Coldfront
Addicted to ArboristSite
There has been some discussion on whether it has any affect on your chain staying sharp or not. My experience has been that cutting frozen wood is hard on the chain and requires sharpening a lot more often. I did a search and found a few things about it. Many said that you should use a full chisel chain for frozen wood, but if it is dirty wood a semi chisel will hold a sharp edge longer.
Here are some of the other comments on it.
"Are there any changes that should be made to a standard sharpening process for cutting frozen hardwood? "
"On average you bet. first you will cut your rackers more for frozen but it depends on what type of wood and how much water is in the tree when frozen the more water frozen the harder it will cut."
"You may want to look into a carbide chain for this application "
"The "rules" from years gone by. File top plates to 25-30 degrees instead of 30-35 degrees. Set depth gauges to .020 instead of .025 or .030"
"I think the species of tree has alot to do with the amount of difference in how it cuts below freezing. When I cut beach, it cuts about the same as in the summer, but red oak causes alot of chain vibration when frozen. So I would guess it has to do with the natural water content of the species. Beach has a very low water content, and red oak is high. I think you would find kiln dried wood would cut the same no matter what the temp."
"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."
"A long time ago some sawyers used to have a "winter chain" set-up...basically just careful not to drop the rakers more than .020-.025. Frozen soft woods cut as hard as harder woods, and you really notice grabbiness (spelling?) in the winter.
As a firewood processor, you possibly have already noticed how deadfall cut different...them dry oak, ash, or hickory poles cut harder."
"I have been cutting alot of frozen hardwoods and noticed that my chain is dulling very quickly. I am using oregon DG because it is supposed to run sharper longer in dirty or frozen woods. Can anyone provide me with some help on this. Would I be better off running an LG? What are you suggestions."
"I use to run semi chisel during the winter, but now I only use full chisel. The full chisel is faster and I dont notice much of a change in stay sharp time with it. Thats with clean wood though. Cutting tops, firewood on dirty ground and I still use stihl or carlton semi chisel. "
"What happens is the operator does this so that they dont have to bend over as far. As a result they generaly get into the bad habit of using the tip to much, especially when bucking smaller wood.
Since granite is granite, and wood is wood, it is of no use to use anything other than full chisel. Abrasive material is not more gentle on chipper than it is on chisel, I think, so "stay sharpability" is a non word. I dont think a chain of any type allows the operator to cut rock with abandon.
I find it is very sacreligious to push dull chain of any type. Filing every tank, very gently, will ensure that you will become a proficient filer, along with a productive day. We all contact abrasive material when we cut, but it is what we do about it and how we avoid it that counts. Keeping rakers above 25 thou will reduce the damage to chain that has touched frozen mud or rock.
Although LG is softer and easier to file than RS, I am content to use either one. Sorry about the rant, but full house chisel is the only way to go for me."
"I hate to disagree with you on this issue John, and I don`t entirely, but the different working corner profile of semichisel does hold up better to less than ideal conditions. I don`t profess to know all the mechanics involved but I believe a large measure of the decreased loss of efficiency in dirty conditions has alot to do with the increased area of the working corner of semichisel. On your chisel chain you have a very small area doing most of the work so all the force is concentrated there. The dispersal of work over a larger area is also what causes the semi to cut a bit slower. Of course no chain is going to cut well after diving in the dirt or anything else that isn`t wood. I agree wholeheartedly that that careful attention to what you are cutting and frequent minor sharpening is the key to efficiency. BTW, I also suggest chisel chain in the winter unless you are blocking logs that were skidded through wet spots."
"I see what your saying about chipper taking more of a beating, but I still think chipper chain should be reserved for those that cant or wont file, or simply those that delude themselves into thinking that it is somehow better. How's that for a run on sentence?
Chipper chain is also fine for low performance saws and unprofessional woods workers. If we are forced to cut dirty wood, all the chipper chain in the world wont make for a productive day.
Buying a 1000$ modified professional saw and slapping on a chipper chain so we can go and cut a cord of dirt and rock impregnated Bulgarian Bugwood seems to goes against the grain, however, it might work on an 031, 041G, 090G etc.
