rusted up chainsaw chain

[mud]

What is the best way to soak and loosen up a rusted up chainsaw chain?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Marvel Oil. You can find it at Tractor Supply Co.
Maybe Wally World to. The stuff has been great to me!

 

[tiresntracks]

If its really bad get some muriatic acid from a lumber yard or pool supply place. Soak it for about 30 min. then rinse it off with water, then soak it in oil. Be careful with the acid. Don't breath the fumes, don't get it on your skin, and don't get it in your eyes!

 

[GeneMO]

Electrolysis would take that off in a jiffy.

Must be two hunderd post archived about the process. I use it and it works.


Gene

 

[old]

If its very bad it will not be safe to use. Believe me you don't want to see what can happen if the chain brakes because it was rusty and at some point it broke. Now if its not to bad tranny fluid and or turpentine will work just fine.
Hobby farm

 

[Billpa]

how much can a chain cost compaired to a visit to E R or the undertaker ?
I think this might be carrying beeing cheap way to far

 

[Pair-a-dice farm]

I agree with Bill and Old. You can probably get a new chain for less than 25 bucks. It will cut better and will not be as likely to break.

 

[jokers]

What happens when the chain breaks?

Has this happened to you?

 

[glennster]

i've had a couple chains break on my stihl 028 wood boss. they usually go when the saw is running wide open, it will shoot the chain right out the end of the bar, if someone was in front of the saw, theyd be in a world of hurt. when the chains get about 3/4 's wore, i toss em out. chain for my 20 inch bar is under 30 dollars, a lot cheaper than getting stitches.

 

[old]

Depending on how they brake they can back lash and do the person a world of hurt and even cut off fingers etc. I got lucky with the one I had brake it ripped my pants leg but missed my leg but it sure did a number on a pair of wangler jeans
Hobby farm

 

[Anonymous-0]

Chains dont cut well when the tooth gets shorter,no matter how sharp they are.A broken chain can go any where.A friend got his thumb cut when his chain broke.Rusted chains belong in the dump.

 

[jokers]

How rusted does a chain have to be before you throw it in the dump? Do you lower your depth gauges as the tooth becomes shorter?

 

[jokers]

If your fingers are wrapped around the handles as they should be, how does the chain come any where near them?

A chain that hit you in the leg was likely thrown, not broken. As glennster stated, broken chain usually shoots straight out and away from you. There is no more excuse for running a loose chain than there is for running a chain known to be damaged. Loose chain is too often the result of running dull chain.

I`m curious Old, why is it not OK to stretch a buck a little and use a chain that may have had some rust on it but it`s apparently OK to run a saw without wearing chaps?

 

[mud]

It isn't too bad.

Used hydraulic fluid and let her soak for 2 years. Forgot where I put it.

Cuts good too...

 

[old]

Its ok to run one that has surface rust but if its rusted up real bad thats a different story. As far as the chain braking on me it did in fact brake and didn't shot one the frount but came back at me. Maybe it was because it was cutting at the time it did that

 

[Anonymous-0]

I know how to lower rakers,The shorter teeth dont cut as well.Plus a well used chain is more apt to break.I wonder how a chain can rust?Most old chains are covered with oil.I pay 12 to 14 dollars for new chains.I sharpen chain on a Belsaw grinder.Angles come out right.The wear and stretch in old chains has to be considered.

 

[jokers]

There exists a sweet spot just before a chain is completely used up where the chain cuts better than ever. This sweet spot is somewhere in the area of the reference mark on the top of most teeth or when the tooth is approximately 5/32 - 3/16" long. This of course depends on several factors including the proper cleaning out of the gullets and the proper relationship of the depth gauge to tooth height. Because the teeth slope backward from the cutting edges, more depth gauge clearance is necessary toward the end of tooth life, i.e; if a chain had a recommended depth gauge clearance of .025 inches when new, it will require a clearance of about .035" at the end of it`s useful life.

Another factor that limits the amount of use that most people get from a chain is the fact that the tooth is getting shorter in height with each successive sharpening, consequently the edge geometry a 3/8" pitch chain that was originally maintained with a 7/32" file cannot be maintained with that same file after you reach about halfway back on the tooth, a smaller diameter file or thinner grinding wheel is needed and my guess is that you don`t change to a thinner wheel on your Belsaw grinder. By using a file or wheel which is too large YOU make the chain cut less agressively, it is not an inherent limitation of chain that it will cut slower as the tooth gets smaller if the chain is maintained properly. If you don`t want to believe me, try to get a look at a chain on a racing chainsaw.

There are other factors affecting how a chain cuts but the biggest factors may be a sharp working corner, sideplate or hook angle and the amount of depth gauge clearance which limits the as designed porpoising action of a chain in the cut.