A couple chain saw repairs this morning

cathead

cathead

CATWERKS LTD
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With some time this morning and the shop all nice and warm with the boiler working fine, I decided to do
a little repair work on a Stihl 038 chain saw I picked up at a garage sale. An 038 is a pretty decent saw
so spent some time on it a couple weeks ago cleaning it up and testing it out. The guy threw in an old
20 inch Oregon bar that was badly worn on the tip. Anyway with nothing better to do this morning I thought it
would be time to test out the small WP9 TIG torch and see if I could build up the damaged area with some
weld and grind it smooth. It went fairly well but I obviously need more TIG time. I was able to fill in each rail
without too much material to grind off. I used a 4.5 inch angle grinder with a thin cutoff blade to allow the
chain to pass freely once again. There was one spot that bridged near the tip so resorted to milling out the
groove with a .050 carbide end mill. Also I made a repair on the front of the saw above the muffler as
it had caught on something and looked pretty rough. P1030287.JPG
It's a little crude but will use the repaired side up on the saw. The bar was gouged out about 1/8 inch or so.P1030288.JPG
Here's the bar after grinding and milling out the channel. Hmmmmm, looks like I was a little hard on the tungsten! The red stuff is grease...P1030289.JPG
This is the repair on the saw above the muffler. The muffler had come loose and worn a hole in the orange plastic so I covered it up.



Maybe later on in the day I will see how the saw works with the repaired bar. It's a beautiful day up here, just right to cut up some firewood.
The present temp is 33F.
 
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I think those 038 saws were still made in Germany. Lots of power, great for dropping trees. nice fix!
Cheers
Martin
 
MrWhoopee said:
I would agree except that a bad day of sawing wood frequently ends with a trip to the emergency room.
Click to expand...
Poor taste, but when I was growing up my father worked occasionally in the hospital in Ely, Mn. A frequent chain saw accident is a kickback resulting in the saw hitting someone in the face (yikes). They called it a "Finnish face lift".
 
I've had some bad days sawing wood but never any involving personal injury. Usually, they involve pinching a blade in a cut. If I'm lucky, I have another saw at hand. Otherwise, it's time for the axe and some elbow grease.

There are definitely some days when it would be better to be at work, judging from the number of YouTube videos of people dropping trees on cars, trucks, tractors, and houses.
 
Lets see, widow makers definitely get my attention as well as trees that are felled and land on a smaller tree or sapling putting
it under tension that have the propensity to whack you and remove your teeth if you are aren't careful. Once a person learns
the physics of kickbacks, one learns not to saw with the upper part of the forward tip. Of course there is the possibility of
getting one's saw stuck in a pinch but that's not hazardous, just a perturbance. It's helpful to carry two saws in the woods to
get a person out of a jam. That's the usual stuff I know about. Logging is considered the most dangerous occupation.
Foraging for firewood or cutting down a tree or two for the sawmill is about the extent of my logging activities. One of the
most important things to know when cutting down a tree is how to notch it PROPERLY and leaving a hinge so it will fall
where you want it to. Wedges are handy too if it leans back or there is a wind gust not in your favor. It's good to have several
clear escape routes planned as well just in case things happen to go awry as will happen eventually. :frown 2:
 
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