Youngest CAD victim - Yes there are pics!

[diggers_dad]

It's poulans and homelites now. In a few years it will be stihls and huskys. Then hes going to be saving his money up for a new stihl. I think I'm the second youngest member with cad. I just bought a new stihl MS 460 a month after I turned 15. He will have cad as bad if not worse than me in a few years. I started running saws at 12 so he might have cad worse than me. It's good to see that there are actully kids in my generation that can work on stuff and enjoy working on and running saws and other equipment.

I saved up money for a new one once. I thought, what fun would that be?

Good choice on the 460! But, a new one? I've been collecting and working on saws since I was about 10 and have only bought 1 brand-new saw! My CAD is worse than most (30+ runners and just as many non) so, new saws are a little boring to me. But to each there own! So, get your self some old projects, and post some pics of your new saw. HAPPY CUTTING, BIG MIKE!

I guess I got a late start. I thought Digger was starting young, but looks like that's not the case. It appears he's in good company with others who have started young.

 

[chainsaw mike1]

Any progress yet? Just wondering.... Big Mike

 

[diggers_dad]

Some. Work has been a killer lately and I haven't had an opportunity to go out with him and work much. We did some work to the AV on Wednesday, took it apart so he could see the carb, oiler, cylinder, so forth. He has most of it cleaned up but I won't let him use any of the chemical cleaners, that has to wait on me. He wants it to be clean and pretty.

We were going to work on it today but I was called out this morning for work. My shop isn't heated so we have to try to do most stuff on sunny days so we don't get too cold out there. He reminds me every day that we need to work on HIS saws.

I bought him a tool box but haven't given it to him yet. I think he'll be pretty excited about that and I hope to take him to get some basic hand tools next week or the following week when he's out of school for break.

I'll post some pictures when I get a break from work. We took some the other day but I haven't put those up yet.

diggers_dad

 

[diggers_dad]

Okay, these are from the 7th. It was a nice day and we were able to work for a while. The first thing he wanted to do was get to the carburetor so he could rebuild it. "90% of chainsaw problems are carburetor or carburetor related" he says. Why did I ever tell him that? I've got a feeling I'm gonna be hearing that for a while.

This picture is when he got it tore down so he could start cleaning it all up.

This is when he was explaining to me how the carburetor works.

We are having a lot of fun with the whole thing. Thanks to Chainsaw Mike 1 and tbone75 I think he's gonna have a lot of experience (and fun) working on two-strokes and learning how things work.

What I should have thought of when I started this (and didn't), was that this is the little man that pats his mom on the bottom and says "Woman, get in that kitchen and get me some pork chops cookin'". I forgot how well he learns things from me...

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Right on Digger, and Dad Glad you guy's are having fun, and doing well. Sorry to hear about hectic work, and no heat in the shop. Can you get a woodstove?

 

[chainsaw mike1]

Lookin good!
If your looking for a good safe cleaner, use Simple Green. It's bio-degradeable, cheap, and works good too.

 

[diggers_dad]

Lookin good!
If your looking for a good safe cleaner, use Simple Green. It's bio-degradeable, cheap, and works good too.

I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. We have some in the house that the wife uses!!

Thanks!

 

[little possum]

Just wait till Digger figures out that he can put his parts in Mom's dishwasher and they come out sparkling clean:msp_tongue:

 

[David (saltas)]

orange oil from the skins of oranges works ok and smells better than kero

 

[diggers_dad]

We worked for a while tonight on the little Poulans. Digger finished cleaning and we've started putting it back together. Again, it's him, I just check bolts and provide guidance here and there. It got time to put a bar and chain on and I told him to get one out of the box Mike sent. He picked up a 10" bar, matched it with the chain and started to hand it to me. As he did, he saw the 14" b/c in the bottom of the box and said "Wait a minute...", then pulled out the 14". "Let's try this one" he said.

Aaaahhhhh. That's my boy!!

 

[diggers_dad]

Lookin good!
If your looking for a good safe cleaner, use Simple Green. It's bio-degradeable, cheap, and works good too.

I had some Simple Green "Max Degreaser" I picked up at the parts store some time back. It's in a spray bottle and Digger was excited to use it. It's not as strong as some of the other stuff, but not bad and no risk to the little man.

His grandfather has already indicated an interest in purchasing the first saw he gets put together.

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Nice!!!!! Just wanted to check in, and say hello before bed. A hello and good night to my little buddy digger!

 

[tbone75]

Looks like Digger is doing just fine!

 

[andydodgegeek]

This thread is making me wish I was a kid again. I want to be a young kid fixin chainsaws. It sure is nice to hear of parents doing this kind of stuff with kids, maybe there will be some good in the future.

 

[diggers_dad]

We made some progress today. I have some pics and I'll post them a few at a time. If I try to load too many my computer complains. Anyway, we went to a "This and That" shop and found Digger his own work bench. $20.

We had started to put it back together and I had him clean the bar groove before it went on the saw. He was surprised at how much crud gets in there.

The next step was tearing down the carb to see what it needed. It was Digger's expert opinion that the gaskets and diaphragm were fine, but the screen needed to go. It was his saw, so I explained how to change the screen. I also told him sometimes cutting corners is not a good idea.

 

[tbone75]

Looking very good! I like that bench too!

 

[diggers_dad]

He finished putting it all together, including a new fuel line and fuel filter. Next was starting it up. I warned him the long fuel line meant it would take several pulls to get fuel to the carb and not to get excited if it didn't run. I said "Remember, you decided to skip the full rebuild on the carb, so don't be surprised if it doesn't run right. 90% of all..." which was when he interrupted and said "Let's just try it."

So, about 20 pulls in as my arm was starting to get warmed up, the darn thing popped a few times. A few more pulls and it was running!! He was pretty pleased with himself.

Unfortunately, we both noticed a lot of fuel spray coming UP from the carb. I briefly explained the reed valve set-up and said we'd have to tear it down and see what was going on. It had been a long time since I worked on one of these and I knew they spit out SOME fuel, but this was so bad when I put the cover on it flooded out.

This is a picture of him saying "I knew the carb didn't need gaskets and a diaphragm."

Another picture of it all together. We'll try to tear it down this weekend and repair the reed valve. I vaguely remember how to get at it.

This is the next project on his list. A Wildthing, courtesy of tbone75. Digger is very excited to start it, but I told him not until we finished the Poulan XXV.

 

[diggers_dad]

By the way, just want to publicly thank ChainsawMike1 for his generosity and kindness. He sure has helped a father and son some spend some real quality time together.

Using Simple Green for the cleanup worked pretty good!!

Also a big thank you to John King (tbone75) for the Wildthing. He looked in the box and said "With all those different colors that's GOT to be a good saw!" Well...... to each their own I suppose.

Also thanks to Cahoon for the chain sharpener.

 

[cpr]

Awesome.

I love what you guys are doing. Christian is 5 and he's interested in what I'm doing and learning. He helps me from time to time when he has enough patience .

He was helping me on my kartsaw a couple of weeks back. Dang, time flies, I need to get back to work on that...

 

[little possum]

Do you have a air compressor? You can blow air into the carb, and it will help pull fuel up the line. Just a thought.