Oregon Square Ground Chain.

[Big Neb]

I just happened to look at the chain that came with the 460 I recently bought off fleabay. It appears to be a brand new 25" Oregon Square Ground. I've been wanting to try square ground for some time but have been too chicken to try any. Once you start using Stihl RSC it is hard to find a reason to switch. Now I find I have a loop to try.

So this stuff hates dirty even worse than full chisel?

Do most shops know what this stuff is? And more importantly how to sharpen it?

If I happen to like this stuff what Oregon chain is it?

 

[046]

just got a 100ft roll of Oregon square chain....

real solid performer. factory grind is not near sharp as done properly by your own grinder. using a simington 450, took me next to forever to find an affordable square chain grinder.

prices start at $800 range... unless you luck out and find a used silvey or simington.

square cut is not for dirty wood. it'll dull in a heartbeat. but if your careful with proper technique. it's not that difficult to keep your bar out of the dirt.

you are rewarded with a chain that cuts 25% faster than round. don't expect but about 10% faster with factory square grind.

 

[Freakingstang]

like 046 said, KEEP IT OUT OF THE DIRT.

Round chisel will still somewhat cut, square flat out dies if you hit dirt.

Sharpening it is the hard battle, hand filing takes a lot of time to learn. once learned, the consistancy has to be about perfect to get good results. Most people that don't have grinders will not run it just because it takes so long to file. Oh yeah, the files are about 6-7 times the cost of conventional round files.

Once you get past all that, it is very hard to go back to round chain

 

[Cedarkerf]

I have a pro saw shop that caters to loggers they stock all kinds of square ground but they send it out for sharpening. Lotta shops at best know what it is but dont stock it many shops look at you like you just arrived from Mars. Why I just bought a RazursharpII grinder so can sharpen my own. I prefer Stihl chain and just got a 100 ft roll of square ground full skip.

 

[West Texas]

Oregon 72CLX Chainsaw Chain

Oregon 72CLX is the DuraPro version of 72CL. The wider top plate of this square chisel cutter makes a wider kerf. This makes DuraPro chain the preferred style chain in fibrous woods like redwood, cedar and hemlock. 72CLX is .375 pitch, .050 (1.3mm) gauge , square chisel.

 

[extraspecialman]

I had always thought that square ground was for ripping.I always buy Stihl RS cause the dealer dont stock Oregon.I think the Oregon chain is better metal.Would the square ground chain hold its edge better than RS in super hard wood like dead locust?If the wood was clean that is?

 

[Cedarkerf]

Oregon 72CLX Chainsaw Chain

Oregon 72CLX is the DuraPro version of 72CL. The wider top plate of this square chisel cutter makes a wider kerf. This makes DuraPro chain the preferred style chain in fibrous woods like redwood, cedar and hemlock. 72CLX is .375 pitch, .050 (1.3mm) gauge , square chisel.

Tried a couple 32" loops on the 066 slowed the RPMs a little thought it dulled kinda easy.

 

[HolmenTree]

I got a 100' roll of very very rare square ground chisel bit chain:
Oregon 50 AL .404 -.050 and a full dozen of brand new Windsor 7" chisel bit files.[ probably the last doz. left in the world.]

 

[1953greg]

has anyone tried the goofy file on square chain with satisfactory results?
any comments?

 

[redprospector]

Yep, goofy file work's good. Easy to use in the field. In my opinion it's the easiest sq file to learn with (It's what I learned on anyway).

Andy

 

[046]

nope.. stihl chain has always been better... only reason I purchased Oregon chain was I didn't know there was a way to purchase stihl chain mail order.

there's feedback trickling in on latest Oregon chain being on par with stihl for durability.

that said.. I've been real pleased with performance of my roll of Oregon square chain so far.

some of that may be due to finally dialing in my simington square grinder. most of all modifying my sawing technique to avoid dirt at all costs.

generally will stop sawing log with 1/8 wood remaining. then roll log over for rest of cut. vs with round chain, I'd take cut all the way to bark, sometime kissing ground. no way square chain would tolerate that.

another modification to my filing habits is... no handing filing square chain. simply takes too long to do an effective job. it takes me a good 15-20 minute per chain to hand file square. vs 2-3 minutes on simington 450.

now my chainsaw gear box contains 16 freshly sharpen chains in different lengths, square and round.

