# Chainsaw bar Flip



## ArsenalDon (Feb 21, 2013)

Saw someone mention flipping the bar over after every use. Someone please explain please? Have not been doing it, I should be?


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## KodiakII (Feb 21, 2013)

Just evens out the wear on both sides.


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## bmblank (Feb 21, 2013)

I assume its to prevent it from wearing on one side and ending up with a boomerang shaped (a little exaggeration there) bar. I wouldn't think there's much of a reason to do it unless you're a super heavy user of the saw. Each use may be a ten hour day of nothing but cutting.
Just a guess though.


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## Boog (Feb 21, 2013)

If you never flip your bar you will differentially wear down the one side over time, predominately at the base and tip areas of the bar. Flipping it over periodically evenly distributes your wear over both sides of the bar significantly prolonging the bars life. Its something every saw owner should do, not just the all day long "pro" cutters.


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## ScotO (Feb 21, 2013)

Don, it'll make your bar last twice as long......
Also, dressing the rails (from time to time) with a flat file or carefully with a grinder will also add real performance to your cutting!  The rails, after heavy use, will 'mushroom' out to the sides.  Taking the 'mushrooms' off and also flattening the top of the rail back out is a regular thing I do (maybe every 5 to 10 cutting sessions).  Just depends on what kind of wood I am cutting, etc....

So after cutting, say, 2 cord or so, flip your bar.  Every 4 or 5 cord, clean your rails......you'll be amazed at the difference it'll make.


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## bogydave (Feb 21, 2013)

Good question! 






http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/chainsaw_guide_bar_maintenance/


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## ScotO (Feb 21, 2013)

bogydave said:


> View attachment 94479
> 
> View attachment 94480
> 
> ...


Excellent tutorial, Dave.  I was going to try and really explain bar maintenance.....it would've taken me a week to write all of that, not to mention it is hard to explain.  Easy to understand looking at those pictures!


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## Nixon (Feb 21, 2013)

As the others have said, flipping the bar will increase the life of the bar significantly . 
My ritual is to bring the saw (s) that i have used that day into the shop ,remove the bar , clean the saw and bar ,flip and remount the bar and either put on a fresh chain , or sharpen the one that was on the saw . Sounds cumbersome , but it ensures a saw thats ready when needed .


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## ScotO (Feb 21, 2013)

While we are on the subject, here, a great tool to have in your saw's arsenal is a narrow paint scraper or drywall knife.......they work excellent for digging the gunk out of your bar rails.....

That gunk makes it hard for your chain to properly lube, which leads to premature bar and chain wear.....


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## Nixon (Feb 21, 2013)

I use an old jig saw blade , it's pretty effective at getting the mung out of rails . Then i hit the bar with compressed air just to be sure its clean and the oil hole is clear.


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## bogydave (Feb 21, 2013)

Nixon said:


> As the others have said, flipping the bar will increase the life of the bar significantly .
> My ritual is to bring the saw (s) that i have used that day into the shop ,remove the bar , clean the saw and bar ,flip and remount the bar and either put on a fresh chain , or sharpen the one that was on the saw . Sounds cumbersome , but it ensures a saw thats ready when needed .


 
+1
Same here. A little maintenance helps keep the tools you have in good shape last a long time


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## ScotO (Feb 21, 2013)

Nixon said:


> I use an old jig saw blade , it's pretty effective at getting the mung out of rails . Then i hit the bar with compressed air just to be sure its clean and the oil hole is clear.


You just gave me another idea.....I'll be making a small handle out aluminum and mounting it to a jigsaw blade.  That is a great idea, Nixon!!


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## Nixon (Feb 21, 2013)

Scotty Overkill said:


> You just gave me another idea.....I'll be making a small handle out aluminum and mounting it to a jigsaw blade.  That is a great idea, Nixon!!


I use duct tape .


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## NH_Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

I broke a piston ring in half, and I've been using the halves as groove cleaners - works well - followed by compressed air.
Cheers!


