Philbert's Chain Salvage Challenge

[DCE]

It’s there in the early threads. Used by a lot of people for removing rust from chrome, collectibles, steel beer cans, etc.

Turned my chains green if left for an extended period. Good choice for camo chains!

Oxalyic acid is also a key ingredient in ‘Bar Keeper’s Friend’ cleaner / cleanser.

Philbert

Problem with oxalic acid is it can react with the rust ( iron Oxide) and the steel bar.. Also don't handle it as it can go through the skin and lead to low iron levels in your blood. It can also leave behind a residue that is difficult to remove. This often happens when its used to remove rust from mineral specimens, therefore; collectors avoid using it.

 

[Brufab]

CHAIN SALVAGED After breaking the last few links loose I wire wheeled it with dremel then cleaned in a degreaser. Chain turned out great for just 24 hours of vinegar and some elbow grease and pb blaster. Chain will be getting sharpened Monday at my local shop. Chain is .404 .058 64DL. challeng accepted!
Great thread philbert

 

[Philbert]

Now we just have to get you sharpening your own chains!

Philbert

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

Buckin' Billy Ray territory...

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

CHAIN SALVAGED After breaking the last few links loose I wire wheeled it with dremel then cleaned in a degreaser. Chain turned out great for just 24 hours of vinegar and some elbow grease and pb blaster. Chain will be getting sharpened Monday at my local shop. Chain is .404 .058 64DL. challeng accepted!
Great thread philbert

Thats old chipper style chain, make sure to keep your file flat when sharpening.

 

[Brufab]

So that is square ground then?

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

So that is square ground then?

No, it means the side plate is completely round. Most modern chains a chisel=square or round filed, semi chisel = rounded top corner for durability, micro chisel , and ripping chain for a smooth finish when milling lumber.
Chipper chain is more like a ripping chain but is filed at 30° instead of 10° .

 

[Brufab]

The drive link is marked 51 and the cutter is marked 30 my other. 404 .058 chain the cutter is marked 25. Thanks for the info. Those charts are going to help me immensely!

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

The drive link is marked 51 and the cutter is marked 30 my other. 404 .058 chain the cutter is marked 25. Thanks for the info. Those charts are going to help me immensely!

Old Oregon chain is marked 50=.050, 51=.058,52=.063 on the drive links.
The markings on the cutter are the style of cutter.
All modern .404 is .063,.080, and .122

 

[Brufab]

Thanks, my 2 different oregon .404 .058 chains one is as you said chipper (30) and the 72 DL one is (25) I'm thinking super chisle? The s70 chain is stamped 25 but says 3/8 pitch

 

[Philbert]

These are automotive body files I collected to use for reconditioning plastic wedges. Not my favorite (see post #30 in link below), but they work better than metal files or wood rasps.

Top one is basically new, with Philbert factory handles attached. Bottom 2 were garage / estate sale finds that were a bit rusty / gunked up (sorry, no ‘before’ photos).




Cleaned gross gunk from teeth with dental pick, and rust with an overnight soak in a weak citrus acid bath, along with periodic, fine wire brushing.

Success! All rust removed.

Dark spots on the middle file are where the rust wore through a light colored coating. The bottom file is just a darker color; the spots in the photo are just moisture from the cleaning process. *Photos look better when blown up*.

Did not want to use a strong acid that might eat the cutting edges off. The cutting edges on these files are not as ‘sharp’ as some other types, so I think they will be OK.

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/wedge-renewal.299485/
Philbert

 

[Wood Doctor]

Yesterday I salvaged a Stihl chain for an Echo CS-590. It's 3/8" pitch, 050 gauge and 70 DLs. Somehow it had stretched a little and could no longer be tightened. The owner brought in two 590s. One refused to tighten it, and he said, "Can you knock out a link?" I thought for a a second and said, "Yes, but let's try the other saw's bar."

As expected, the chain tightened right up on the other saw. The bar on the saw that refused to tighten was some strange clone, and I noticed the holes on the bar for the tightener were a bit too far forward.. Second, that saw was using a very worn sprocket. So, I salvaged a slightly stretched chain without removing a link from it.

 

[Philbert]

Been a while . . .

