Chainsaw mill chains.. your preference?

[Danny_S]

Wondering what type of chains you fellas and fellette's use on your chainsaw mills. I have read about lots of them, what do you use?  ???

[Minnesota_boy]

Oregon LP full chisel professional.   I like to think that my time is valuable.  :D  Oh, my little saw has what came on it, whatever that is.  ;D


Oops, just noticed (two days later  : ) that you were asking about chainsaw mills, not chainsaws in general.  

[Captain]

3/8 low profile ripping chain, bought some from Bailey's.  The small kerf cut faster than the big 3/8 chain I used to use.  No problems standing up to the power of the 066 either.  I would not use it on bars longer than 32", as it is full complement.

Captain

[IndyIan]

I've only used oregon 3/8 .058 full complement ripping chain.  Its semi chisel with 10 deg grind.  Cuts pretty smooth.  Speed wise, seems ok, I do mostly white pine with a 372.

I've heard the hot setup is what logosol uses.  3/8 (.370 pitch)low pro .050 gauge.  You need a special sprocket as regular 3/8 chain is .375 pitch.  The sprockets are available from logosol and maybe others.  www.woodbug.com has some interesting ideas on chain and sharpening techniques.  

With the next chains I get, I'm going to try full skip, chisel and grind it my self to ripping specs.  
Ian

[splinters]

I just got a logosol mill.It came with a low profile chain and a 385 Husky saw. The sprocket is a standard 3/8 husky part.My explination was that there is not enough difference in the chains to matter.It looks like the theory is wear to fit. So far so good on the chain.  I am using a 24" bar.  That little 16"bar original equipment wasn't near big enough.

[Captain]

The aforementioned low profile ripping chain from Bailey's is nearly identical to the Logosol Chain, but a 0 degree grind instead of 10 degrees.  Found it better in hardwood.

It is also .370, but I used a special "worn in" 7 tooth rim to drive it.

Captain.

[IndyIan]

From the yahoo milling group I've read that guys kept on breaking the .370 chain when using regular 3/8 sprockets...

I'm pretty sure the one guy actually ordered a sprocket from logosol but I guess they would send it if you bought a mill and saw from them ???

Anyways if you guys aren't breaking chains then you don't need to fix something that isn't broke!

ian

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

I'm about to try a chain I haven't used before to see how it works.

The starting point is Stihl brand full complement chisel:
                46 RS which is .404/.063, 124 drive links
                          (Rapid Super)
Two experiments will be involved.   The first one is to grind a chain as Will Mallof did in his book, namely grind every tooth 0deg. This is the type I have not seen mentioned in the forums at all. The second chain will be a pair of cutters at 0 deg., followed by a pair with the plates ground off (scoring idea).   These scoring teeth won't be ground far enough to remove the top chrome layer, of course.

By the way, guys,   be on the look out for this chain in full service saw shops.  Once upon a time,  harvester bars in our area commonly used 404/063 chain.   Now they use 3/4pitch.   This change left the local Stihl dealer with an extra  whole roll of the 404 that I seemed to need more than he did.  I bought the 100' roll.  It will make me eleven chains at less than $22 each.
Phil L. 8)

[litewood]

I have alot of carlton full chisel  and have a  grinder.  10 degree works ok I haven't tried 0 degree yet but will have to now  I have read about the scoring cutters and could do it with cut off wheel if necessary or buy some,think as long as you don't take to much off depth gauges and keep it around .020 or .025 chain should work ok but may try one someday. http://www.madsens1.com/ripchain.htm
shows a picture of it
I am curious about the change with hardwoods both ways.
I have only played with an 028  ripping up bigger chunks of firewood so far because i like the spalted look of the maple and some big  elm chunks I hauled off when i cut trees down in town two years ago and had to take all never got around to burning in a  brush pile glad I didn't I love the patterns.
thought it would make some neat items.all I have at the moment is a small bandsaw and can rip some up on it once log chunk is broke down.when i get something bigger will make stuff book matching.i can't wait!
still haven't decided on what type of saw to buy to convert to a sawmill have checked on the beam saws several industrial bandsaws and a meat saw.have to do it this way for now because of money.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

From comments I have seen on supplier's sites (such as Masden's, Fosters, and Baileys's, etc.), it seems that the scoring tooth concept normally results in faster, but rougher, cuts.   In light of this observation,  I will probably go .040" for the raker/depth gauges on that chain.   The saw has the power to pull it.   Since the objective is fast+rough, a deep gnarly cut it will be !

I have used almost that "bite" with a full complement semi-chisel Stihl chain.   That particular chain is ground with all teeth at 10 degrees.  The finish is pretty good if you don't bog down into the "sweet spot" of the 090 engine.  At that speed there is a ripple effect in the cut, even though the cut speed is at maximum and the engine speed is bogged down.  It looks like the corduroy effect on a dirt road.
Phil L.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Today I had the chance to try out my home ground chain. 8)

This one is a 404 full complement chisel chain.   My custom grind was as follows:  There are a pair of rakers, left at their 30deg, but with the top plates removed.  The next pair of teeth are ground at 0 degrees.  When I ground the rakers, I left the chrome on the top of each tooth, just removed the horizontal portion.  The top width is probably.085 to .090" wide.

The speed of cut was much better.  The surface was rougher.  As time goes by, I will gradually reduce the raker's angle from the original 30deg to see if the cut smooths out any.   The cutting speed in 20-28" Post Oak was probably increased by 60% with this chain design.  Gas consumption greatly reduced, also.
Phil L.