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## ArsenalDon (Feb 21, 2013)

Wow, so much I was not doing.....thank you all...need to identify my oil hole....I run thinner oil 50/50 bar chain and 10W40 cause it just wont throw oil right otherwise...but maybe I have a bit of a clog too.....


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## raybonz (Feb 21, 2013)

Scotty Overkill said:


> While we are on the subject, here, a great tool to have in your saw's arsenal is a narrow paint scraper or drywall knife.......they work excellent for digging the gunk out of your bar rails.....
> 
> That gunk makes it hard for your chain to properly lube, which leads to premature bar and chain wear.....


I use an old toothbrush and it works well and they are free 

Ray


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## Thistle (Feb 21, 2013)

I keep an old toothbrush in saw case for removing heavy crud before  hitting everything with compressed air.Years ago Dad took a  7" long piece of thin flexible steel from old windshield wiper,wrapped the end with duct tape that was the 'bar groove cleaner'.It got lost somewhere years later so I made another,works very well.

I also use this to maintain the bars -filing burrs,cleaning grooves etc - 1884 patent Sargent No.105 saw sharpening vise.With ball & socket joint,it adjusts to any angle,13lbs their heaviest model.Opens up to just over 5/16" any bar made in past 50 yrs will just fit & clamp securely.


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## Flamestead (Feb 21, 2013)

Nixon said:


> I use an old jig saw blade , it's pretty effective at getting the mung out of rails . Then i hit the bar with compressed air just to be sure its clean and the oil hole is clear.


 
I do the same with a sawzall blade, using the tang at the top end of the blade. Nice and stiff, narrow enough to easily fit. And finish the same, with the compressed air in the oil ports.


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## Nixon (Feb 21, 2013)

Flamestead said:


> I do the same with a sawzall blade, using the tang at the top end of the blade. Nice and stiff, narrow enough to easily fit. And finish the same, with the compressed air in the oil ports.


This may or may not be of any practical use, but I scrape from the tip of the bar to the back . Hopefully it avoids getting the mung into the  sprocket .


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## fabsroman (Feb 22, 2013)

Nixon said:


> As the others have said, flipping the bar will increase the life of the bar significantly .
> My ritual is to bring the saw (s) that i have used that day into the shop ,remove the bar , clean the saw and bar ,flip and remount the bar and either put on a fresh chain , or sharpen the one that was on the saw . Sounds cumbersome , but it ensures a saw thats ready when needed .


 
Wish I had that amount of time. I used to clean the tools and guns at the end of every use. Nowadays, tough enough to find time to clean the tools and guns once a year.

Me, I have about 7 chains for each saw. When a chain is dull, I swap it for a sharp one and flip the bar at the same time. Once I have 6 or 7 dull chains, I will sit down at the chain sharpener and get them done. Makes more sense to me to sit down and sharpen a bunch of chains at once versus one at a time.

Then again, I am not a professional cutter like you and others on here. My saws do not get used quite that much. Just enough for firewood for me, my parents, and sometimes a few other people.


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## MasterMech (Feb 22, 2013)

Stihl, Stens, and Oregon all sell a nifty little tool for dressing a bar. Works really well for taking down the burrs and truing up the rails.






How to use a hand file bar dressing tool.

Some of you may also have belt sanders with a table.  Slap a medium grit paper on that and that ought to do a good job too.  Router mounted in a table with a fine stone, etc.  More than one way to skin this cat. 

And for cleaning the bar grooves in the field, the raker gauge (included with a shapening kit or available separately) has a groove tool built in to one side of it. In the shop, I use compressed air.


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## Boog (Feb 22, 2013)

I've had both of these bar tools for some time, the little one about 30 years.  I don't remember who made these, the little one is 4" long and is my go-to-tool for groove cleaning.


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## Sean McGillicuddy (Feb 22, 2013)

I use this end to clean my groves! >
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




You do rotate you tires on you vehicles??  So why not the bar?


