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No matter what sawmill,
chainsaw, saw bar, or chainsaw chain you are using,
it is imperative that the saw cuts straight and accurately.
A chain slides across the surface of the sawbar rail
at 88 feet per second and the sprocket in the nose
of the bar rotates close to 1 million times in the
day, when milling lumber.
Lubrication is so
very important to avoid premature wearing of the
chain saw bars. The more oil you can get on the bar,
the better, so the bar rails always have a film of
oil protecting them as the chain slides along. The
roller nose sprocket in the bar is nearly always
overlooked in lubrication, but it is just as important
considering how many times it is rotating in the
day. You must use a hard nose sprocket grease gun
( about $8 ) and grease that sprocket at a minimum
of once per day, through a tiny hole on both sides
of the sawbar where the sprocket is located.
I should also mention here
that extra lubrication is available for the saw
bar in the form of an oiler
kit (sawmilling only) that attaches to the roller nose end of the
bar. This kit includes a small tank, hose with valve
and a special nozzle. It is quite
easy to install and you only have to drill 1 small
hole on the edge of your sawbar. The above kit increases
the life of your chain saw bar tremendously and
also cuts down on friction and heat. The kit supplies
oil to the bottom side of the bar because on chainsaws
oil is supplied to the topside of the saw bar at
the chainsaw end and although this oil is carried
along the top rail it is easily thrown off at the
roller nose tip, especially when the saw is inverted
(sideways) for sawmilling. The extra oiler kit supplies
oil to the bottom side of the chain saw bar which
is what you are milling with and therefore it helps
to cut down the heat and friction saving the bar
and increasing it's life by quite a lot. It is a
highly recommended option and is not expensive at $49 U.S.
Kit is available from www.granberg.com.
You must turn the chain saw bars
over every 20 hours of cutting, this allows even
wear on both sides of the bar, and also allows you
to clean all the oil holes and the groove of the
bar. At the same time check for burrs on either side
of the top rails and file them off.
Every 40 hours or even
every time you turn your bar, it is critical you
check that the bar rails are even with each other.
If one side bar rail is lower than the other side
bar rail, then one side of the saw chain will sit lower,
making the the saw cut crooked or only one side of
the teeth doing all of the cutting. This robs your
saw of a great deal of power, creates a large amount
of heat build up, which transfers up the saw bar
to your saw, and really slows down the milling speed
and creates uneven cuts. You can easily check this
by putting a square against the side of the sawbar
and across the top bar rails. Slide the square all
the way along your bar and if one side is lower, you
can file the other side until they are both the same
height, remove any burrs on the side of the bar when
you do this. This is very important and must be done
correctly, if in doubt, use a fixed grinder and your
bar in a jig, but do not take too much off as the
drivers of the chain cannot touch the bottom of
the sawbar groove. If you feel this is beyond your
capability, then take it to a machine shop. If you
get into the habit of maintaining your saw bar this way, you
will always have accurate cuts, you will utilize
the full power of your chainsaw, and save money on
saw bars and chain.
Chain saw bars come in
different lengths but I would like you to know that
after 24" it takes more
chainsaw power to drive the chain, and a large power
drop over 32", so if you
are running a bar over 24" for milling, you must have a chainsaw of at
least 90cc, but the larger the better. Chainsaw bars also come in different
groove
sizes ( sawchain drivers run in this groove ) and
usually the thicker the groove ( gauge ) the thicker the chain, taking
out a bigger bite of the log,
and more power.
Chainsaw parts such as the sprocket, sawbar,
roller nose tip, and sawchain must all match in
gauge (drivers of the chain and groove of the sawbar
) and the thinner you can get this gauge, the thinner
the sawchain and faster milling speed compatible
with safety. This also affects the power of your
chainsaw because the thicker the sawchain, the heavier
it is, therefore taking more power to drive it.
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