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Have Stihl chains went to shit?

blakes

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
205
Messages
242
Loc
Storm Mountain CO
I cut a lot of firewood, mostly beetle kill pine for the purposes of heating my log cabin. I run a Stihl 261c modded to run a Stihl 33RSF72 chain (full chisel, full skip). Been running this for years. I use a Stihl 2 in 1 sharpener with 13/64" Stihl files.

The past two chains I've gotten have completely went to shit after the first sharpening. The chains seem sharp, but won't cut for shit. The saw keeps trying to cut to the right.

Anyone having issues with Stihl chains lately?
 
is the bar tweaked?
I try and swap shit between saws until I figure it out generally.
 
you screwed up on the sharpening. I have to really watch when I do mine, and I always take a little off the front raker to let it eat a bit more.
Probably screwed up. I also alway touch the rakers almost every time. Depending on what I am going for (slabbing, carving, firewood) depends on how I sharpen them.
 
My first instinct is to say you sharpened the chain wrong. You want equal tooth length and equal raker height to get a straight cutting chain.

But.....A lot of people do not tune their guide bars often enough. Sometimes the wear in the guide bar will cause a well sharpened chain to not cut straight. Pull the chain and make sure the rails up by the roller tip aren't washed out. If they are you'll need to file the end of the guide bar to remove the wear and get them back flat and perpedicular to the sides of the guide bar. I do his on a small stationary disk sander with 36 grit and then finish off with a flat file where the disk grinder can't fit.

If the guide bar hasn't been flipped you can flip it to get to work in the short term.
 
My buddy and I were just talking about this the other night. Mine just (Stihl MS310) started doing it, i've cut and sharpened my own chain for many, many years. I haven't looked at it since the other day when it started doing it. Cut in a bit fine then all of a sudden it's like it's dull as shit. I will start with a new chain and put this one on a sharpening machine to true it up and see how that goes.
 
well this has been two chains in a row.

just noticed that the end of my bar has some loose rivets. it appears this bar allows you to replace the entire tip. has some noticeable play in it. I will replace it.

but to everyone's comments on sharpening - you might be right. I noticed that I angled the 2 in 1 sharpener too much on the right side causing the angles to be wrong. I will get a new chain too...
 
My buddy and I were just talking about this the other night. Mine just (Stihl MS310) started doing it, i've cut and sharpened my own chain for many, many years. I haven't looked at it since the other day when it started doing it. Cut in a bit fine then all of a sudden it's like it's dull as shit. I will start with a new chain and put this one on a sharpening machine to true it up and see how that goes.
That sounds like the bar rails are uneven or the chain is trying to cut circles.

Once the bar is buried the rails on the bar can contact the wood keeping the chain from taking the next bite and you struggle to cut.

You can re dress the rails on the bar with a perfectly squared up belt sander and make it good again.

I used to collect Homelite (Owned 50 saws)saws and never owned a new bar, just redressed the ones I got with the saws.
 
just noticed that the end of my bar has some loose rivets. it appears this bar allows you to replace the entire tip. has some noticeable play in it. I will replace it.

but to everyone's comments on sharpening - you might be right. I noticed that I angled the 2 in 1 sharpener too much on the right side causing the angles to be wrong. I will get a new chain too...
sprocket tip are replaceable on many bars, I have never seen one come loose and only changed 2 in 20 years.
easy to change, drill out the three rivets and install the new one. hammer the rivets roughly flush and good to go

if it is cutting to one side it is most likely the chain is sharpened different on the left tooth vs the right tooth. very common when doing it by hand, since you use the same hand for doing each side.
Rakers should be checked after each sharpening, but only need to be ground after a couple sharpening unless you take a lot of material off the teeth. lay a flat edge on the top of the teeth and you should have about .020 clearance to the rakers.

uneven rail wear can happen but is most likely caused by the groove in the rail be overly worn, causes the chain to be able to lay over to one side if the chain is sharper on one side. you can also get a burr on the outside of the rails that can be dressed up. a worn groove normally can only be fixed by replacing the bar
 
if it is cutting to one side it is most likely the chain is sharpened different on the left tooth vs the right tooth. very common when doing it by hand, since you use the same hand for doing each side.
Rakers should be checked after each sharpening, but only need to be ground after a couple sharpening unless you take a lot of material off the teeth. lay a flat edge on the top of the teeth and you should have about .020 clearance to the rakers.
ya, I think that is it.

