Ripping with a chainsaw.

[admin]

I have a little Poulan electric chainsaw, and I'm thinking of using it to 'rough out' a few bowl blanks (before it is suggest, I do NOT have a bandsaw). My basic idea is to take a disk the size I can mount on the lathe of plywood to use as a guide, tack it to the blank, and cut away everything outside that disk.

What precautions, tips, should I keep in mind when I'm working outside the standard crosscut? I've heard lots of stuff about burning up saw motors, etc, when ripping and I'd generally like to avoid that, but doing this with a handsaw is a pretty long task, especially with the big blanks I'm getting into.

The wood I'll be doing this with is red oak, cherry, maple, and red cedar.

Thanks guys.

[Mark]

TJ,

I've done same with my electric chainsaw for same reason - no bandsaw, no room to put one.

The two things I've found, are that it can be tricky to keep the piece of log steady while cutting, perhaps from my still learning skill level. And the shavings while ripping, come off in long stringy bunches, that can bind around the drive sprocket fairly quickly. That might be why there are specially ground ripping blades for the bigger saws. I've done this on Garry Oak, Red Alder and Chilean Pine. The oak is really tough, the other two not so much. Didn't seem to overstress the saw, till those long shavings packed-up the housing around the drive sprocket.

Mark

[TDHofstetter]

They do make special chains just for ripping, with a chisel tooth... but we're not talking about "pure" ripping, we're talking about anything from a rip to a crosscut, so we need a general-purpose chain.

Watch the bar nose, always, but more while you're doing this.

It's better to take off small bites than to hang in a big bite.

Use plenty of bar oil & keep your nosewheel greased.

[sdb777]

Most of the "burning up chainsaw" stories are from ripping 20" logs for 8+ feet. As could easily be done(the burning up thing) with the mill I have....especially if you think your cutting spalted pecan and it turns out to be oak(hay, it's was hot and we weren't thinking that clearly).

Even while using his commercial grade Cub, we were only cutting logs in the 3' to 6' lenght, but the saw was "rested" between cuts.


Just like TDH said, keep the bar oil running and the tip of the chain under control(and out of the dirt). You should be fine, unless the bowl your 'shaving' down is like 40" in diameter and 12 foot tall!(Be a heck of a bowl!!)




Scott (chainsaws are cool..unless it's hot outside) B

[art3427]

I tried the same thing last summer on some really nice red oak logs I got for free. I also used a Poulan electric chain saw. The chain lost its motion after about an hour if interrupted cutting. I disassembled it to discover that the driving pulley is made from some kind of plastic. The pressure of so much cutting eventually stripped all the gear teeth.

I'd check the schematic for your saw before starting and if it has the same plastic gear, go ahead and order a couple.

art

[admin]

Ah, ok. Thanks Art, I didn't know that.

[Ruffnek]

TJ,

Make things as easy on yourself and your chainsaw as possible. First, cut the blank to the width of your bowl blank (I'm assuming a rectangular or half-log blank), then lop off the corners at app. 45 degrees. Do the rest of the rounding on the lathe at the lowest speed possible.

For sawing logs into blanks, I do it like Bill Grumbine demonstrates in his article: www.wonderfulwood.com/articles/logcutting.html

Even though he's using a large gas saw, the technique should be the same. Keep the chain sharp and well-oiled.

[admin]

I generally cut my blanks to match the width so it's square (roughly).

I attempted one today. Nice looking red oak crotch. Not doing that again. I never saw an electric saw kick back before. Methinks I was lucky as could be. Worse, it felt like I had control of the saw when it happened.

I'll handsaw the corners off from here on.

[TDHofstetter]

Ya twist the bar in the kerf, or did it roll funny on ya? Tricksy, them not-quite-round log sections.

[admin]

The bar tried to twist in the cut and the teeth on top hit the side and tossed the bar upwards and out.

One of these days, I'll bite the bullet and buy a bandsaw...

[TDHofstetter]

Till then... back-engineer the event & fore-engineer a way to prevent it. Then ya can use the chainsaw again...