Posted by jdemaris on December 01, 2009 at 12:51:54 from (67.142.130.23):
In Reply to: Re: Chain Saws posted by 200cs on December 01, 2009 at 11:59:42:
I prefer the non-safety chain on everything. Not the full chisel, though. Great for some things and not for others. And, if I didn't own my own professional sharpening machine, I'd steer away from it. Full chisel is not a great choice for part-time saw users who don't have a lot of experience and lack a way to sharpen it properly.
Full chisel is great for clean wood, but if there's any debris in the wood, it cannot take the punishment of semi-chisel or round chipper chain. It's particularly good on dense hardwoods and/or frozen wood. Full chisel relies on that one perfect point at the leading edge of the square cutter. One it gets peened, the chain will barely do a thing and won't pull itself into the wood. A round chipper can get hit in many spots, and slow down a bit, but still keep on cutting.
I used full chisel on clean trees but won't on farm trees that often have sap spiles or bits of old metal fence in them. Wont' use it on trees that have been skidded either, once they are full of muck and small pebbles stuck in the bark.
A substantial problem with good grade full chisel chain is sharpening. It takes a certain level of skill, with a file or with a machine sharpener. I've seen many ruined when put on the machine because of the odd-ball angles it uses. I have to keep a chart on the wall of every make chain and the various angles each version uses. Many electric sharpeners don't even have the required angles.
Semi-chisel and round chipper chain is much more forgiving when it comes to hitting debris and with sharpening.
Considering you're in Texas and I'm in New York, there might be a big difference in the trees being cut. We rarely cut any softwood here. All white and red oak, Pignut hickory, hard maple, white ash, beech, yellow birch, etc. If I was cutting pine, fir, and other softwoods, chain sharpening wouldn't be such a big issue.
As far as Stihl versus Oregon quality goes? I've been working in saw shops since the late 1960s. We always carried Stihl and Oregon for our professional users. Also carried a lot of cheap junk like Laser, Windsor,Carelton, and cheaper Oregon versions of chain. I've never noticed any difference in quality between the good grades of Oregon as compared to Stihl. I will say though, that Stihl never compromised and made a bad chain that I know of. Oregon made many for the consumer market. I've done a lot of logging and hardwood cutting over the years and also do a lot of machine chain sharpening. The metal in the good Oregon is just as hard as in the Stihl chain. Oregon also makes some softer chains, and some people actually like it because it's so easy to sharpen (I can't stand it).
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