Using chipper chain simply cannot circumvent the responsibility of the operator to not only file correctly and often, but also to do everything possible to avoid abrasive material. There is just no easy way around technique."
Ok so can anyone make heads or tails of that?
Here are some of the other comments on it.
"Are there any changes that should be made to a standard sharpening process for cutting frozen hardwood? "
"On average you bet. first you will cut your rackers more for frozen but it depends on what type of wood and how much water is in the tree when frozen the more water frozen the harder it will cut."
"You may want to look into a carbide chain for this application "
"The "rules" from years gone by. File top plates to 25-30 degrees instead of 30-35 degrees. Set depth gauges to .020 instead of .025 or .030"
"I think the species of tree has alot to do with the amount of difference in how it cuts below freezing. When I cut beach, it cuts about the same as in the summer, but red oak causes alot of chain vibration when frozen. So I would guess it has to do with the natural water content of the species. Beach has a very low water content, and red oak is high. I think you would find kiln dried wood would cut the same no matter what the temp."
"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."
"A long time ago some sawyers used to have a "winter chain" set-up...basically just careful not to drop the rakers more than .020-.025. Frozen soft woods cut as hard as harder woods, and you really notice grabbiness (spelling?) in the winter.
As a firewood processor, you possibly have already noticed how deadfall cut different...them dry oak, ash, or hickory poles cut harder."
"I have been cutting alot of frozen hardwoods and noticed that my chain is dulling very quickly. I am using oregon DG because it is supposed to run sharper longer in dirty or frozen woods. Can anyone provide me with some help on this. Would I be better off running an LG? What are you suggestions."
"I use to run semi chisel during the winter, but now I only use full chisel. The full chisel is faster and I dont notice much of a change in stay sharp time with it. Thats with clean wood though. Cutting tops, firewood on dirty ground and I still use stihl or carlton semi chisel. "
"What happens is the operator does this so that they dont have to bend over as far. As a result they generaly get into the bad habit of using the tip to much, especially when bucking smaller wood.
Since granite is granite, and wood is wood, it is of no use to use anything other than full chisel. Abrasive material is not more gentle on chipper than it is on chisel, I think, so "stay sharpability" is a non word. I dont think a chain of any type allows the operator to cut rock with abandon.
I find it is very sacreligious to push dull chain of any type. Filing every tank, very gently, will ensure that you will become a proficient filer, along with a productive day. We all contact abrasive material when we cut, but it is what we do about it and how we avoid it that counts. Keeping rakers above 25 thou will reduce the damage to chain that has touched frozen mud or rock.
Although LG is softer and easier to file than RS, I am content to use either one. Sorry about the rant, but full house chisel is the only way to go for me."
"I hate to disagree with you on this issue John, and I don`t entirely, but the different working corner profile of semichisel does hold up better to less than ideal conditions. I don`t profess to know all the mechanics involved but I believe a large measure of the decreased loss of efficiency in dirty conditions has alot to do with the increased area of the working corner of semichisel. On your chisel chain you have a very small area doing most of the work so all the force is concentrated there. The dispersal of work over a larger area is also what causes the semi to cut a bit slower. Of course no chain is going to cut well after diving in the dirt or anything else that isn`t wood. I agree wholeheartedly that that careful attention to what you are cutting and frequent minor sharpening is the key to efficiency. BTW, I also suggest chisel chain in the winter unless you are blocking logs that were skidded through wet spots."
"I see what your saying about chipper taking more of a beating, but I still think chipper chain should be reserved for those that cant or wont file, or simply those that delude themselves into thinking that it is somehow better. How's that for a run on sentence?
Chipper chain is also fine for low performance saws and unprofessional woods workers. If we are forced to cut dirty wood, all the chipper chain in the world wont make for a productive day.
Buying a 1000$ modified professional saw and slapping on a chipper chain so we can go and cut a cord of dirt and rock impregnated Bulgarian Bugwood seems to goes against the grain, however, it might work on an 031, 041G, 090G etc.
Using chipper chain simply cannot circumvent the responsibility of the operator to not only file correctly and often, but also to do everything possible to avoid abrasive material. There is just no easy way around technique."
Ok so can anyone make heads or tails of that?
:spam:
