Wanted: Chain education!

[Jack_Shaft]

I have to say that although I have used/ worked with saws for some time, I have never really obtained knowledge on chains, chain types and their suitability for different wood or duties.

Does anybody have a link to some good info? Since we have a good Stihl dealer here, I just go to him whenever I need a chain and he fits me with some standard Stihl safety chain. Although this is probably best for most casual users, I'm sure I'm missing out on some performance here somewhere.

Recently I purchased a Makita DCS6401 and it came with some kind of a freaky chain that I have never seen before and it really rips through the spruce and fir that we cut around here.

Any guidance offered is appreciated.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

:welcome:
Do a search for "chain types" or similar. If you still have questions next month when you get finished reading, bump this thread up and ask away...

Ian

 

[Jack_Shaft]

:welcome:
Do a search for "chain types" or similar. If you still have questions next month when you get finished reading, bump this thread up and ask away...

Ian

Certainly did a search for those exact words and to be quite honest I came across a load of unrelated garbo. Was hoping somebody had a nice link to an Oregon site or something that explained the differences well.

 

[KennyW in CT]

Oregon has a good FAQ section

http://www.oregonchain.com/faq.htm

 

[KennyW in CT]

Go to the link and just scroll down to see all the topics.

 

[ray benson]

I downloaded this from the Carlton site and saved on my computer last year.

 

[Cam501]

our stihl distributor is pushing us hard to sell more safety chain and we may have a waiver form to sell non safety in the future.

 

[Stihl #1]

There are some good .pdf files here that may help...

http://www.stihlusa.com/information/info_tips.html

Why Buy STIHL OILOMATIC Saw Chain?

Sharp Advice - A Guide to Saw Chain Maintenance

 

[psquared]

Oregon chain manual, harvester manual links

Here is a link to A 102 -page, safety and maintenance manual for bars, chain,and sprockets from Oregon, lots of good info:

http://www.oregonchain.com/tech/ms_manual/ms_manual.pdf

Next is a similar manual for harvesters

http://www.oregonchain.com/pdf/harvester/MechanicalHarvesting_2005.pdf


KESS

Keep-Em Safe and Sharp

 

[SawTroll]

I downloaded this from the Carlton site and saved on my computer last year.

Looks pretty good, I will print that one out - just because.........

 

[SawTroll]

To put it simple, regarding Stihl chain:

RSC/RS for clean wood, RM/RMC for dirty wood - keep an inventory of both, with a mix according to what kind of wood you cut the most......:greenchainsaw:

If you bore-cut a lot, consider RSK, or Oregon LP if you want it a bit less agressive....

Oregon LP is a very good allround chain for clean wood, but it doesn't like dirty wood at all, RSC keeps the edge a bit better.......