95TXL Super hard cutters!

[Motorsen]

So yesterday I tried the new Oregon 95TXL chain for the first time. First impression was a very blue chain. Saw some heat in production. Hmmm sharp out of the box. Not overly grabby could have the rakers lower to my liking. Stayed sharp longer than the usual 95VP and later 95VPX chain I am used to. Never really liked the VPX chain anyway and it's been shortlived before being superseeded by the TXL. After bucking up clean 1 meter pieces into 3 producing what you guys call 1cord and using 3 full tanks in my little Jonny 2145 the chain still seemed to cut decent I decided to do a touch up on the cutters. Thinking hmm normaly I sharpen after every refuel this chain holds up pretty good. Up in the vice, tighten chain, mark first cutter with a dab of the permanent marker and on with the file. First cutter was damn hard to file. Second the file would not even bite!!!! Hmm you took a new file this morning didn't you? Double check yes you did. Na that must be a bad file got another one in the tool chest. Same story. File just skates on the cutter and will not get a bite i the metal. So now: Have any of you guys tried the 95TXL chain and find the cutters extremely hardened??? Or is it me? Never tried anything like this before. Tried some Stihl chain before and yes they are harder that the usual Oregons. But this is really danm tough!!!

Motorsen

 

[Philbert]

Not all blueing is due to overheating. But if you can't file it with a new file, then it sounds pretty hard. I have not tried to sharpen a loop that I have yet, but I usually use a grinder anyway.



Philbert

 

[stckciv]

The cutter, drive link bumper drive looks the same on both the TXL and VPX. Why is the TXL not a saftey chain when the VPX is?

 

[Philbert]

The cutter, drive link bumper drive looks the same on both the TXL and VPX. Why is the TXL not a saftey chain when the VPX is?

I talked to an Oregon rep about this. Apparently, the 'low-kickback' designation is based on test performance, and not on design features. The Oregon team wanted a more aggressive cutter profile which apparently did not pass the test, but still offered some reduced kickback benefit.

So (my words, not theirs) it probably came close, with less kickback than a 'yellow' chain, but not enough to pass the test standard.

Philbert

 

[Motorsen]

So still not anyone else who have tried the TXL chain who dares to chime in on the subject???
Sharpened the chain last night. Took me one stiff hour of stroking making my hands in pain as I had to apply some pressure on the file to get it to bite just a little bit! Removed alot less material than on a normal sharpening duty with 3-4 passes on each cutter. But managed to keep my angles and not wiggle too much around with the file despite having to apply subtle pressure to get a bite. Chain felt and looked sharp. Threw gear in trunk this morning heading for the woods very anxious how the thing would act up to my efforts last night. The chain felt as razor sharp as it looked last night! And the chain survived another 3 tank fulls without feeling the slightest dull at all. And I am normaly pretty discriminating towards a sharp chain. I will rather stop cutting and touch up a chain rather than just finnish the job to get on. I absolutely hate dull chains. Boy this one holds the bite. But one hour of fiddling with a file to sharpen? I will rather have a couple of normal loops and change between while topping up fluids than this Bruce Willis chain. Must say that the file I used is absolutely fu....! No real resistance on striking between fingers. Allmost just a grey piece of rod.

Motorsen

 

[big hank]

I have also experienced this with some Oregon chain, which is one of the reasons why I don't use it.
It must have been overheated during the initial sharpening.

See if you can use the corner of a flat file to make a little cut in the gullet, so you can get through the over hard part.

 

[Motorsen]

Yup Hank, kind of what I was thinking. Break through the hardened/cromed surface and see if it still acts up. But this chain just seems to be genuine HARD! Another thing I have noticed is that there is hardly any chain stretch. Normaly you get a slack after the first stint. On this one there were hardly any. That is at least on the positive side. Gonna give another beating tommorow on the same initial sharpenig to see how it behaves. Despite running 3 tanks through it today it still razor sharp!

Motorsen