Frozen wood chain angles

[carhartted]

Do any of you guys change the sharpening angle of your chain when sawing frozen wood?

I went out and was sawing in a friends wood pile last night and was having a terrible time, it was about 20 below zero. My 272xp would cut great through a spruce log but would slow way down in a peice of birch.

BTW Wood sure splits easy at -20, it was almost effortless.

Thanks
Jonathan
Fairbanks, AK

 

[SilverBlue]

I don't change a thing, you have to keep the tooth sharp though which means touch up filing as soon as it starts to get dull.
Fairbanks is a nice place, haven't been there for several years now but would love to visit again, say... need any help with that wood pile

 

[jokers]

Hi Jonathan

Reducing your topplate angle to 20°-25° will give more support to the working corner and help your chain stay sharp longer when cutting frozen wood. It doesn`t make your saw cut any faster, just the opposite, but you can cut efficiently longer. You also want to be careful that you don`t have too much sideplate angle for the same reason.

Russ

 

[buckwheat]

While I've never had the chance to try it, I've had several guys tell me that one should switch to chipper cutter chain for frozen wood because it holds it's edge better.

 

[Crofter]

Frozen mud is much harder to cut than either softwood knots or frozen hardwood. Regulate your filing angles according to how much mud you cut.

Frank

 

[Tony Snyder]

I believe semi chisel hold its cutting ability a bit longer in frozen wood.

I don't know anyone who has tried actual chipper in probably 25 years.

 

[buckwheat]

I don't know anyone who has tried actual chipper in probably 25 years.

Point taken, Tony. The following is nicked directly from the Madsen's site, which I'll pass the buck to as the root of my misinformation:

"Sometimes chain manufacturers try to combine elements and come up with names that are confusing. The name may not tell you if the chain is round or square, but it is common for: round = chipper, square = chisel."


I actually have one loop of chain where half the cutters are square and half round. I guess I should wait for spring thaw to use it appropriately.

 

[Crofter]

If you hit bits of sand and mud with a semi chisel chain it will not damage the tooth as far back as you would with chisel, so you dont have to take as much off to smarten it up. I really dont think it is the frost in the wood that is doing it though. What is important is to not take the rakers away down. The teeth are more brittle when cold and you dont need to add an excessively grabby chain to frozen wood.

Frank

 

[z4lunch]

Frozen what!!!

Quote: Frozen mud is much harder to cut than either softwood knots or frozen hardwood. Regulate your filing angles according to how much mud you cut.lol

Jonathan,
Steve here... Thats..... what I'm talkin' about!!!
Early last spring I had the misfortune of bucking some 30inch maple rounds that where frozen to the ground,mud whatever.
My square ground chisel chain didn't hit the ground but for a millisecond, or so it seemed. I put the bar on the log to make another cut, and it was like the chain was on backwards.

This last winter, I was out bucking up a 24inch frozen oak stem with my 088KD....7 degrees F. No ground this tyme.. The saw blasted thru this old oak like it was cork, ice crystals in the middle of the wood. I don't think the chain cared, as long as it's sharp.
Steven

 

[carhartted]

Point well taken. It was dark, as it always is in the winter this far north, and I may have hit some mud or a dirt clot on one of the logs. I had not thought about that.

I always sharpen my chisel chains with a round file at 25 degrees, so that is what I will keep on doing.

Thanks

Jonathan
Fairbanks, AK