Closing bar rails

SeanKroll

SeanKroll

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Oct 13, 2016
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Location
Olympia, WA
I bought a rail closer tool.

I closed 2 by feel.



My neighbor had a digital micrometer thar I can borrow.



How tight is a new Stihl 0.050 gauge bar slot?



How much do drivers wear narrower over the life of a chain? I will take a chain over there to measure some time.
 
Even if you close the rail at the top, it will still be worn wider down in the groove where the bottom of the drivers ride. So the chain will still wobble back and forth. Unless you are fixing damage from a specific incident, I don't see much use in attempting that. Sometimes you get enough life out of a part and it is time to replace it.

Or your other option is to step up one gauge in chain size. From .050 to .058, for example.
 
I've never needed to do that. The teeth have always been ground away by me, long before the bar ground down the drivers. If your bar is shot, replace it, they are a wear part after all.
 
SeanKroll said:
I bought a rail closer tool.

I closed 2 by feel.



My neighbor had a digital micrometer thar I can borrow.



How tight is a new Stihl 0.050 gauge bar slot?



How much do drivers wear narrower over the life of a chain? I will take a chain over there to measure some time.
Click to expand...
Probably .052-.054

I try to stop just before the chain gets snug, but often times I end up with a few pinch points, which means I go very easy (short slow cuts) on it for a tank of gas.

Wear on the chain can vary widely, and it is thinnest at the bottom of the drive links. I'd assume .003-.006" thinner for a well used chain. I have some to measure sometime.
 
I picked up hardened and ground bar stock from KBC tools. .050 and .064 (if I remember right). I use those for groove gauges and check for excess wear deeper in the groove but wiggling it. I just use a small hammer and tap the rails closed on a thick piece of angle iron mounted in a large vice. I loved Poulan pro B&C oil, it really kept the rails in good shape. Then it was no longer available. The other oils really did a number on my bars, I had to service them constantly. But then the auto parts on the rez carried STP B&C which looked exactly as the.Poulan pro, so.I.bought a bunch. But then they don't have the STP anymore.... Anyway, all this is mostly my milling saws
 
I use the rail closer tool, my only advice is less is more. It’s real easy to close the rails up tight if you are not careful. I have a screwdriver handy for opening them back up.
 
Rail is one part of. Chain and bottom of tistrap is the the other.
Both need to be good and match in wear. Correcting one will not fix much.
When there is this issue, wear inside bar is often more in bottom and top so groove look more )( than II.
Closing top may help slightly, but not much.

In my experience the rail gap width is less important to chains sharpness and cutting capacity. Uneven cutters is the cause of problem.
If chain is sharp and cut as much on each side this is not a issue as it will not tilt sideways.
If you have 0,1mm more or less don't affect much if tiestrap has good even support of bar.

When I see bars like this I straighten the rails out so they are even, make sure tiestraps are same wear on both sides.
If not, I replace chain.
 
To me is like sharper cutters on one side, is like only rowing boat on that side.
Have, tried bar tightner.
What seemed more important (2nd to cutters on straight bar) is if the bar rails are even across to not tilt platform of ride to 1 side.
>>and even sides of rails where metal from all the 'rr cars' passing over didn't get a roll over of metal, that hangs at certain points inside of kerf. Found to square from sides with file, and eventually played with outer top rail corners to about 45degrees just a tin bit, as like storage space for any rolled metal to hide, build to even before being a problem again. Not an everyday, not every saw thang.
.
i think i seen where bad drive sprocket can miss-mate to drive links and that chain floated to another saw carries problem back to drive gear/spur. Always good to have parts that can trade with other saw of similar at least model. Trade 1 part around: does the problem: stay, follow, duplicate or subside?
 
Just how I do it and I ain’t no one special:

-Take all burrs off bar with flat file

-Clean all buildup from bottom of rails with putty knife

-Use a specialty bar dressing file (if needed) to make sure both rails are the same height

-Close bar. Adjust bar closing tool to thickness of nose which does not seem to wear open like the rest of the bars body. Pull backwards several times.
 
Bar is fuckywucky? Yeet! Unless it's one of my big bars, I just can't be bothered. Chuck it, pluck another off one of the dead saws, move on with life. But then, home owners are always giving me dead saws, so they go in a pile and I rob parts.

As pointed out above, once it's worn open, there's not much you can do, draw an equaling file across the edge, deburr, hope for the best.
 
x-actly!
As a mostly logging company, we go through lots of bars, Like the saws, once they are worn out, we toss them out.
No way can I make a decent wage, trying to restore a worn out bar.
 
I think that if the rail closer bearings are angled properly, they can squeeze the bottom of the rails in so they end up more parallel.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13
My closer bearing broke. Third bar. Email is sent.



At $100 a bar or more, a few extra minutes while doing other maintenance to extend the useful life of the bar seems reasonable.





My instructions said only to close the middle of the bar, staying away from any section involving the nose or bar mount hole.
 
I'll fool with bars up to a point. I'm not doing production like a lot of you, and if I were logging day in day out, I might decide it's more work than it's worth. So far, none of my pro bars have needed adjustment, but the light bars I'll tap into shape with a hammer. It doesn't take long, and the work's agreeable, so I do it, even though it's only buying time. You can't adjust it back to being a new bar again.
 
SeanKroll said:
My closer bearing broke. Third bar. Email is sent.



At $100 a bar or more, a few extra minutes while doing other maintenance to extend the useful life of the bar seems reasonable.





My instructions said only to close the middle of the bar, staying away from any section involving the nose or bar mount hole.
Click to expand...
Correct, don’t close the tail or nose but, start at the nose, tighten until snug but moveable, then pull towards the tail several times.
 
And obviously don't try to squeeze anywhere below the bottom of the groove. I aim for just above it. Also keep the bearings snug enough that they don't bend apart so much. I'm constantly loosening and tightening the adjustable one usually just by hand, so I can slide it out to put back on the bar. I run the thing in both directions in case the adjustable bearing doesn't close the rail as straight as the other.
 
I'm generally in with the crowd that says just toss 'em when they get that worn. Exception would be if the rails get tweaked by being pinched or torqued during a specific felling or bucking maneuver. In that case, I'll mess with realigning the rail.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #22
It's been a long while since I bought stand- alone bars.

I'm looking to go with 'light' bars across the board, as they need replacing. Currently, I only have one.
 
If there is wear in sides of the grooves bottom, there is no help unless you can cut groove to next drive link width. Usually not enough.

I re-cut and pane out grooves on solid bars with replaceable tip when needed. It is not often as these issues are result of a problem.
Once you learn the what problem is and prevent it you have one problem less.

Keep in mind chain driver wear wrong if bar groove wear wrong. Bar side of tiestraps as well.
 
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