I am a relatively new chain saw owner who has Googled extensively and
read the owner's manual several times. I have a good degree of common
sense, and try to take care, but I am destined to make stupid mistakes
anyway.

After about 2 hours of use on the new saw going through cherry and ash,
I started into some oak about 12" in diameter with a 20" bar on a Husky
346XP (fast saw). I worked through this for about an hour and noticed
that the the oak seemed to be getting progressively harder to cut,
requiring more pressure on the saw as I moved toward the base of the
tree (tree had been felled already). Eventually, the bar and chain
began to smoke, and I probably made 7 or 8 cuts until the bar and chain
were smoking so badly it became obvious that something was seriously
wrong... the bar oil on the bar was bubbling from the heat. I removed
the bar from the log and ran the saw for about 30 seconds to oil the bar
and allow the smoke to dissipate from the bar and chain.

I inspected the bar and noticed that the paint had disappeared along the
edges of the bar, the Husky lettering in the center of the bar was
completely gone, and there were a couple of spots in the center of the
bar where the paint had disappeared. I suspect that the paint had
simply burned off at these locations.

Obviously, the chain was dull. Why that wasn't obvious when I had to
force the saw to cut is beyond me. That's the bad news.

The good news is that I inspected the bar and didn't see any obvious
signs of damage. I didn't notice any "bluing" of the bar metal where
the paint is gone, and I didn't notice any burring or flaring of the bar
rails. I did flip the bar over and put a new Oregon chain on it, and
the saw now cuts like a champ. I am not sure why the original Husky
chain became so dull after only 3 hours on the saw, as I took care to
keep it out of the dirt and certainly didn't hit anything other than
wood during operation.


My question: What signs of damage to the saw, bar, or chain should I be
looking for at this point? I suspect that the paint burning off of the
bar is premature wear at this point, but I'm not sure if that is a
indicator of damage. Does it sound like I got lucky this time, or could
something have been damaged that is not yet obvious?


Thanks,
JKG

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote in message
...
I am a relatively new chain saw owner who has Googled extensively and
read the owner's manual several times. I have a good degree of common
sense, and try to take care, but I am destined to make stupid mistakes
anyway.

You should be pumping the manual bar oiler during all cuts and between cuts.
Every time the gas is filled, the bar oil is filled too. Ensure you can see
the oil flow out into the bar.

Larry

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote in message
...

Obviously, the chain was dull. Why that wasn't obvious when I had to
force the saw to cut is beyond me. That's the bad news.

JKG

I notice finer and finer sawdust instead of chips as the chains dull on my
saws - but I haven't cut oak in a few years and that gets pretty hard as it
seasons.

As advised by a previous poster, you should top off the chain/bar oil
whenever refilling your saw with gas. You should also be able to increase
the oil feed to your chain to increase the lubrication there, either
manually or through a screw setting. The wear on your bar is normal and
can't be avoided. The paint is simply cosmetic. You do need to avoid running
your bar/chain too hot. It can warp the bar somewhat; however you can take
it in and have the bar "trued" if this happens. Make sure to tighten the
chain periodically as it will become loose and prone to jump off the bar.
Always have a spare chain or two for back up when going out to cut a lot of
wood and always cut with a sharp chain as you're much less likely to have
accidents when the saw is sharp and running well.

Like you, I spent about three hours yesterday afternoon cutting down and
sawing up a couple of large white oaks (24" - 30") diameter with my 20 year
old Shindaiwa 488 (18") saw. It had recently been tuned, bar trued and new
chain installed. It ran like a champ zipping through the wood. Then, like
your's the chain slowly gave out and I had to put on my spare.

To the last part of your question - you got experience! I doubt if
anything's broken.

My Buck stove is going to love this white oak next winter. Like they say
Wood warms you twice, first when you cut and split it and again when you
burn it.

John

My question: What signs of damage to the saw, bar, or chain should I be
looking for at this point? I suspect that the paint burning off of the
bar is premature wear at this point, but I'm not sure if that is a
indicator of damage. Does it sound like I got lucky this time, or could
something have been damaged that is not yet obvious?


Thanks,
JKG

"JB" wrote in message
ink.net...
. You should also be able to increase
the oil feed to your chain to increase the lubrication there, either
manually or through a screw setting.
snip
John


Can also increase flow by diluting slightly by adding a little kerosene to
the oil.

My question: What signs of damage to the saw, bar, or chain should I be
looking for at this point? I suspect that the paint burning off of the
bar is premature wear at this point, but I'm not sure if that is a
indicator of damage. Does it sound like I got lucky this time, or could
something have been damaged that is not yet obvious?


Thanks,
JKG

Jonathan Goodish wrote:
I am a relatively new chain saw owner who has Googled extensively and
read the owner's manual several times. I have a good degree of common
sense, and try to take care, but I am destined to make stupid mistakes
anyway.

After about 2 hours of use on the new saw going through cherry and
ash, I started into some oak about 12" in diameter with a 20" bar on
a Husky 346XP (fast saw). I worked through this for about an hour
and noticed that the the oak seemed to be getting progressively
harder to cut, requiring more pressure on the saw as I moved toward
the base of the tree (tree had been felled already).

At this point stop. Your chain is dull.

Keep in mind if you get the chain in dirt it will almost instantly dull the
chain.

The teltale sign of chain health is the chips put off. They should be large
shavings; when they become fine dust the chain is dull.

The bar is probably fine; the chain may have been fried though. If the
teeth are blue they have been overheated.

Buy and learn to use a chain sharpener; I have a dremel attachment which
works GREAT.