Ripping Chain options. Lets share!

[U&A]

If there is not a good milling/ripping chain thread maybe we can make one?

Im thinking we can just share our experience of different chains, manufacturers, full comp, full skip, hyper skip, DIY chain sequences anything to help each other out.

What works best in large diameter and small diameter logs. Soft woods and hard woods. All the above. Just keep it positive and helpful.

 

[U&A]

So you know my situation, i do milling for a living. Im still very new to milling and always appreciate learning from others. Im mostly interested in findng solutions to save time/money and maintain good cut quality. If it cost more and i save enough time to make it worth it im all for it.

In 3/8 full comp iv used:
Carlton
Woodland pro (same as Carlton?)
Archer

I 100% will not use full comp milling chain any more once its all gone. Personally i did not see any benefit in the amount of time between sharpening. No matter the size of the log (all hardwood for me). Iv used full comp on 36” and 42” bars milling up to 34” diameter logs. Down side for me was sharpening time. I sharpen in the field with a Granberg bar mount 12v rotary grinder for consistency and speed. Love the shaper tho it had its issues.

Archer actually seems to stay sharp the longest and handles nails and soft metals a bit better. The chrome plating seems super thick on the cutters. I see less damage on the cutters when i hit metal. Price of Archer is VERY good too. In stock Supply directly from them is hit or miss tho.

carlton and woodland pro worked fine as well. Just seems to dull slightly faster. Still great chains. Seems wildly available.


In 3/8 full skip iv used
Archer

Really liked it. My favorite 3/8 so far for the reason stated above. Plus less cutters to sharpen.


In 404 full skip iv used
Archer

Same same here. .404 is a HECK of a chain. Very long lived compared to 3/8. Stays sharp noticeably longer. I think the bigger chain in general just handles the abuse/heat of milling much better. Very happy i switched to .404. I will switch all of my milling chain to 404 from here on out. I DID have one link crack on me AND i did find one spot in a roll of chain that the manufacturer missed a rivet with their machine and they ran the spinner into the side of a link. The rivets were still done but the link was damaged. I replaced it.

BUT!!
Im always wanting to find and explore options. I wanted to compare another brand chain of the same standard “full skip” sequence. I was having a hard time finding anything but did find this. Interesting it is in the “Versa Cut” line. I got a 100 foot roll order locally. Have not paid for it yet but i think he said it will be around $650. It’s a “micro chisel” and has the fancy blue cutters. Im super excited to try it!!! Ill report back.

https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/versacut™-saw-chain,-100'-reel/p/27ax100u

 

[Mad Professor]

Anything small ~28" or less you can beat Stihl 63PMX picco/lo pro. Hard to find and expensive. And you need matching pitch drive/bar sprockets. Been using it since the 1990s on a 066 and logosol mill.

Lots of milling chain threads here do a search.

Getting serious about lo pro

 

[U&A]

Anything small ~28" or less you can beat Stihl 63PMX picco/lo pro. Hard to find and expensive. And you need matching pitch drive/bar sprockets. Been using it since the 1990s on a 066 and logosol mill.

Lots of milling chain threads here do a search.

Getting serious about lo pro

Iv heard of the Stihl Picco. Have not had a need for it yet. I am going to try my skills at making beams tho. Should be fun. Maybe for the smaller logs for beams that chain will be good

cant hurt to start another then eh? Just sharing my experiences

 

[Mad Professor]

Iv heard of the Stihl Picco. Have not had a need foe it yet. I am going to start try my skills at making beams tho. Should be fun. Maybe for the smaller logs for beams thst chain will be good

cant hurt to start another then eh? Just sharing my experiences

The 63PMX gives an exceptionally smooth surface and the narrow kerf wastes less wood.

For beams you want to box the heart of the log.

 

[U&A]

The 63PMX gives an exceptionally smooth surface and the narrow kerf wastes less wood.

For beams you want to box the heart of the log.

Yup

 

[J D]

My preferred milling chain
https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/setup-to-make-granberg-style-chain.349371/

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

I think everyone knows mine by now the amount of threads I've gone on about it lol. Picco picco picco, 3/8LP. As far as brands, I'm not fussed, I'd get Stihl 63PMX if it was available in the US anywhere except Baileys and didn't cost so much, mainly because it's the only picco that is rated up to 36" bars. I was using Panther from the UK and now I'm on to making up loops from rolls of Archer 3/8LP .050 ripping chain, and am happy with it. Been milling hardwoods up to 30" with a 36" bar happily with picco.