Speaking of the rakers. I have a buddy with a Stihl 391 who cuts the rakers completely off. Grinds them smooth each time he gets a new chain. I've ran his saw many, many times and lemme tell ya...with that thing you feel like you can cut through a hunk of metal. It's mean.
 
well this has been two chains in a row.

just noticed that the end of my bar has some loose rivets. it appears this bar allows you to replace the entire tip. has some noticeable play in it. I will replace it.

but to everyone's comments on sharpening - you might be right. I noticed that I angled the 2 in 1 sharpener too much on the right side causing the angles to be wrong. I will get a new chain too...
Problem answered and solved...:beer:
 
well this has been two chains in a row.

just noticed that the end of my bar has some loose rivets. it appears this bar allows you to replace the entire tip. has some noticeable play in it. I will replace it.

but to everyone's comments on sharpening - you might be right. I noticed that I angled the 2 in 1 sharpener too much on the right side causing the angles to be wrong. I will get a new chain too...
Sounds like replacing your nose is a good idea. As to your chain. Sharpen it back to the correct angle. If you want a new chain buy one. But so many people throw out a chain that is only an hour or less from being GTG with a bit of file work.
 
I have a buddy with a Stihl 391 who cuts the rakers completely off. Grinds them smooth each time he gets a new chain. I've ran his saw many, many times and lemme tell ya...with that thing you feel like you can cut through a hunk of metal. It's mean.
heh I did that once
kinda funny how easy it is to bog the saw when you do that, can't just drop it into the cut and let it eat, gotta hold it up a little
 
heh I did that once
kinda funny how easy it is to bog the saw when you do that, can't just drop it into the cut and let it eat, gotta hold it up a little
Absolutely…

Too much off the rakers can make a huge difference also… and not always the best difference
 
ya, I think that is it.

Speaking of the rakers. I have a buddy with a Stihl 391 who cuts the rakers completely off. Grinds them smooth each time he gets a new chain. I've ran his saw many, many times and lemme tell ya...with that thing you feel like you can cut through a hunk of metal. It's mean.

I buy the old style chains, no rakers.

And yes. You have to hold the saw back because it'll dig in too hard and bog in soft wood.
 
uneven rail wear can happen but is most likely caused by the groove in the rail be overly worn, causes the chain to be able to lay over to one side if the chain is sharper on one side. you can also get a burr on the outside of the rails that can be dressed up. a worn groove normally can only be fixed by replacing the bar
Ive pounded the rails back in and checked them with gauge pins before with good success.

But again, those were collector saws.
 
I buy the old style chains, no rakers.

And yes. You have to hold the saw back because it'll dig in too hard and bog in soft wood.
No you don’t, you’re confusing rakers with that useless anti kick back bullshit.

You would be right fucked trying to cut using a chain with no rakers.
 
Curious, why are you using full skip chain on a little 261? What length bar are you running? You should see faster, smoother cuts with standard non-safety chain on that small saw.
 
No you don’t, you’re confusing rakers with that useless anti kick back bullshit.

You would be right fucked trying to cut using a chain with no rakers.

Curious, why are you using full skip chain on a little 261? What length bar are you running? You should see faster, smoother cuts with standard non-safety chain on that small saw.

well I can tell you from running a 391 saw, 18" bar, full skip and rakers (some call them guides) ground smooth....that works very well up here on beetle kill pine. VERY well. I don't remember having to hold the saw back. just let it eat.

on my 261, I'm running a 20" bar and full skip frankly, because the full skip has less teeth to sharpen. I've gotten to where I can sharepen my saw with the 2 in 1 pretty quick (and I've apparently gotten lazy and started messing it up). I'm thinking about going down to an 18" bar when I get a new bar/chain.

I was talking to the guy that owns the saw mill once. He has the county contract to clean up trees/limbs on the dirt roads up here. He has one of those saws that are mounted on a pole (forgot what they are called). He also runs full skip, even on the small saws.
 
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