Parts saw project 154SE/254SE

[Old Greenhorn]

We all have our Grumpy side and my opinion is that it is best when we embrace it and look at it as being very discerning and wise. Anyway, I am sticking to that story for now. You can throw anything you want, anywhere you want. I used to throw a lot of stuff against walls when I was younger... a lot of stuff ( I smashed more good coffee cups than I can count). But I forced myself to stop doing that over time (only took 30 years). I always thought it was better than hitting the person I really wanted to lay out, but apparently (according to HR) it was 'unacceptable behavior', who knew?

The handle is good now, I have it aligned fairly close. The issue on that saw it that any tuning tool had to pass through a hole in the side of the handle, then a hole in the top cover, then into the guide hole on the air filter mount. That's a lot of alignment going on and it's tricky when anything is just a little off. No matter, I have it fixed now but with the cover on, you have to squint hard and trust in The Force in order to find the correct hole. The problem I had was the one between my ears and I was not installing that new cylinder AV spring correctly. Once I figure it out, things got better.

With respect to the carb, I may be homing in on it but now that I have a tach, that adds a new dimension. Trying to sync what I am hearing to what I am seeing and still getting it to idle but not stall and getting it to run solid in a log at WOT is still a moving target for me. I don't know if you saw the news bulletin, but I am a slow learner. I had it running today and cut 2 cookies to get it warm. Then I messed with it 'just a tad to make it better' and now I can't keep it running without throttling it. There still could be a carb issue that the cleaning didn't solve, but I sure don't have the brain to figure it out.... yet. The thing that keeps bothering me is that it just isn't smoothing out and I am wondering if there is something going on in the carb still. But I was encouraged enough today to put the new B&C on it. Looks good.

OH, and that 23,000 I knew had to be a typo or you were messing with me. Either way, I thought I would play the game. I should have asked the idle RPM too, but right now I'll settle for 'not stalling'. I don't know if the tach goes that high, and I really don't want to neither.

[Old Greenhorn]

In my last couple of posts I had intended, but neglected to apologize for the diversion or hijack I led this thread down with my own saw woes. But since there are still a are couple of saws to go in this thread, I expect we will be back on course soon. As for that 2050, I am pretty much down to taking Mr. Hansen's suggestion and show it to Bob, now that it is running. I have it starting and running reliably, I cut up a bunch of slabs today to get it nice and hot and it never stalled. My tuning is still not spot on, but getting close. It just doesn't seem smooth yet. I still don't get the relation between the L screw adjustment and the T screw (idle speed) completely.
 I have another new clutch drum and rim on their way to replace the Chinese crap. That should finish it off and I can show it to Bob without being too ashamed of my work.
 Again, sorry for the little thread hi-jack. In hindsight I should have made a thread for this rebuild, but I never considered myself much of a rebuilder and there is little to learn from me beyond 'how to learn the hard way'.  Now Hansen there, he's got skills!

[DHansen]

Have Spike60 on speed dial.  Saves even more precious time. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well he already is, but I'm not going to take advantage of that. He's 'retired'.

[Grandpa]

OG, the L screw is the idle mixture screw, you want that just rich enough to get good acceleration. Any richer and it will flood when you let it idle for a while.
The T screw controls how far the throttle butterfly closes.
Set the mixture first, then set the idle speed.

Hope this helps.

[DHansen]

I know this is no big deal for a lot of you seasoned fellers on the forum, but I was happy with the latest of the 154SE that were assembled from the pile of saws on the table.  I took down two White Pines and one Oak on Saturday.  I also needed to use a hinge cut on all three due to new garage, a water and utility building and a chicken coop within 5' of the trees.  Saw performed excellently.  Felt good watching those large chips fly and the saw pulling with authority.   Just all in all made me feel good about the job.

[DHansen]

The talk about bar length has come up many times.  And one thing I can say is when doing a hinge cut it is easier if the tip protrudes through the other side of the tree.  If not, you rely on your good judgement, your eyes and some luck to connect the cuts smoothly.  Just a whole lot easier when the bar is long enough to go through to the opposite side.