Is there a quick, not incredibly messy way to clean pitch build-up? The first thing that comes to mind is to soak it in diesel or kerosene and go at it with a brush, but there has got to be a better solution for the problem.
I've milled about 250 bd ft of 4/4, primarily red oak, but finished up on Saturday with a walnut log. The walnut was a tougher pull than I expected, even after I touched up the chain. When I pulled the chain today I noticed just how much buildup there was, and figured that added to the drag on the saw quite a bit.
I know there are some water based solutions out there, but I'm not too keen on soaking chains in water. A sawblade you can get dry, but too many crannies with a chain. I need some guidance here.
Mark
Go at it with a wire wheel on my dremel which cleans like you wont believe, it will get the pitch off the chain quite fast, then you can have the chain sharp, clean and ready for tomorrow morning. Its how I clean my chains.
Mark,
Since mineral spirits are made from sap, they are quite effective at dissolving pitch. Or you can even use an aerosol can of automotive carb cleaner and squirt it while you run the saw at low rpm's. The carb cleaner will loosen most of the pitch quickly and it will also get displaced by the bar lube without hurting anything.
rockys right on with the carbatooter cleaner 8)
that stuff will blast the stink offin a skunk.
ill hose it on right fore i enter a poplar, shines the bands right up. i dont run water, so i like to mix the poplar with the pine
Instead of the Dremel tool I just take a few logs down to the beach and put them right on the sand. Then I try my DanGest not to hit the ground and after a few cuts everything is nice and shinny. I perfer this method cause I really like lookin' at the girls. :o
Didn't even soften it up. Have been scraping the big chunks off with Xacto knife, and hitting with small hand held wire brush. The Dremel thing is looking real good about now.
Kind of funny what extended cutting in a log will do. Then again, a few slices of 8' logs is like cutting down a whack o'trees, and temperatures you would never see in that type of situation. Science can be a wonderful thing.
Thanks guys.
Well I use my dremel for the chains cleaning them, occaisionally sharpening one, adjusting depth gauges, plus the tool works well for other personal needs as well, like trimming those REALLY thick toenails that regular nailclippers just cant cut, those stubborn ingrown nails, the issues of hangnails when they occur near the dremel. I will say thatyou WILL want a pair of safety glasses on when you use the dremel and a wire wheel on it, I got hit in the face by a few of them little wire filiments from the brush attachment on a couple different occaisions, the thing will work for almost every task you can think of, including things like stripping old paint, adding very fine and delicate detail to plastic and wooded artwork, trimming off those annoying little sales tags from the store :D you name it the dremel can probably do it. Mine revs to around 35000 rpm on the top end, it sounds really cool, but it works VERY WELL for cleaning up the chiansaw chain and the saw itself, the wire wheel will clean off the thick layers of dirt and other old junk that has just accumulated over time with great ease. IF you buy a dremel to clean things with, you will suddenly find it being used for a multitude of other tasks as well, and you will find it to be a favored tool over some others for specific work. I LOVE mine for the performance and power of it, plus the tools I have for it.
I just wasn't using them here because of spatter. I'll just shoot them into the corner and use my newly rebuilt Shop-Vac to clean it all up.
Funny story. You ever take something apart and something just "clicks". I tore up a BD jitterbug sander that had self destructed and got three really nice bearings out of it to go in the "misc" can, not to be confused with the "round file". One looked to be "just the right size" to replace the bushing in my old Shop-Vac that started smoking. Pulled the Shop-Vac apart, and it fit on the shaft perfectly, then placed it in the housing and it was just a bit small, less than 1/16". PERFECT!!! I proclaimed, then got out the epoxy, pasted the outside edge of the bearing, put the bearing on the shaft, and quickly assembled the whole shebang. What I got is a "better than new" (I bought a new one after this one blew up) Vac that now takes forever to spin down after you shut it off. Sucks like it never did before. Not bad since I paid $5 at a garage sale for it 5 years ago. Some days it doesn't suck to be me.
