Cleaning saw chains

I have tried all sorts of things from soaking them for weeks in kerosine and paint thinner and oil to scrubbing them with soap and a stiff brush. Nothing worked to my satisfaction. I don't like the residue that is left on the chains when cutting hardwood as it stops the oil to get to the places it needs to get to. A week or so ago I bought a ultra sonic cleaner mainly for carburetors and sail winch parts etc. Today i thought, screw it, i'll throw a chain in the thing. And TARAHHH it works a treat. Gets rid of nearly all of the nasty stuff that stuck to it. Quick dry with compressed air and a squirt of oil and job jobbed.
If ya want to find out how to do something,...... ask a lazy person.

Or a picky old German machinist, thanks !

I cut millions of feet of hardwoods and never noticed a residue that would cause any problems.

I haven't cut that much , but it didn't bother me either , put new chain on , sharpen on saw , flip the bar once in a while when I have it apart for blowing out all the crud under the clutch cover.


I have been thinking about an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning brass it seems like it would be easier than separating steel pins and better than my current method of a big pickle jar of brass and dish soap and water every time I walk by agitate then let set , after about 2 days rinse and dry

then again the pickle jar is paid for

now carburetors could be very good , i have one that needs doing

what model do you have?

Buy some new chains ya tight wad! LOL

It is more when I am milling with the alaskan sawmill. And yes I use lots of bar oil when working with a longer bar. Maybe the .050 chains are more finicky than the .063's I do notice that chains that I keep clean last longer and are not as prone to snapping. I'll have to measure the drive link pin size of the different state chains to have data that could correlate with what I am experiencing. But I am not yet bored enough to just split chains to measure the bearing surfaces.

This one

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HBDUM74/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's a good idea.

Been trying for months to convince my uncle to buy one to clean the parts and products he makes.

How dirty was the cleaner afterwards

Are your chains breaking at the connecting rivet or just anywhere?

The cleaning solution was dirty but the cleaner is just a stainless tub with a ball valve on one side. I drained it and wiped it out with a paper towel. Ready to go again.




They break at random places. But before they go south, they get " floppy " in other words worn pins and drive link holes. Milling is tough on chains for sure and maybe I should have gone with a o.063 slot bar and chains instead of the standard Stihl 0.050 as they have less " meat "to them
Its not going to be an issue once I have my bandsaw mill finished and I'll just use the saws for felling and bucking then

Leave it to Scuba the chainsaw guru. I have a friends Mculloch (sp) at my house, I got it started once and haven't got it going again. Scuba was here Monday I mentioned it to him he said lets try it. He put me through a starting sequence, yep set this, pull twice, change this, pull, then do this, fired right up. He is "THE" chainsaw guru. He does a pretty good job handling one too. Pretty handy to have around.

Good to know. Thanks

I have only had .063 and .058 chain , never broken one, I also don't mill , I have ripped 7 cutters off on a nail once that was a 20 inch bar .063 chain

I thought .063 was the standard Stihl chain , that is all the dealer I bought mine from sold unless you asked for something else. he must have just ordered only .063 I suppose if you only ever went to a couple stihl dealers and they all stocked everything in .063 you would never know about .050 on a stihl

Chicks are buying the USCs for their jewelry, brilliant.
My wife needs one lol.
You can tell chain wear by flexing it side ways, just like bike chain.
Maybe a tension thing Scoob? Or brand/batch, seems odd.
50 gauge is easier over here, everyone carries it.

X2 and I can add millions of feet of softwoods.

You will pretty much file the teeth away before you wear out the chain. They stretch but thats what the chain tightener is for.

Thats what I meant by the chain getting " floppy " To get an accurate result one would have to measure the tolerance of the pins and holes of the drive links. But as I said earlier, I am not bored enough to do that just yet.
These chains are all of the same bulk roll from Oregon. So you may be on to something there as well. I'll get a new roll and see what happens or get a couple of ready made chains to have a looksee. Its not a tension thing as I tend to run them on the loose side for the most part.
I don't have this problem with the shorter 25" length that I use for felling and bucking. Its just the ones I make up for milling for the 36" bar. As i said earlier, I run plenty of oil using the longer bar and don't have excessive bar wear,
Anyway, now that I have found a way for me to keep them clean, this whole thing may just be over with from now on.

