Tuning The Chain???

[rahtreelimbs]

I was on the phone the other night with another AS member. We got to talking about finding what chain setup any particular saw likes. If the time is available to do this is there such a thing?


Some people are of the belief that some smaller saws will cut better with a raker height of .015 to .020.



The floor is open!

 

[eyolf]

I'm no rocket scientist, but I'm in the camp that figures the small saws like the high (small drop setting) rakers.

I bought a new Jonsered 2149 a couple of years ago with a 20" bar and 95VP chain factory set at about that raker height, dang stuff cut like a raped ape for a 50cc saw...saw actually is faster limbing than my 670 after about an hour !

I fiddled around with raker height, filing one chain back until it got to about .010 Cutting speed got real slow at that setting unless chain was razor-sharp, but down to about .015 was pretty good.

I then took the rakers down to about .035. That was a bad idea; chain was rough and grabby, lots of binding and backing off in the cut. With concentration you can cut that way, but it was less fun.

That was only with the 95VP chain, but I'd expect similar results with regular chisel too.

 

[NevadaWalrus]

Would not the thickness off cut and wood type play into this in the same manner as chain type? No single chain or treatment is going to be ideal for every application.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Rich, 20 thou. seems to work well if the cutter is very sharp. I think the lower raker below 25 thou. tends to create more chain stretch and more damage is caused when contacting abrasive material. It all comes down to cutter type, sprocket size, type of wood and how hard one wants to push. Too low a raker tends to exaggerate any eliptical kerfs when a chain doesn't want to cut straight and increases wear.
John