Re: Was chain sawing a dead Monterey Pine today & had a few basic questions

I may have the opportunity to test the IFR with a chain saw. The IFR-1500 currently has a very dead power supply. I thought I had it fixed, but it didn't last: I've tried to repair it by replacing almost every part in the AC section without success. I'm going to try replacing it completely with a 117VAC only PC desktop power supply (I don't need DC operation). If that doesn't work, it's either eBay or the chain saw.

Also, the Wiltron sweeper on the left decided to celebrate its 30th(?) birthday with a volcanic eruption of one of the PS electrolytics. It's been moved to the "to be fixed" pile. The HP 141T spectrum analyzer on the right was upgraded to a slightly better mutation. I have 3 such mainframes with assorted plugins. The glass bottle to the left of the IFR-1500 is environmentally incorrect mercury.

Workbench, without the chain saw:

Here's the shop the last time it was presentable:

It's amazing what I can accomplish in the 2 sq-ft of empty benchtop space remaining.

Not really. Just use a carbide chain: (1:16) The catches are that the chain costs $25/ft in 100ft rolls and requires a diamond wheel to resharpen.

On Wed, 1 Oct 2014 09:54:10 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D." wrote as underneath :

What they say in 4. is obviously true, but just dont push it to cut so fast that the chain slows down, a slow chain is more grabby, less cutty! Hence the kickback warning... C+

It's called "chainsaw bar lube". It's main features are that it will stick to just about anything, make a huge mess, mix with sawdust to form tar, and not get launched by the moving chain leaving what's left to actually lubricate the bar and chain. If you look in a mirror after sawing, and notice that you have a black greasy line down the centerline of your face and chest, you might need to add some additional "tackifier":

The grease is the "sprocket grease", which lubricates the bar tip sprocket:

Unless you're doing wood carving with a chain saw, a clean bar and chain is usually an indication of lubrication failure, or a compulsive clean freak.

This is what a properly lubricated bar and chain should look like:

Oil - 1. Kick the can over and it dumps oil on the floor. 2. Does not require a pump, grease gun, or spatula to apply.

Grease - 1. Kick the can over and nothing gets dumped onto the floor. 2. Requires a pump, grease gun, spatula, or shovel to apply.

Please re-read what I actually wrote: Something is wrong with that picture. You're suppose to have bar lube and grease just oozing out of the bar and chain. It looks dry to me. The oil goes on the bar and chain. The grease goes on the sprocket. The typical way to lube the sprocket is to use a grease gun until it comes out of the bar, thus producing a greasy looking bar. I did not suggest using grease on the bar or oil on the sprocket.

This might help: "How to Lubricate your Chainsaw Sprocket" Whenever I add bar oil/lube to the oil tank on my saws, or put away the saws for the day, I also lube the bar sprocket with grease.

"What is the difference between oil and grease"? ...oil is the general term that applies to all liquid lubricants, while greases are oils that have been mixed with a thickening agent, which turns them into a semi-solid material.

However, if you're into ecology, you might want to look into using vegetable oils for bar lube: I couldn't resist trying it. It worked quite well on a saw with a new blade and chain. However, with a much older and sloppier chain, I was consuming vegetable oil far too quickly and emptied the tank before I ran out of gasoline. It also tended to sling oil more than ordinary petroleum based bar oil. On the other hand, it smelled good, washed out of my clothes easily, and the smell made me crave fried food.

I suspect the difference is that I don't wipe the bar before storing the chain saw. I leave all the oil, grease, and goo in place, which inhibits rusting. If it's a choice between oil and rust, I'll take the oil.

With your fairly modern saws and bars, you're probably ok.

There's some controversy over greasing sprocket tips. Stihl bars are not intended to be greased and allegedly last longer. The claim is that greasing the tip brings in more dirt, which causes more wear. The higher speed motors rotate the sprocket fast enough to throw any type of grease or oil from the sprocket. Still pump some of the chain oil into the sprocket bearing for lubrication.

This discusses some of the issues involved:

All of my assorted saws are quite ancient and do not run at high speeds. All of my bars are equally old and have grease holes. I grease the sprockets. I added 3 more gas saws and one electric since I took this picture:

Probably the same as the MS170. No grease hole.

Incidentally, you might find this spreadsheet useful: It's a table and graph of gas/oil mix for 32;1, 40:1, and 50:1 mixes.