I never broke a chain yet but I do all the things a guy should not do to a chain so I ruin them pretty quickly here. LOL I start big projects with a new chain often and finish on the logs on the ground or cutting stumps both are tough on chains. I load up on a few new chains when the local store has a bucket sale 17% off.

For smaller jobs I’ll touch up a old chain if I can but chains are cheap and speed up the big jobs so they are worth the time and hassle saved.

I have new to me x-cut and a full skip.
Like lures, I just have to try them.

Earlier I worked white pine for two weeks,
what a mess they make of everything.

I purchased an ultras sonic cleaner a few months ago and it machine of many uses. I will definately try a few chains in it.

I built my cabin with two saws and two chains. One for ripping and one for felling, limbing and notching. I bought four ripping chains with the intent of rotating them out to be professionally sharpened but soon realized that wasn't going to work. Ripping logs is measured in minutes per foot, not feet per minute. I was was forced to learn to sharpen the ripping chains. The ten degree angle is what threw me at first but I conquered it. I wound up using just one ripping chain and completed the project with it. Same for felling chain. Countless hours whittling away notches with the tip of the bar. Countless hours milling.

I would think spruce and fir would play more havoc on gumming up a chain that hardwood would but maybe not.

The easy way to get rid of the pine sap and sticky stuff is Kerosine mixed with a dash of ATF. I don't have pine around here but back in the day used to work with that a lot and had that mix in a spray bottle and just sprayed the saw and bar etc. down with it, legit sit for a new minutes ad wiped it down. Chains I threw in a tub of that stuff, then blow them off with compressed air before running them through the grinder.

Those big sap pockets are a bag of fun aint they

Quote .....I would think spruce and fir would play more havoc on gumming up a chain that hardwood would but maybe not.

Thats what i thought till I started milling red oak and hickory. Cut two slabs and its back to sharpening.


When folks say that they have cut millions of board feet, they don't mean this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-aHOmWyzWg


They mean they have put the raw material for those board feet on the ground. There is a big difference..... trust me on that one.

I dedicated one pair of canvas trousers to that job,
They are still water proof.
Pinsol cleaner stuff works ok too.
36" ? oh my.
Did they call the guide bar a sword where you are from?

In an Alaskan mill, those 36" are not that much and I have to pass up some trees that I have here with that bar length for milling with it. I like the long bar for bucking also as it saves my back being able to stand up a little more straight.
This one was blown over and snagged up. Took me the best part of an afternoon to get that to where I wanted it.

I never did any chainsaw milling except for a couple freehand benches and yes, that seems to be a lot harder on saws and chains. In your first post you didnt say you were milling. I can see if the bar/chain is chattering that would be hard on the chain? We had a guy making us chain from spools (it was his first attempt) and was cranking down to much on the connecting rivet and they were busting there right away. Maybe a bad batch of chain like someone else mentioned, that happens. Maybe there is a sweet spot for the rakers and you are not at the right height? Not to critricize your saw - I have no idea what your running, but maybe it is a bit underpowered causing chain failure? I dont know, Im trying to figure it out too.

When my chains get build up on them I just take them to the wire wheel and clean them right up.

I believe (for me) it was coming from the ash trees that I was cutting. It would form a hard layer on the top and sides of the teeth and chain.

I run a ported Stihl 661 M tronic . I think it has power enough for what I use it for. By the end of this fall, I'll hopefully have my bandsaw mill finished and then this bump in the road won't be an issue anymore. I am just a happy camper that i found a lazy way to get the crud of the chains that is messing up my oiling.