How about that cleaner for table saw blades. I think it's a citrus cleaner. I have a spray bottle of it I bought to test it on some table saw blades and it seemed to clean nicely. Never thought about using it on chainsaw chain but will have to try it out sometime. Dave
I use simple green to clean pitch off of saw blades. After soaking for about an hour, the stuff rinses right off. As far as getting them dry after rinsing, compressed air does it real easy. Simple green is cheap too.
Coop
After milling a couple of logs, I noticed have a lot of pitch on the top plate...thinking I should clean it but....Since the wood is cut by the tip, does the pitch buildup on the top plate actual contribute to drag on the chain? I'd think it wouldn't even be touching the wood? Or
It's very seldom I get into a pine tree with a chainsaw .However pine etc. will leave a build up on table saw blades ,router bits etc . Easy off oven cleaner will loosen it up .Rinse with water and give it a squirt of WD-40 good to go .
WD 40 and my wife's toothbrush! ;D :)
Times have changed .It used to be bailing wire and chicken fence .It's evolved into Gorilla glue, duct tape and WD-40 . :D
We used kerosene (coal oil) on our crosscut saws to remove pitch. Diesel should be just as effective today.
A lot can be said for something as simple as good old kerosene .It's good for a lot of things too often forgotten about .
Wd40 and the wire wheel on a dremel work pretty good. Maybe 10 minutes on a 24" chain. So new to milling and just surprised how quickly the chain had the build up, I have milled maybe the equivalent of three, six-feet tree trunks at 18" diameter (oak and elm).
How much pitch up is too much? I guess the question is, do these pictures look like a chain not getting enough oil? And is this build up consider light, moderate or heavy? I was running a 3120xp at full oiler setting (using about 1 tank of oil with 1 tank of fuel)...each pass was about a 1/2 tank and about 10-12 minutes of sawing...although I didn't time it exactly.
I have recently moved up to a 42" bar and rip chain and both are near new (did some popular around Christmas). After 3 cuts on this 7' ash (maybe 28" wide for most of the tree, with a 35" crotch)...i had this much build up on a new chain and it just seemed like it was not wanting to move through the cut. Maybe it was me not milling since Christmas and my sense is off or that i was cutting a bit larger tree than i was accustomed too....but it seemed like the saw just didn't want to cut most of the day. I switched out the chain for the second new one and same buildup seemed to accumulate after about 2 more cuts.
The 3120xp manual implies it can handle up to a 42" bar. (last oiler setting says 42" or above)..but that might be pushing it. I quit milling after I thought I might be hurting the bar/chain or needlessly running power head harder. Bar looks ok to me...i didn't see or feel any burrs on the bar...but i ran a flat file down the sides in case. Wondering if I should rig up an oiler tube on the tip to help out.
Also, I have soaked the chains in kerosene overnight, but the pitch does not really want to come of with a hand brush..i'd say a 1/3 of it came off. Maybe will try the diesel or carb cleaner next. The wire wheel and WD40 worked ok on a 24" chain when I posted last year...but wanted to try some other methods in search for something a little quicker on the longer chain.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_3.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305787)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305786)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305786)
Before I sharpen chains on my Oregon grinder, I soak them in Double Orange degreaser that I get from Napa. I mix it one part degreaser with 3 parts water. Pine tar comes off pretty good after about 10-15 minutes, for tough tar, just hit it with a nylon brush, then just hose them off with a water hose, then whirl them over your head a few times to sling excess water off. Then grind them, then soak them in bar oil for about 5-10 minutes, then hang to drip most of oil off. Sounds like a lot of work, but, I'm set up to do it in my shop, and it keeps grinder from getting too messy.
Quote from: forcemac on March 14, 2022, 09:02:36 PM
How much pitch up is too much? I guess the question is, do these pictures look like a chain not getting enough oil? And is this build up consider light, moderate or heavy? I was running a 3120xp at full oiler setting (using about 1 tank of oil with 1 tank of fuel)...each pass was about a 1/2 tank and about 10-12 minutes of sawing...although I didn't time it exactly.
