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saw chain

Skip tooth chain will do better in ripping cuts, if you do a lot of ripping cuts you can always get skip tooth and do your own rip grind (5 degree top angle instead of the typical 25 degrees - basically sharpened like you would with a rip cut handsaw) but other than that, any chain will do the job. most important is keeping the chain sharp and avoiding cutting into dirty logs or getting it into dirt.
 
Kevin Jenness said:
What do you recommend as a chain type for efficiently processing blanks with my new (to me) 572XP saw? Crosscutting and ripping, mostly local hardwoods, 20" bar.
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I use Stihl, not Husky, so it may be different with them, but when I was trying to learn about saw chains, I was using a guide from Stihl USA which talked about a particular chain. I'm in Canada, and things weren't adding up, so I contacted Stihl and a rep explained to me that THAT chain was a low-kickback chain (also called safety chain). Standard on new US saws, but not even sold in Canada. So you may run into those chains; your call whether you want to use them or not.
 
I prefer a chipper style chain. Chipper chains have a "square" profile to the cutter tooth as apposed to a "question mark" profile on other chains. I use the same chain for cross cutting and ripping, the most important, as Brian said is to keep it out of the dirt.
 
Brian Gustin said:
any chain will do the job. most important is keeping the chain sharp and avoiding cutting into dirty logs or getting it into dirt.
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I replaced my ageing 272XP with the 572XP a couple of years ago. I would consider replacing your 20" bar with a 24" as it makes the saw better balanced. It will handle longer bars but I think the 24 is the sweet spot. Depending on how your processing the blanks the longer bar may keep you from bending over as much.
 
Any chain is good as long as it's not a "safety chain". The safety part is an odd raker that is very high and limits the size of the chip to an unacceptable fine chip and is very slow cutting. Now your question about ripping. A ripping chain has a very low angle on the tooth, almost zero degrees. I never rip from the end grain with a crosscut chain because it's way too slow. I cut the log to the length of the bar so I can rip from the side, long grain. You have to watch your speed so the curls don't jamb up in the guard by the motor. On my 20" I cut off some of the guard behind the sprocket to get better curl ejection.
 
First learn as much as you can about the safe and effective use of your saw.
Work with an experienced club member or a short course.

What others have said. Avoid safety chains if you are knowledgeable about using the saw.

I do not personally know any woodturner who has been seriously injured injured using a chainsaw
I know a half dozen who have visited ERs after misusing band saws.

Easier to get complacent using the bandsaw since it is one of the safest saws available.

Felling and limbing trees are special skills too. Many injuries occur from falling or moving wood and getting a pinched bar willl be embarrassing if not worse.
 
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Richard Coers said:
Any chain is good as long as it's not a "safety chain". The safety part is an odd raker that is very high and limits the size of the chip to an unacceptable fine chip and is very slow cutting. Now your question about ripping. A ripping chain has a very low angle on the tooth, almost zero degrees. I never rip from the end grain with a crosscut chain because it's way too slow. I cut the log to the length of the bar so I can rip from the side, long grain. You have to watch your speed so the curls don't jamb up in the guard by the motor. On my 20" I cut off some of the guard behind the sprocket to get better curl ejection.
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I was going to say the same about pro chain vs. safety chain.

Kevin, I have a lesser Husky (Farm Rancher). That saw has a chain saver. It should be called a chain ruiner. Every time the chain comes off, the drive teeth get all banged up and have to be filed down so they fit in the bar slot. I don't know why I haven't taken that thing off yet.
 
I went in to a chainsaw store to buy a saw rather than the big box store. They asked me what I was going to do with it and I told them I was a bowl turner and cutting up blanks. They suggested a skip tooth chain since most of what I was going to be doing with it was ripping. The skip tooth still cross cuts fine.

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
I went in to a chainsaw store to buy a saw rather than the big box store. They asked me what I was going to do with it and I told them I was a bowl turner and cutting up blanks. They suggested a skip tooth chain since most of what I was going to be doing with it was ripping. The skip tooth still cross cuts fine.

robo hippy
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Like all metal and woodworking, tooth count is influenced by how thick the stock is. Ideal cutting involves the proper number of teeth in the material at the same time. Skip tooth is not good for smaller diameter logs, and is a necessity is huge logs.
 
I’ve been using skip tooth chains in standard grind for many years - they excel in ripping and I see little to no difference in crosscutting (but then I’m not an expert user. I was steered to the skip tooth versions by an arborist U worked with when I showed him what I was doing.
 
I wound up buying two discounted Husqvarna S83 full-complement semi-chisel chains on Ebay to go with the chisel chain that came with the saw, $36 delivered. The gist of the advice I got was that a powerful saw with a 20" bar would drive a sharp chain of any design without issue, skip chain was not necessary with that length of bar, semi-chisel chain holds up better to dirty and frozen wood, and decreasing the top angle to 10* or less would give a better finish without improving rip speed. With 3 chains on hand I will always have a sharp chain and can easily touch up the dull ones on my son's grinder.

The 572 is a lot heavier than my dead 353 but for blank prep it should work out better. Initially I was looking at a 60ccc saw and was ready to buy an Echo 620 but this barely used saw showed up at the same price point so I went for it. I may want a longer bar someday but for now I can cut larger pieces from both sides.

I have been using chainsaws and bandsaws for over 40 years without a cut yet but a moment's inattention may be rewarded with the utmost astonishment. I get younger guys to do the felling.
 