Jerry. I am " happy " to report its not just Ash tree's that will cause that

Got all of my chains cleaned, sharpened and soaked in oil. Then hung up sorted by size and grind style, ready to rock -. Got some boat work tomorrow but will cut a pile of firewood this weekend.

I have a beer batter that might work

I found some simple green brand cleaner and degreaser concentrate at the local auto parts store and have used that on the winches I had to clean and the stuff really works well on those bronze gears that were caked in really old grease and dust mix. Even the needle roller bearings came out looking like new. Once I have these winches back together, I'll have to dirty up an AR and try that cleaner on those parts. So far I am happy with the thing though. I have a couple of carbs from Generators to clean up that are caked in that ethanol fuel deck stain and will give that a go this weekend.

Dollar Tree has an orange cleaner that does a right good job on grease as well. Awesome Orange is what it is called. Can get in a spray bottle as well as a bulk refill.

More stuff to speriment with

Scuba you should post some before and after pics

Kerosene or Diesel works good. WD-40 is nice for getting sappy stuff off.

Just finished cutting up 6 dump truck loads of wet wood some really big stuff in the mix elm, ash, honey locust mostly all cut with a new chain. I worked hard to keep the chain out of the dirt I only had to sharpen the chain 1 time near the end to finish some bigger stuff that was muddy.

I figure I got my money out of that chain already I picked up another one today for $15 after the 20% off sale going on. I’ll sharpen it a few more times then use it on cutting stumps after that..

spray them with diesel fuel while cutting something hard.

Scuba I seems to know chainsaw information. I just sharpen the chain and cut wood.

For the ones that missed it. The gummed up chain thing only happens with my milling chains when I cut hardwoods like White and red oak and to some extent hickory. My normal ground chains for cross cutting ( felling , bucking etc ) are not affected like that ...or at least to to the extent that i bother much about it. The geometry of the grind on the milling chains it completely different to the normal chains. And yes I have tried milling with a normal chain and it is a pain in the stern end. They get blunt quick and progress in those hard woods is very very very slow.
I can buck firewood ( oak and hickory ) , as long as its clean all day with a semi chisel chain. Then sharpen in in the evening when I am done. Its milling that is hard on the gear.

Same here. The chain gets sharpened down to nothing long before any kind of cleaning becomes an issue.

My usage may be a bit different from the norm. I cut firewood from blockwood delivered by tree services. In other words those trees along side homes, after their size becomes a nuisance rather than a benefit. What are the odds they may contain a:

• nail?
• spike?
• eyebolt?
• wire cable?
• hook?
• rocks &stones in the crotches?

Yip, chains are filed down to nothing long before cleaning becomes an issue.

That makes sense.

When cutting urban trees service leftovers, it helps to have a metal detector to spot those little bits that can dull a chain quick but are impossible to spot with the naked eye

I do have one I use for boards on the bandsaw mill. I find it a lot more productive to sharpen chain when necessary than spend (waste) time checking for every cut.

Yep them city trees have a lot of trash in them nails, laundry hooks, dog zip lines, flag holders, bird house hangers even had a rock that grew into a fork of a tree. That rock shot a piece of wood that rolled in my shin when I split it, that hurts. LOL

I soak my chains in 1/2 water, 1/2 ammonia... sometimes a few hours, if they are bad- a day or so... I will also scrub them with a wire brush if they are really bad after soaking for a while.. I spray them with some wd 40 or something like that to store them once sharpened.

Some folks on here are immune to sarcasm.

When I write about small bits of metal that are hard to spot with the naked eye and with that post a picture of a whole bike grown into a tree, .......... ahh never mind. the fun is sort of lost when one has to explain it

OK, I admit to getting a bit off the subject.

When it comes to junk in firewood:

• I spot about 10% before cutting
• My chainsaw finds, maybe 5%
• my log splitter finds maybe 5-10%
• The lion's share shows up when I shovel ash out of the boiler

Now I know that I live far enough away from people as after two heating seasons I have yet to find a piece of metal either with the saw, splitter or stove