I have recently moved up to a 42" bar and rip chain and both are near new (did some popular around Christmas). After 3 cuts on this 7' ash (maybe 28" wide for most of the tree, with a 35" crotch)...i had this much build up on a new chain and it just seemed like it was not wanting to move through the cut. Maybe it was me not milling since Christmas and my sense is off or that i was cutting a bit larger tree than i was accustomed too....but it seemed like the saw just didn't want to cut most of the day. I switched out the chain for the second new one and same buildup seemed to accumulate after about 2 more cuts.
The 3120xp manual implies it can handle up to a 42" bar. (last oiler setting says 42" or above)..but that might be pushing it. I quit milling after I thought I might be hurting the bar/chain or needlessly running power head harder. Bar looks ok to me...i didn't see or feel any burrs on the bar...but i ran a flat file down the sides in case. Wondering if I should rig up an oiler tube on the tip to help out.
Also, I have soaked the chains in kerosene overnight, but the pitch does not really want to come of with a hand brush..i'd say a 1/3 of it came off. Maybe will try the diesel or carb cleaner next. The wire wheel and WD40 worked ok on a 24" chain when I posted last year...but wanted to try some other methods in search for something a little quicker on the longer chain.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_3.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305787)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305786)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305786)
The 3120 can easily handle that bar in the woods and larger. Mill demands are different. If it were me, I'd have the carb altered to have an adjustable HIGH jet and the unlimited coil installed. But I don't think that's really your issue unless it's rpm related i.e., the faster you go, the more oil is slinging out..
I'm not an expert on mill ripping chain, so I don't know what's going on with the pitch. I'd have to cut Balsams for The Forrest Service and I doubt if there's anything much more pitchy that those. That stick would get all over everything, but the saws soldered on with .404 square file chain.........
Try some strong brake cleaner.
Kevin
Quote from: forcemac on March 14, 2022, 09:02:36 PM
How much pitch up is too much? I guess the question is, do these pictures look like a chain not getting enough oil? And is this build up consider light, moderate or heavy? I was running a 3120xp at full oiler setting (using about 1 tank of oil with 1 tank of fuel)...each pass was about a 1/2 tank and about 10-12 minutes of sawing...although I didn't time it exactly.
I have recently moved up to a 42" bar and rip chain and both are near new (did some popular around Christmas). After 3 cuts on this 7' ash (maybe 28" wide for most of the tree, with a 35" crotch)...i had this much build up on a new chain and it just seemed like it was not wanting to move through the cut. Maybe it was me not milling since Christmas and my sense is off or that i was cutting a bit larger tree than i was accustomed too....but it seemed like the saw just didn't want to cut most of the day. I switched out the chain for the second new one and same buildup seemed to accumulate after about 2 more cuts.
The 3120xp manual implies it can handle up to a 42" bar. (last oiler setting says 42" or above)..but that might be pushing it. I quit milling after I thought I might be hurting the bar/chain or needlessly running power head harder. Bar looks ok to me...i didn't see or feel any burrs on the bar...but i ran a flat file down the sides in case. Wondering if I should rig up an oiler tube on the tip to help out.
Also, I have soaked the chains in kerosene overnight, but the pitch does not really want to come of with a hand brush..i'd say a 1/3 of it came off. Maybe will try the diesel or carb cleaner next. The wire wheel and WD40 worked ok on a 24" chain when I posted last year...but wanted to try some other methods in search for something a little quicker on the longer chain.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_3.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305787)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305786)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63897/Ash_Log_Mar_2022_1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1647305786)
Ash will have that effect on your chain, and tends to gum up the teeth and also plug up the bar rail when I am bucking all ash logs for firewood blocks.
To clean, just a crosscut or two in a different species (like oak or elm or hickory) cleans it right up (for me, at least).
Thanks for the responses, will continue to experiment.
Soak in gas overnight works really good.
Rubber tree are what chainsaws are used on here. And, rubber sap (latex), well, there is a lot of it
Also the tropical trees have a lot of sap.
Something that acts like a self cleaner is the best so here they add the real pitch/sap busters to the chain oil
Coconut oil or Palm oil. The former is the best, its used extensively in our kitchens to remove sap from hands and knives and plates after cutting sappy stuff like raw papaya or jackfruit.
Just add about 10% to the chain oil. The coconut oil will clean up the chain as it runs/cuts.