I've talked about my take on skip varieties before too - hyperskip is like Michelob Ultra or something to me, pay a lot of money for a (.404 only) chain with hardly any teeth. Taking full comp and grinding off alternate pairs of teeth for a less extreme version of it makes way more sense to me, which you can do with LP, 3/8, or .404. That super/double skip array gives you half the teeth of full comp, whereas full skip is 2/3 the teeth of full comp, and the super/double skip is faster and I think gives you just as clean results as full skip.

What works best in large diameter and small diameter logs. Soft woods and hard woods. All the above.

You're milling a lot of really big hardwood it seems, a good bit of 36-48" oak, which only so many of us have a lot of experience with. Usually comes down to what works for you and your particular saw setup. With 3120's and 880's, .404 works pretty well but wouldn't use it on any smaller saws. My glitch about it is the greater likelihood of side to side oscillation of a large tooth and getting worse and worse as the rail groove gets sloppier, but that's minimized by having a highest quality bar like a Cannon. Something I only recently learned is that by and large most bars are about the same thickness and the larger the groove is (.063 vs .058 vs .050), the less material there is on the outer part of the rails and the easier it is to flare them. Partly explains, beyond its far greater ease of milling and minimal oscillation of picco, why my .050 picco bars haven't needed any filing yet from flared rails. I need to get my hands on a huge round of live oak to see what works out best with my 72" .404 bar, it's sort of the ultimate test of any bar/chain setup in the US. If something can handle live oak okay, anything else will be a breeze.

 

[muddy42]

Personally having tried ripping chain angles, I've gone back to using normal 30 degree crosscutting angles. Firstly I occasionally use my 36 inch bar for crosscutting. Secondly I mostly cut knotty hardwood so a lot of it is against the grain anyway and when milling crosscutting angles seemed to keep moving better. Thirdly I didn't really notice any difference - if the chain is sharpened evenly, you don't push or see saw, the results are pretty indistinguishable from each other. Finally its easier to sharpen every chain in my arsenal at the same angle.

 

[thenne1713]

If there is not a good milling/ripping chain thread maybe we can make one?

Im thinking we can just share our experience of different chains, manufacturers, full comp, full skip, hyper skip, DIY chain sequences anything to help each other out.

What works best in large diameter and small diameter logs. Soft woods and hard woods. All the above. Just keep it positive and helpful.

I use the Carlton/WP30 (x3/8 x 0.050) and generally take bar + x3 chains to the field. Experience/ experimenting has found the following: 1) Generally 12"dia. oak would yield 25-30-lin.ft+/- b4 noting decline. so following Logosol advice, "sharpen b4 it gets dull", I wud then "touch up" x3-strokes each cutter. 2) I would then touch up x3 times and then change chains; bench sharpen at night all four chains. 3) I experimented 0-deg** (90-degree cutters) (** Malloff recommended) vs 10-deg, and advantage of zero on bench is faster. bc U do not have to reset. You can grind every cutter consecutive; I did not note any difference in finish/ speed. 4) Advantage of bench grinder vs file sharpen is bench grinder = less acute angle than round file, while "slightly less sharp" at beginning, gives about 30% more linear feet cutting b4 dulling. = extra cut on 8-ft. THAT WAS DECIDING FACTOR. About x3 hand filing touchups was all I cud get b4 bar wud try to dive/ climb but was not using bar mounted guide.

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

You can grind every cutter consecutive;

Hadn't ever thought about that in the 0 degree grind - nice advantage there. I've never tried a zero yet, that's something to add to the list of chain experimenting I haven't gotten to. Until dulled a bit by the first 4' of cutting, I find even fresh sharp ten degree chain a bit aggressive in .404, though not a problem with 3/8LP because much less tooth bite. Side forces on the chain are the enemy of good clean milling, which Malloff talks about as the reason for a zero degree angle. Greater the angle with just the leading edge catching the wood, greater the side force on the tooth. Any slop in the bar rails at all and those side forces cause a lot of side to side oscillation, enlarging the kerf, wasting wood, and leaving scallops. I think my next full custom experiment might be super/double skip with zero degree teeth, which is just Granberg chain with the pairs of half width scoring teeth removed (they're often inconsistently ground and unnecessary IMO).

 

[J D]

Just make sure you don't sharpen any less than 0 deg. I think the main reason most go with 5 deg is so as not to risk accidentally sharpening a reverse top plate angle which will cause you significant issues