I always buy Stihl RS cause the dealer dont stock Oregon.I think the Oregon chain is better metal.

 

[Crofter]

Square ground stay sharp

In absolutely clean wood there probably would not be a great difference in stay sharp between square and round filed, BUT, if you do hit any dirt the damage is far greater to a square filed chain because the back up metal is all removed inside the corner of the top and side cutter. The dulled round filed cutter has much more side plate hook than square ground and will still feed into the wood and tear out fiber. The dulled square ground chain simply stops feeding.

 

[B_Turner]

I run square ground most of the time, atlhough I prefer Stihl by a fair margin. I have tried some of the newer Oregon duro chain, and I do find it holds up better than the older Oregon chain.

It is true that square doesn't take minerals and such as well as round ground, but I personally feel the difference in durability between round ground and square ground is generally overstated.

To begin with, sharp square cuts so much faster than round ground it is easier to notice when it starts to go dull. And it's true that with less support behind the corner it stops cutting a little sooner, but I feel that once a chain starts to go dull it should get swapped immediately. You can continue to cut with round after the point starts to go, but I find it more productive and easier on me and my equipment to swap chains as soon as the edge starts to go.

I generally get 2 tanks per chain, and with square 2 tanks is a lot of wood. I am generally cutting fairly clean wood, and if the wood has been machine handled (forcing grit into the bark) then I occasionally have to break out the semi chisel.

Bottom line for me is since getting a square grinder a few years ago, even freshly filed round ground chain always feels dull to me.


Edit: I do alot of noodle cutting and if you haven't noodled with fresh full skip square you are missing out.

 

[HolmenTree]

I remember when the Oregon 72/73 LG chain came out in the mid 1980s, it was good quality chain, back then I was cutting 8 hours a day 5 days a week. In spruce falling, limbing & topping and not cutting the ground, the teeth would seem to hone & polish themselves after 8hrs or more of cutting and seem to cut faster. But cut a few pine and it would dull soon enough.Pine has more sand in its bark from the ground it grows in. When we switched over to stihl chain it was alot harder[ effort ] to file because of its heavier &harder teeth. Hit a stone with a Stihl chain and the whole tooth corner would break off not round off. But Stihl did their homework and they make a good chain today. Oregon did less and less field testing with their product over the last 18 years and their quality has suffered .

 

[Crofter]

I have heard that Oregon had a problem with teeth and sidestraps breaking in 30 below weather and they either changed the alloy or heat treat it a bit softer and cured the problem. The alloy content and the hardness sure is not published data.

 

[HolmenTree]

In northern Manitoba [-35 many winter days] we tested bars & chains for Oregon from about 1979 to 1991. We never had breakage problems then ,and all the Oregon chain since I never had problem with.

 

[Crofter]

Well for sure you get it as cold as Ontario! I got that from my stihl dealer that handled both Stihl and Oregon chain. Could be just one of those myths that go around. No company ever wants to admit that they ever had a problem though!

 

[wkpoor]

I've been using Oregon 72CL for some months now and love it. Seems to stay sharp for me but I keep out of the dirt. Took a couple of chains to get the hang of it but I seem to be doing alright at hand sharpening now to. Good enough I've been hand filing a square grind on the 73LG too. Makes it perform better IMO than the factory round grind it came with.

 

[HolmenTree]

I have heard that Oregon had a problem with teeth and sidestraps breaking in 30 below weather and they either changed the alloy or heat treat it a bit softer and cured the problem. The alloy content and the hardness sure is not published data.

Frank in what year were these Oregon chains breaking?


Willard

 

[Crofter]

I will see if I can find out. Sometimes oldtimers talk about something that happened a few years ago and it turns out it was 40 years. I have never broken one myself either.