How much trouble is the cut drifting?

[jwp]

When I use a crosscut chain for bucking large trees sometimes the cut will drift and not be straight. This drifting is a problem for me in some of the larger trees. I think that if I tried to cut a board which would require a long cut, that my saw would either cut out through the top of the board or try to cut the log in half.

How do you keep your cut going straight for 10 feet or more?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

That "drift" is caused from an improperly sharpened chain...

Either the teeth on one side are longer (more likely) or sharper than on the other side of the chain...

SR

 

[jwp]

I know that the chain will cause the drift. I am thinking that the chain would have to be perfect to make long cuts for making boards. I don't know if I would ever be able to sharpen a chain that precise.

 

[psgflier]

Chain misfiled can cause drift, but not so bad on a cross cut, you'd have to have the depth gauges or rakers out of balance to cause a real problem. Usually the problem is worn bar rails or too wide of gauge bar for the chain.
You don't notice it in a crosscut when the chain is sharp, more as it dulls, but it's almost impossible to rip. The chain will either dive into the cut, binding the mill, or climb out of the cut.
Keeping the bar true is more important than keeping the chain sharpened even.
I got a bar grinder, I turn the bar over half way through the day, and true it up on the grinder after a day of sawing. For years I'd true the bar up by draw filing with a flat file, but bars work harden as you use them, the new bars seem to harden kind of spotty, with hard spots and soft spots, and makes them more difficult to true up by hand, and files don't seem to cut as good as they used to.
You have to make sure the bar gauge matches the chain gauge. The first rip chain I bought wouldn't cut for crap. I found out they didn't make 58 gauge rip chain, so the company sent me 50 gauge instead, and didn't bother telling me.
Chain drive links wear, and bar rails wear, combination allows the chain to run sloppy. Again, crosscutting, not a big deal, but a problem ripping. You can get a rail closer, but I just tap the rails together with a ball peen hammer. Set the bar flat on some kind of anvil, we used to drive an axe in a stump and rest the bar on the flat of the axe, put a length of chain in the groove, and lightly tap the rails closed, hold the bar at a slight angle so both rails are closing. Again, lightly tap evenly down the rail and keep checking the clearance by moving the chain in the groove.
It's a good idea to true up the bar with a file or grinder after setting the gap.
Everything wears faster, and is more critical when ripping. The bars have a tendency to spend more time cutting in a concentrated area, and the middle of the length of the bar will actually dish out, leaving that area with less support for the chain.

Carl

 

[BlueRider]

Another thing that can cause the bar to drift in the cut is a bent bar. I had a 32" bar that looked straight even when I held a straight edge up to it but it had 1/8" of twist that only showed up when I took the bar off the saw and put out on my table saw.

That 1/8" twist caused a lot of drift even though you couldn't see the twist in the bar.

 

[rarefish383]

Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe they made better bars 40+ years ago. Both of my 36" bars for my Homelite 1050 are from the early 70's. Way back then I never flipped my bar because I thought the Homelite writing on it look silly up side down. So the bar that was used most actually has a belly in it at the point of contact, a few inches behind the nose. Used to dress the bar with a flat file if a lip started to form, but since I've retired they just don't get that much use, maybe 20hrs a year milling. As long as I keep them sharp they run true. I sharpen by hand and have never put a micrometer on the teeth. Another though, I'm running 404 chain and maybe those bars are a little heavier and less likely to twist or bend, Joe.

 

[BobL]

Most chainsaws brought to my attention for cutting crooked have either chains that are too sloppy in the groove or the bar rails are unevenly worn, then comes fitting the wrong chain to the bar, and the guy that sharpened his whole chain from one side of the bar and thought he was doing a good enough job to still cut wood.

Most people I see using a chainsaw automatically hoike unevenly on the saw which twists the chain in the groove and spreads the rails. One rough rider was bringing is saw back to me every 6 months or so and sure enough sloppy chain every time!! so I decides to watch him cut and could clearly see him doing this.

 

[jwp]

I started this thread because I was considering getting a mill for my chainsaw. Then I thought that my saw drifted in large wood and this make me think twice about trying to saw boards.

I can see that having a mill would either teach you how to get a saw to cut straight or get you to give up milling pretty quickly.

Thanks for the tips on how to get a straight cut.

 

[psgflier]

I crosscut crooked most of the time. Doesn't matter, brand new bar and chain, machine ground bar and chain, hand filed chain. That's my problem, not the saws. I can make rip cuts that will put a smile on your face. I can put out lumber that will out class nearly any band or circle mill. Some people think the boards have been through a planer.
The vast majority of problems cutting straight, other than operator, are with the bar. Bad chain will cause the bar to wear, then problems with the cut.
I've cut with chains poorly filed, broken teeth, missing rakers, teeth bent out of line, all kinds of stuff, and been able to make decent cuts.
No one can hand file a chain perfectly, one side of the chain always gets filed more than the other. That's just human nature, just like no one can walk in a straight line in an open field without some kind of reference, body pulls to one side or the other. That will start the bar to wear unevenly.
A bad sprocket or bad chain-bar entry geometry can also cause cutting problems, usually thrown chain, but sometimes bad cuts.
I started filing chains on saws for my dad in 1958 or 59, not sure exactly, I was around 6 or 7. Dad was a timber faller, so I got a lot of practice. All we did was had file, never new there was grinders or guides until the middle 70's. File the chain when it would get dull, Red cedar bark and red fir bark was a bear on chains, sometimes pick up a rock. Take 3 strokes with a flat file on the rakers every third filing. Flip clean up the saw and flip the bar at lunch. Tru up the bar, clean the saw, grease the sprocket bearing and clean the air filter before heading out. that was the hardest because by then you were ready to quit and the rest of the crew was waiting for you,especially when you lost a key or nut.

Carl

 

[BobL]

. . . . I started filing chains on saws for my dad in 1958 or 59, not sure exactly, I was around 6 or 7. Dad was a timber faller, so I got a lot of practice. All we did was had file, never new there was grinders or guides until the middle 70's. File the chain when it would get dull, Red cedar bark and red fir bark was a bear on chains, sometimes pick up a rock. Take 3 strokes with a flat file on the rakers every third filing. Flip clean up the saw and flip the bar at lunch. Tru up the bar, clean the saw, grease the sprocket bearing and clean the air filter before heading out. that was the hardest because by then you were ready to quit and the rest of the crew was waiting for you,especially when you lost a key or nut.

Carl

Sounds a bit like what I did as a kid. My Dad was a timber faller and I started going bush with him when I was around 6 years old. I wasn't allowed to sharpen till I was a bit older. I used to carry the mix and bar oil and the tool bag. Dad carried two 36" bar McCullochs and the bag of steel wedges, a sledge hammer and an axe. Later I also ride the fuel tank behind the drivers seat on the D9 hooking up logs to the back with a steel cable. Had to watch out because the D9 driver was an alcoholic and kept a bottle under the seat of the D9, so he was not too careful when he took off. Then I had to run to catch the moving dozer and stand on a moving track at the back which carried me up to the fuel tank. I wish I even had one photo of this from back then.

 

[Greenland South]

And some people worry about the safety of playground equipment.