bar gringing

[lawmart]

hi
does anone now a good way to grind down bars rails. I currently use the blue hand one, its good in the field bit it gets a little expencive buying those file all the time, plus one of my ground guys use sthill and tried it on his 28" bars and it worked liked sh**.
Would a Disk grinder or a belt grinder work and what size would be good .
I would think it should be of substantial weight and has a good table so it grinds the rails true.
Is there a reason why not one shop i have ever been in does not grind bars, (or is it money, they can sell new bars instead).
After chains this cost alot of money, and grinding the rails would lessen the cost abit.

lawmart
playsafe

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Lawnmart, with bar maintainance it is much better to subscribe to the " A Stitch in Time Saves Nine", ethic.
Get a palm sander and simply dress the bar, both sides on a regular basis instead of being posed with the problem of a burred and chipped bar.
Bar wear is a direct result of dull chain and worn sprockets.
Hope this helps.
John

 

[eyolf]

Lots of metal-working shops have disc grinders...the pedestal kind with a nice flat table. They work pretty well, but I can't see a guy buying one to use just for bars. The best prices I've seen are about a grand for the import models.

I think if a guy was real careful, you could get by with a body grinder.

I bet only a few commercial shops bother with rehabbing bars because it would be hard to make it pay; new bars can be had pretty cheap.

 

[Chainsaw_Maniac]

I'm using bars worth anywhere between $30 (for a 16" cheapo) to $100 for a good quality 24-28" with replacable tip. I don't want to toss any of these in the trash if a grinding can make them good as new for another 100 cord of wood.

I don't want to but a grinder for a couple hundred dollars so i get them ground at a shop for $7. If you don't have a shop in your area then try and find one it's worth it.

If you are going to throw a bar away then send it to me instead if it's still any good. I'll pay the shipping.

 

[lawmart]

pre-maintance is allways the best policy, but try telling that to my crew.
When you have droped a large silver in the back yard, and the price is for a day, the men are going to push the work so that it gets done in a day. Even if that saw chain is a little dull. so in the real world saws get cutting with a slant chains get dull and not sharpened, till it is to late.
then at the end of the day its brought to me and said this saw is cutting crocked. chain hit cement etc...
So the bar rails need to be leveled.
So just thought a upright grinder would be a good choice.

Lawmart
playsafe

 

[jokers]

I`ve done many a bar on an upright belt sander prior to buying a rail grinder. It worked fine, just remember to blow any grit out of the sprocket and groove prior to using the bar again.

I`ve seen many small, combination horizontal belt/disc sanders with an adjustable platen for about a hundred bucks. I`d check the runout of the disc with a dial indicator to make sure that it`s up to snuff, and take my time to square up the platten nicely then go to it.

Russ

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Call around, there's bound to be a saw shop around that has a bar rail dresser. The one near me charges $3 to dress a bar.
We bought a dresser for about $200 that works great.
Somebody said they use a belt sander I think you could make that work if you hold the bar straight.
Those combo disk/belt sanders would work, I bet. They sell for $79. The disk sander part has a table that holds stuff at 90 degrees. This might be a smart tool to buy because you could use it for other stuff. The $200 bar grinder we have, pretty much just dresses bars.
The palm sander would tend to round off the rails, I'd think, unless the pad was stiff. It would be slow too.

 

[lawmart]

You would think in 15yrs of doing the job Iwould of found a saw shop that ground bars . but not a single one, i mine not one.

Lawmart
play safe

 

[Tony Snyder]

I use one of those 9 inch disc / 6 x 48 belt rigs. I use the belt for getting the burs off, and the disc for leveling the rails. Have done hundreds on it, it works fine. I buy the 80 grit discs and belts.

I just do it for nothing if the guy is buying chain and I'm having to take the bar off anyway.

BTW; rail wear will occur whether the chain is dull or the sprocket worn out. Laws of physics will just not allow you to have motion with friction without wear.

 

[Bill G]

Tony nailed it. Metal on metal contact causes wear no matter what. It is simply common sense. Now some things may cause more wear than others but a bar is always going to wear.

Bill

 

[Chainsaw_Maniac]

Originally posted by Tony Snyder

BTW; rail wear will occur whether the chain is dull or the sprocket worn out. Laws of physics will just not allow you to have motion with friction without wear.

Whick leads me to throw in the obvios: If you are experiancing a lot of wear on your bars you might need to turn up the amount of oil flow (if you have an adjustable oiler) becuase oil reduces friction. Also, a lot of people don't clean out the oiler holes on they bars and on the chainsaw enough, If it';s plugged with dirst and sawdust the oil wont go where it's supposed to which leads to premature wear.

People sometimes say "just buy a cheap bar and replace it when it's worn out". Most pro's buy the best quality bar they can get becuase that's the cheaper way over the long term if you do a lot of cutting. (Best quality doesn't have to mean most expensive. A GB with replacable tip from cutters choice is as good a quality as anything, I think).

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by Chainsaw_Maniac
Whick leads me to throw in the obvios: If you are experiancing a lot of wear on your bars you might need to turn up the amount of oil flow (if you have an adjustable oiler) becuase oil reduces friction. Also, a lot of people don't clean out the oiler holes on they bars and on the chainsaw enough, If it';s plugged with dirst and sawdust the oil wont go where it's supposed to which leads to premature wear.

More likely than not enough oil, is dull or improperly sharpened chain. If your running a sharp chain, you don't need to push on the bar, it melts through, putting much less friction on those bar rails.
As you run your saw, look at the cutters once in a while. If they are at all dirty on top of the cutter, it's dull. Those teeth should be shiney and clean. You should not need to push down at all to make it cut. The saw shouldn't chug or stall in the cut, it should be nice and smooth.
At some rate, more oil doesn't help.

 

[sedanman]

Mike, If you cut ash the cutters will look dirty on the top with a rozor sharp chain. A few cuts in comething like oak or maple cleans 'em right off.

 

[glens]

I'd decided against saying anything earlier, but almost had posted the same only different.  Black locust makes them dirty and cherry (elm too?) cleans them up.  I think it's more a condition of the type and status of the wood than chain sharpness.  Or maybe it's that the chain will stay clean on a Stihl with Stihl chain and it gets dirty on a Husky with Oregon chain.  HaHaHa

Glen

 

[Tony Snyder]

glens, or, you have less bar wear on a Stihl because running = wear, so naturaly and E-lux saw is gonna have more bar and chain wear, and less shop time. hahaha

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by sedanman
Mike, If you cut ash the cutters will look dirty on the top with a rozor sharp chain. A few cuts in comething like oak or maple cleans 'em right off.

I never noticed that.
I'll pay attention next time and report back. It seems like my cutters are always spit shined.