Heating With Wood

Chainsaw Chains, Sharpening, And Maintaining

For the homeowner who is using a wood stove to heat and cutting his own firewood, it is critical to have the right gas chain saw and chainsaw chains. Heating with wood can save you money and is very pleasant, but, if you do not have the right equipment, it can cause you a lot of extra grief.

For starters, if you have an efficient cast iron or heavy gage steel wood stove you are one step ahead. An older, inefficient stove will simply use too much wood to make it worthwhile. A good stove, such as a Jotul, Vermont Castings, Lopi or Morso will give you years of satisfaction and almost become part of the family.

Once your original chainsaw chain wears out and cannot take another sharpening, you have to get a new one. The easiest way is to take your old one to a good hardware store or outdoor equipment store and buy the exact same thing.

All you really need to know is the length of your bar, the pitch and the gauge. The numbers are usually engraved right into the bar or written on the saw, so you can just use the numbers listed.

The length of the bar is how long it is from the end of the saw body to the tip of the bar. The pitch is the distance from one saw tooth to the next. The gauge (gage) is the width of the slot in the bar where the chainsaw chain rides. To measure the pitch make sure you measure from the beginning of one tooth to the beginning of the next one. You can measure from the beginning or end or even the middle, just make sure you measure to the exact same spot on the next tooth.

Not every manufacturer has chains that are interchangeable with other brands. For example: a Husqvarna chain may not fit a Stihl or a Homelite probably will not fit an Echo saw. This information is written on the package of the chain, or a good supplier can look it up for you. You can save a lot of money by buying locally from somebody who knows what they are doing. In fact, he may even be able to make just about any kind you need, though these types of men are more and more a rarity.

Sharpening your chain can be done with a simple round file. This takes a bit of practice to do it correctly and, from my experience, most people are not very good at it. They do not understand the geometry of the cutting edge, don't know that the file only cuts in one direction, and do not have the patience to make each tooth the same.

A file guide is very helpful to keep the angle correct and is not difficult to use. One such tool is the Oregon Sure Sharp Chain Saw Manual Filing/Sharpening Guide. There are other, more complicated fixtures available that work well, such as the Oregon Sure Sharp 12 Volt Electric Chainsaw Chain Sharpener. This is a handy little device that sells for around $35.00.

A sharp chain leaves nice, big wood chips, instead of little sawdust type chips. You will be cutting your firewood cords faster than ever and your shed will be full of wood for next year.