I use full-comp full- or semi-chisel chain. When I was doing more felling (conifers mostly) I preferred full chisel, but now for driveway log processing I'm starting to like semi-chisel because it works fine and does stay sharp longer. I've never felt the need to mess with angles or etc, except to file down the rakers (aka depth gauges) a bit deeper (but I'm not really messing with that anymore either).

I keep 3 or 4 chains and swap them out. When I'm on the last one, the other 2 go to the saw shop for sharpening. I probably use up chain faster than hand sharpening, but the convenience and consistency is worth it to me.
 
Dave Landers said:
I keep 3 or 4 chains and swap them out. When I'm on the last one, the other 2 go to the saw shop for sharpening. I probably use up chain faster than hand sharpening, but the convenience and consistency is worth it to me.
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I ended up buying a electric bench-mounted chain sharpener that uses a narrow wheel. Remove the chain from the bar to sharpen. This lets me "cheat" and sharpen grind away more only on teeth that need it. (The shops usually grind all teeth to the worst one.)

As mentioned, what really helps the chain is keeping the wood clean. I usually haul logs to a spot near my barn near power and water so it's easy to bring out a small electric pressure washer to clean off dirt and mud when people come cut them up to take home. (setting the logs on 4x4s to keep them off the ground helps too.) Difficult to clean bark in the woods but a wire brush can help.

A friend of mine has gone to using only chains with carbide teeth on his saws. I've sharpened these at home with a diamond bit in a dremel; he takes them to a local shop with a diamond wheel.

JKJ
 
I found that I could pay for an electric chainsaw bench grinder pretty quickly compared to taking them to a sharpening shop. Especially if that shop sells chains. I never did measure the amount they remove for each grinding, but my chains lasted a lot longer when I did the grinding. They had an incentive to be a bit more aggressive!
 
I bought a cheap HF chain sharpener and it has been a money saver over several years. I am much more conservative with my chains than a saw shop and it has paid for itself many times over.
 
Richard Coers said:
I found that I could pay for an electric chainsaw bench grinder pretty quickly compared to taking them to a sharpening shop. Especially if that shop sells chains. I never did measure the amount they remove for each grinding, but my chains lasted a lot longer when I did the grinding. They had an incentive to be a bit more aggressive!
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Shops I know set the sharpening machine for the worst tooth and cut all teeth the same, removing far more useful steel than needed.

What’s even worse is when they don’t know about or on purpose ignore the depth gauges (rakers). These HAVE to be filed or ground down or the chain quits cutting when the teeth get shorter. I asked the local chainsaw shop one of the little tools for checking and they never heard of it - had to look it up and order one. To check, simply hold the little tool over the chain and you can feel if the depth gauge needs to be shortened. That even the sharpening guy at the shop didn’t know about depth gauges told me to never get a chain sharpened there!

A friend told me his chains didn’t last long before they quit cutting well. The shop just said the chain was worn out and sold him new chains. When I sharpened his “worn out” chain and lowered the depth gauges he couldn’t believe how well it cut.

Special grinding wheels are available to lower the depth gauges and you can use a file, but I just use a small stone on a Dremel.

John Redding said:
@John K Jordan. I’ve never gotten the hang of chain sharpening and have messed a number of them up before finally deciding to just send them out. Curious what type of electric sharpener you might recommend.
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John R, I sharpened for years with a file and then a little grinding stone on a Dremel. There are also little 12v handheld sharpeners like a Dremel that can be used with a vehicle battery. but I like the bench grinder a lot more.

I can’t remember the model without looking. I started out buying a cheap one from Northern Tool then later gave it away and got a better one from Bailey’s Online, one of these:
I did not buy one of the multi-thousand dollar professional sharpeners! I’ll gladly sharpen for friends but not interested in running a sharpening shop.
These sharpeners use a thin grinding wheel and include a stone for dressing the wheel to the proper shape as it wears.

I don’t have enough free workbench space to keep it mounted permanently so I mounted it to a board then clamp the board to a workbench to use it.

These work like this: Take the chain off the bar and mount it in a chain carrier, adjust the angles and stops as needed for that chain, clamp the chain so one tooth is in the right position, and lower the blade with the handle to grind one tooth. Loosen the clamp and slide the chain to the next tooth, back it against the tooth stop, and repeat. I will manually advance a damaged tooth forward from the stop a little if needed for a damaged tooth - it just ends up a little shorter than the others. (Doesn’t hurt anything - the chain will even cut fine with one or more teeth missing.) Sharpen all the teeth on one side then rotate the carrier and sharpen the other side.

I have no issues with grinding more off some teeth than others if needed. Some say this can make the chain “grabby” and dangerous but I’ve never experience that. Even if one or more teeth are missing the chains still work fine.

I’ve mentioned this before, but when I started chainsawing I read everything I could including the little book “The Good Woodcutters Guide”. I wanted to learn about ways to get hurt or killed with chainsaws and how to protect against them. (One common danger is kickback when cutting when logs or branches are in a pile - if cutting one near you and the projecting tip touches another one out of sight behind the first one, wham.)

JKJ
 
Like any hand skill, it does take some effort to learn. Watching someone who knows how to do it helps also. I do have a file for the raker tooth, and use it every couple of times I sharpen. Going through some madrone right now, and it cuts like it turns, butter!

robo hippy
 
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