Making Chains

[sgreanbeans]

So I bought a chain linker/rivot spinner tool so I can start making my own chains. What is the cheapest place to order from. Do they kill ya with shipping cost ? And has anybody heard of Laser brand bulk chain? Cutters Choice sent me a mailer and they carry them. Seemed pretty cheap. $245 for 100ft roll, 3/8, .50 gauge. Was doing the math, holy crap! Seems making chains will cost about a third.

Tank u, Tank u verdey muuch

 

[Iustinian]

So I bought a chain linker/rivot spinner tool so I can start making my own chains. What is the cheapest place to order from. Do they kill ya with shipping cost ? And has anybody heard of Laser brand bulk chain? Cutters Choice sent me a mailer and they carry them. Seemed pretty cheap. $245 for 100ft roll, 3/8, .50 gauge. Was doing the math, holy crap! Seems making chains will cost about a third.

Tank u, Tank u verdey muuch

Ahlborn equipment has cheap chain, but its "cheap chain" lol. Its "price" vs "cost" when you're buying chain IMO. Stihl chain lasts and lasts, I can burn thru Oregon and Forrestor chains pretty fast. It helps to use that Stihl bar oil too, because it does keep it cooler and so your chain wont stretch as bad, and Stihl bar oil also keeps the pitch from accumulating on my knives I've noticed, where cheaper brands dont.

I've learned tho, for bigger bars, semi-chisel full skip chain lasts longer and is faster to maintain. "saves you seconds, costs you minutes" --Slamm. Full chisel may cut a few seconds faster on cookie cuts, but semi will hold its edge ALOT longer. The skip means fewer knives to sharpen, and thus, half the time sharpening it.

I have been wanting to experiment with Stihl's Super Classic for fun tho.

 

[epicklein22]

Laser chain is a cheap chain and doesn't last very long. Definitely not on par with Oregon or Stihl.

I'm not a fan of Total, Woodland Pro or Carlton either. They take a lot of work to get them cutting good and I've had Carlton chain that was so hard, it wouldn't sharp with a file.

BTW, I just bought a 100 ft. reel of Oregon LGX for $245 locally, so keep shopping....

 

[squad143]

You get what you pay for.

I perfer the Sthil chain. Buy it in 100' rolls.

Quite a bit more $ than other brands, ...........but it lasts............

till somebody his a nail......

or the ground.

 

[squad143]

Used up the last 25' of chain I had, making up some loops last night.

Was at the Stihl dealer this morning buying a case of oil and bought another 100' spool.

Should last me into next summer........ I hope.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Think I will just stick with oregon spools. Still way cheaper than buying them in a plastic package

 

[MarquisTree]

I stopped making loops about 10 years ago,usally order a box of 50 loops of 20" and 24". The 20" is about $10 a loop it doesn't seem worth the hastle of making your own. I like the woodland pro, Imo high priced chain isn't worth in for residential tree work, saws rarely get dull from cuttunf wood, usually end up finding a nail or something buried in there before that happends

 

[Bigus Termitius]

The foresters at the coop always made their own. Even whipped up a couple for me once. When I need a husky chain I just have a couple of semi skips made up at the dealer, or grab a loop from the farm store in a pinch, most carry stihl chains too. I've ordered some carltons off of site sponsors as well.

I've yet to endeavor in this area, I'd like to in the future though. Even if I don't do it all the time, having the ability to do so should pay dividends.

I've had better luck keeping chains sharp doing residential than on the ROW. That was almost a daily disaster.

 

[Oak Savanna]

Hopefully you bought a chain breaker to drive out rivets to go with that rivet spinner. I just finished up a roll of oregon chain and eneded up buying a 100' roll of laser 3/8 .58". I know other cutters that run laser and they seem to like it. I have never tried it. The guy at laser said its made by oregon in the usa with laser stamped into in. ( so he says) I used to buy loops from the dealer but this is way cheaper. Thats all they do is spin up loops, box em up and mark em up!

 

[Iustinian]

Hopefully you bought a chain breaker to drive out rivets to go with that rivet spinner.

you can also grind them off -- wont bend the links, so some people consider it to be better.

 

[Oak Savanna]

you can also grind them off -- wont bend the links, so some people consider it to be better.

Thats true. I have done both. Faster to punch em out but yes it will bend links some times. Was just making sure greenbeans was all set up for making his own loops.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Stihl chain just gets me all excited. It cuts great, is stronger (rivets, links, teeth) and holds an edge longer that anything else I've used. I don't have any numbers, but my experience tells me it's easily the best value out there. I buy it in loops from a longstanding saw shop for a good price and handfile to get maximum performance and chain life.

 

[Greystoke]

Always dealt with Madsens...last roll I bought was 219 on sale not counting shipping. Ran Stihl chain last few years of my Timber Falling career, and really liked the harders steel for holding edges but you pay for it. Does not matter as much to me any more. Making your own chains is the only way to go...probably cuts your chain costs in half or better.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Always dealt with Madsens...last roll I bought was 219 on sale not counting shipping. Ran Stihl chain last few years of my Timber Falling career, and really liked the harders steel for holding edges but you pay for it. Does not matter as much to me any more. Making your own chains is the only way to go...probably cuts your chain costs in half or better.

Did u ever finish the saw orchestra!

 

[MarquisTree]

So a 100' reel has 1640 dl, a 20" loop has 72 dl, that's 22 loops in a reel if the reel cost $245 its $11+ a loop. I don't see how its worth it to save a dollar or two a loop yo make ur own? Am I missing something?

 

[Greystoke]

Did u ever finish the saw orchestra!

Unfortunately I am not musical enough!

So a 100' reel has 1640 dl, a 20" loop has 72 dl, that's 22 loops in a reel if the reel cost $245 its $11+ a loop. I don't see how its worth it to save a dollar or two a loop yo make ur own? Am I missing something?

I did the math for my rolls of chain, and was selling loops to buddies at my cost for example 94 drivers was about $12 per loop vs 20 to 25 at local shops.

 

[MarquisTree]

Unfortunately I am not musical enough!




I did the math for my rolls of chain, and was selling loops to buddies at my cost for example 94 drivers was about $12 per loop vs 20 to 25 at local shops.

I haven't bought chain from a saw shop in a long time. I buy most of our chain from baileys.
Their reel price works out too $0.1646 a dl
their loop price for a 24" is $0.1780 a dl
that works out to $1.12 savings by making your own, providing you never waste any chain.

I used woodland pro 38RC as an example, it varies some depending on the chain but not enough to justify the effort of making your own IMO

 

[MarquisTree]

On a side not regarding quality of woodland pro chain. This weekend I was in the Albany area cutting up some fallen trees that had come over from the irene floods at a family farm. 4.5 tanks of fuel cutting up somewhat dirty hickory in a stream bed and the chain was still cutting like a laser (until I cut thru a hollow section full of hidden sand and pebbles ) before I had to sharpen . I can't expect much better out of a chain