Chain Play in Bar

[walhondingnashua]

My bar is several year old now and has cut a good bit of wood. I have flipped it also. My question is, how much "play" from side to side is to much. I can roll my chain to each side a few millimeters. Is it time to replace my bar? What do other people do?

 

[TreePointer]

Use the straight edge test outlined here:

(broken link removed to http://www.madsens1.com/bnc_bar_maint.htm)

 

[walhondingnashua]

Great resource treepointer. Thank you

 

[peakbagger]

My bar had a lot of clearance on the slot so the chain would tip. It was not bad for bucking but a major PITA for making notch cuts. The chain could be sharp but it would tip and getting the cut started and kept going was a lot of work. The old bar is retired but may come back into service if I have some dirty wood to buck up.