Skil 1629 rebuild, June 2014

[user 122986]

Mounted the muffler with the proper screws, and ran the saw without the muffler cover plate and with the cover plate. There is a definite reduction of volume, but I think I must reduce the size of the muffler - to much risk of crisping my fingers. I will cut 3/4 inch from the top. It means losing one of my baffles, but I can live with that.

On another front, my replacement drum/sprocket assembly arrived, with bearing. I installed it before installing and testing the muffler. "Herr" drum/sprocket with bearing, via eBay. Installed easily, and is a new unit.
My old sprocket is a mess, it looks like someone ran the saw with different size chains. See the photos. The drum clutch surface and the bearing are good (if you look carefully at the bearing surface inside the drum you can see where I left a fingerprint with my pinky). The condition of the sprocket is why I didn't want to do any cutting tests before I got a replacement.

 

[user 122986]

It's difficult to find "legal" cutting material in a modern subdivision, so I had to wait for an opportunity to get out to the countryside.
I finally got my chance August 31 at a friend's farm. I initially cut an 7 inch maple that had fallen across a lane in the forested area. That did not seem like a challenge, as I cut several stove-size segments from the tree trunk. My next opportunity was a chunk of a white pine stump, 22 inches at the top, 27 inches at the bottom. I decided to just make 3 or 4 cuts from the one side, to see if the saw would fall apart.
The saw idled while I set up the tripod and camera (testing to see if it would quit on me). It seemed to run well under full throttle, but I felt awkward about cutting it so close to the ground. I worried a bit about kickback (and no chain brake).
The exhaust is smoky, because the fuel-oil mix is about 24:1
Video on YouTube at:

 

[user 122986]

This concludes my project to rebuild a Skil 1629 chainsaw that turns out to be a Skil 1631 chainsaw.
It has been fun and interesting. It is fortunate that there are still a few parts available online, although it is, at best, frustrating to find them. Despite the rarity of replacement parts, the vendors did not charge excessive prices for the ones I ordered, often less than the shipping costs.
I may just clean up this Skil 1631, and make a small display case for it in my garage, as a kind of trophy.
I may still, however, find a nice 18 to 20 inch maple or oak tree to test it on, but I doubt anyone would want to sacrifice such a tree for that purpose. Maybe some local woodlot owner who will allow me to buck a tree he/she has already felled.
Thanks to all who commented and showed interest in this thread.
Be safe.
Bruce

 

[CR125Honda]

Thank you for the in depth report on the 1631. 10 years later and I just read through it. Researching a weak spark on my 1631. Had a large coil air gap and haven’t checked the points yet. Anyone have a link for a set of points? I’ll be searching under Skil 1631 and now Frontier 340 as I’ve read they’re the same.

 

[CR125Honda]

Set the air gap to .014”, cleaned the contact areas on the coil and got it running. Actually running very well. For now I’ll go by “if it ain’t broke” regarding the points. Need to find a correct puller to get there when a new set of points are eventually found. In search of info for a correct replacement chain now.