thats why your having right side wear issues.
Read #2
https://www.hearth.com/articles/75_0_1_0_M1.html
Read #2
https://www.hearth.com/articles/75_0_1_0_M1.html
See... there you go again, making assumptions. I NEVER said I have a problem with bar wear. I have however had to file a lot of other people's abused bars.LEES WOOD-CO said:
If uneven bar wear is just a myth, why does Oregon even make mention of it? Over at arboristsite, I found this thread where the supposed pros hang out and they too are evenly divided.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=86602
I had a bar I never ever flipped over wore out 3 chains on it and it had a concave worn in to the bottom side of the bar almost as deep as the drive links on the chain, that is when i learned about turning the bar over with each new chain.
I took the bar off and checked it for square. The rail on the side it was curving to was slightly more worn.( Not much, 10 thousands maybe.) I checked the other side and it was dead on, so I flipped the bar over and put the same chain on. Works perfect now, nice straight cuts. Thanks for the help and the entertaining cyber war.
I am glad you have it figured out. Keep your chain sharpened evenly and you will NEVER have to worry about a chain that pulls to one side. ;-) I have always found that when a bar starts to cause a crooked cut it was time to flip the bar over .Next step was to take it to the saw shop and have them grind the bar.
Ncountry said:
I flip my bar every time I swap out a chain. That keeps the wear consistent top and bottom. No need to take the bar to the shop for a "grind"; the two inexpensive tools I referenced in an earlier post in this thread, along with a file or two are all that is needed to keep a perfect bar.
Sealcove said:
Agreed.
The same flat file that you use to take down the rakers can also be used to take the burr off the edge of a bar.
4-5 strokes down the edge of the bar on all 4 corners is all it takes to save a trip to the saw shop.
Once in a while If I actually ran a bar long enough I would switch to a 73 chain. (I always ran stihls) This would eliminate some of the excessive play and get more life out of the bar.
I've always flip the bar whenever I sharpen the chain or break down the saw and clean it with compressed air. Hard to put a number on it but if I had to maybe it would be 3hrs of accumulated use or as needed regarding the chain. It's been a long time since I cut more than an hour but when I'm cutting regularly the bar would get flipped a couple 3 times a week.
Before flipping the bar all the saws components get hosed down with compressed air. Then I'll either flat file or carefully grind all the burrs and rounded rolled over metal wear along the bar. That move helps square the bar up and only takes a few minutes to do...including the compressed air move.
Back in the day when I was learning hand filing if the saw was cutting down and left...I'd just take another file stroke off the right teeth. It the saw cuts to the left...it's because those points are sharper...
...and it's the points that do the cutting, you can't stress that enough to some people.
Before flipping the bar all the saws components get hosed down with compressed air. Then I'll either flat file or carefully grind all the burrs and rounded rolled over metal wear along the bar. That move helps square the bar up and only takes a few minutes to do...including the compressed air move.
Back in the day when I was learning hand filing if the saw was cutting down and left...I'd just take another file stroke off the right teeth. It the saw cuts to the left...it's because those points are sharper...
...and it's the points that do the cutting, you can't stress that enough to some people.
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