Chiselbit

[davidwyby]

Been spending time with Simington lately.

Needs a little more forward lean.

Fixing brand new husky square ground. The corner alignment was off (high) and had a side beak, or the side cutter was ahead of the top plate. Makes it not bite. I don’t know of any square that cuts well out of the box.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Stihl RSLK always cut well for me. Nobody left with a square grinder around here.

 

[davidwyby]

They might turn some good stuff out sometimes. Last loop I got wouldn’t bite.

Square is great for felling, side cuts well, and slices through wood easier, so there’s less pull and fatigue.

 

[Gypo]

I always grind new chain, ain't worth a damn otherwise.

Id try just a tiny bit of hook if it was me. Your wood maybe harder than mine, or dirtier, so maybe not.

You can also tip the sideplate farther ahead, as you said, and widen it some more. It's wider now than most I've seen, but it can be wider.

Not that you asked, just my opinion.

 

[davidwyby]

I always grind new chain, ain't worth a damn otherwise.

Id try just a tiny bit of hook if it was me. Your wood maybe harder than mine, or dirtier, so maybe not.

You can also tip the sideplate farther ahead, as you said, and widen it some more. It's wider now than most I've seen, but it can be wider.

Not that you asked, just my opinion.

I’m all ears! Nice to have a faller around.

Yes, factory is bad to very bad. All side plate.

I’m in the desert and the wood is generally very hard and dusty, so I shoot for durability.

 

[SeanKroll]

Does square-filed chisel chain match those conditions?

 

[davidwyby]

Semi chisel is the most durable but slow.

Full chisel is faster but that little working corner is unsupported and delicate.

Square is faster than both and in between for durability *depending on the angles it is ground to* - and for durability you also want stihl chain, and better yet, .404.

 

[Magnus]

Why not file it sqare?
You get more options to adapt the cutters result to fit its purpose on the saw its on?
I am no master on square filing, but when it gets right for the saw and work its a huge differance.
When grinding its harder to optimize.

 

[davidwyby]

I think grinding gives more options. You can change the angles of the grind on the wheel as well as the cutter holder.

Filing is tedious and requires more manual skill

 

[Burnham]

I think grinding gives more options. You can change the angles of the grind on the wheel as well as the cutter holder.

Filing is tedious and requires more manual skill

Exactly why you can/may get better results, but perhaps that's just my old school attitude, really . In truth, I only had hand filing to call on, not having access to a grinder ever. So really my opinion is not worth all that much...again .

 

[davidwyby]

Exactly why you can/may get better results, but perhaps that's just my old school attitude, really . In truth, I only had hand filing to call on, not having access to a grinder ever. So really my opinion is not worth all that much...again .

The angles of a file are fixed, the wheel can be ground to whatever. Also there is a point where a file gets into the drive links and wheels can avoid it. My hand filing exp is minimal, and grinding not much more though. Mostly going off madsen's articles, etc. (which are very good). I was lucky to buy a grinder lightly used and already set up for durable angles. @huskihl helped me tweak it as he had the previous owner. Starting from scratch would be a hassle methinks.

 

[davidwyby]

It is less tiring to run chiselbit and it side cuts better for falling timber. You can "steer" it through the wood some, downside being you can cut crooked more easily!

 

[Gypo]

SDM4 grinds into the top of the rivets everytime, it has to in order to get the sideplates as wide as I like.

So long as you don't get the stone too wide, it's never been a problem. Of course when my teeth get down to about 1/3 or so of original length they get hung on the wall and I cut some new ones, so there is that to consider.