I have occasionally been salvaging chains, but not too much new to report. Thought I ought to post a little to keep the thread going.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Stalled Mall

A friend gave me a piece of Mall scratcher chain. Good condition for its age, but also showing signs of arthritis (would not bend easily at joints).



No obvious signs of rust, but about a third of the rivets were very tight. This is usually due to internal rust, or dried out grease, which acts like an adhesive.

First step (above) was cleaning in ‘SuperClean’, followed by a thorough brushing with a soft, stainless steel brush. The rust removers can’t work if the metal is covered in grease.

Soaked overnight in ‘EvapoRust’, which left a black coating on the older steel. Brushed that off, and soaked for 6 hours in a citric acid bath (all this stuff is discussed in earlier pages of this thread).Final brushing returned chain to silver-grey color.

Several links still tight. Baked 30 minutes, or so, @ 200°F to remove any residual water (darkened metal slightly). Then started addressing each link with 3-In-1 oil, and some mechanical persuasion (see Post #112 for additional comments on this. Photo shows a different chain. I usually cushion chain with a small block of wood under hammer).



Took some time, but got all rivets free, and lose. Chain took on a gold color with oil, and the heavy links roll around like fine jewelry.



Winner: Philbert! Got a nice sample of Mall scratcher chain for my collection!

Comments: Removing rust does not replace missing metal: still some pin holes across the surfaces. Keep chains lubricated in storage to avoid situations like this.

Philbert

 

[fearofpavement]

About a year plus ago I had loaded a large bin of saw chains into my truck in preparation for tornado clean up. While I probably have hundreds of chains in my shop these were ones I use on my line up saws. ie, mo.stly 20 and 24" with a few 28", 32" etc in there as well. At any rate, water got into this ignored tub of chains and badly rusted dozens of the chains. This was frustrating but I tossed all the rusted ones into my parts washer tank which is filled with kerosene (actually Jet-A). About 10 months later, I ran all these chains on the appropriate sized bar and got them all freed up. I put them back in the bin but won't leave it exposed to water this time.

 

[Philbert]

Rust Never Sleeps: Redux

These chains arrived in a box at ‘Philbert’s No-Kill Chain Shelter’ (along with several others requiring a little attention, and re-homing).



Unfortunately, they were received ‘D.O.A’ and will be respectively recycled, so that the steel can return for a useful life.

Could they be saved? Again, removing rust does not replace metal, and, especially with these smaller format chains, increases the possibility of breaking in use.

Light, surface rust is one thing. In cases where part of a common chain is damaged, it sometimes makes sense to salvage good sections or links to use for repair of other loops. For unique chains meant for display, it might be worth more effort.

Winner: Rust.

Philbert

 

[Wood Doctor]

Perhaps not a true salvage, but I received a chain to be sharpened for an Echo top-handle saw with a 14-inch bar that has 52 drive links. One of the cutters was completely sheared off.

Stihl top-handle saws have 51 drive links. It was far easier for me to remove one drive ink and reconnect (only takes one master link) than to replace one bad one. The owner has several Stihl top handle saws and that worked for him as well.

 

[heimannm]

Thanks to Philbert for the visit last weekend and recommending a sodium hydroxide based cleaning solution. I bought some Mean Green this week (the only thing Menards had in a gallon container) and have done 10 chains or so in the same small splash in the bottom of a plastic tub. I was quite impressed with the results and for the forseeable future will be cleaning chain with that method over the soak and scrub in mineral spirits. Very impressive results.

Mark

 

[cookies]

Philbert after doing the cleaning, rust removal and baking dry try soaking in the atf/acetone mix for a day or two then try breaking the stuck links loose by hand

 

[Philbert]

I was quite impressed with the results and for the forseeable future will be cleaning chain with that method over the soak and scrub in mineral spirits

Glad it worked for you! Just be sure to dry out all the water afterwards (bake, WD-40, etc., and re-lube).

Philbert after doing the cleaning, rust removal and baking dry try soaking in the atf/acetone mix for a day or two then try breaking the stuck links loose by hand

Tried the ATF thing early on (going back to Post #51 from Zogger; to a test starting around Post #90), Didn’t work so well for me. Might work in other cases or got other folks: good to have multiple tools in your tool belt!

Philbert