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## fabsroman (Feb 22, 2013)

Sean McGillicuddy said:


> I use this end to clean my groves! >
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
The tires on a car get rotated every time you drive it. Much easier process than cleaning out the groove in a chainsaw bar.

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Just kidding. I know what actual "tire rotation" is and do it every 15,000 miles.


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## Nixon (Feb 22, 2013)

fabsroman said:


> Wish I had that amount of time. I used to clean the tools and guns at the end of every use. Nowadays, tough enough to find time to clean the tools and guns once a year.
> 
> Me, I have about 7 chains for each saw. When a chain is dull, I swap it for a sharp one and flip the bar at the same time. Once I have 6 or 7 dull chains, I will sit down at the chain sharpener and get them done. Makes more sense to me to sit down and sharpen a bunch of chains at once versus one at a time.
> 
> Then again, I am not a professional cutter like you and others on here. My saws do not get used quite that much. Just enough for firewood for me, my parents, and sometimes a few other people.


First off, i'm not anything close to a professional cutter. Just an old man that heats his house with wood ,and likes saw more than he should .  I completely understand having a shortage of time do do things . Been there done that ,even got the t- shirt . But, now I'm retired ,and enjoying it immensely . One of those things I enjoy most is at the end of a day of sawing ,is sitting down in the quiet of the shop tinkering with the saws .


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## fabsroman (Feb 22, 2013)

Nixon said:


> First off, i'm not anything close to a professional cutter. Just an old man that heats his house with wood ,and likes saw more than he should .  I completely understand having a shortage of time do do things . Been there done that ,even got the t- shirt . But, now I'm retired ,and enjoying it immensely . One of those things I enjoy most is at the end of a day of sawing ,is sitting down in the quiet of the shop tinkering with the saws .


 
Duly noted, Nixon is not a professional cutter. I just assumed you were with the list of saws you have. lol Probably should not have done that.

Yeah, I really like tinkering too and keeping things clean, but there just isn't as much time for it now with my practice, a 6 year old, 4 year old, and 3 month old. Maybe once they are all in school. Hard enough to put in 3 to 4 billable hours a day nowadays.


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## Nixon (Feb 22, 2013)

fabsroman said:


> Duly noted, Nixon is not a professional cutter. I just assumed you were with the list of saws you have. lol Probably should not have done that.
> 
> Yeah, I really like tinkering too and keeping things clean, but there just isn't as much time for it now with my practice, a 6 year old, 4 year old, and 3 month old. Maybe once they are all in school. Hard enough to put in 3 to 4 billable hours a day nowadays.


Enjoy watching your children learn and grow . Those are the years that pass all too quickly . There'll soon be time for less important things like saws . You're a lucky person indeed !


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## bogydave (Feb 22, 2013)

Nixon said:


> First off, i'm not anything close to a professional cutter. Just an old man that heats his house with wood ,and likes saw more than he should .  I completely understand having a shortage of time do do things . Been there done that ,even got the t- shirt . But, now I'm retired ,and enjoying it immensely . One of those things I enjoy most is at the end of a day of sawing ,is sitting down in the quiet of the shop tinkering with the saws .


 
+1.  I'm with you.
Next time I use it, it's clean, sharp & ready to go.


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## fabsroman (Feb 22, 2013)

Nixon said:


> Enjoy watching your children learn and grow . Those are the years that pass all too quickly . There'll soon be time for less important things like saws . You're a lucky person indeed !


 
Yep, I fully understand how lucky I am. Hence, the reason the guns, tools, rods, reels, cars, etc. get a lot less attention than the kids. Ironically, I was showing my kids pics last night and showed them pics of the F350 when it was new. My son stated "Wow daddy, it was shiny." My daughter stated "Look at how pretty the tires look." They both agreed to help me wash the truck in the spring to get it back to its original glory. Wait until they see what kind of work that is. lol

Also, while looking at those pics I could not remember when/where half of them were taken and it almost had me in tears. I told my wife when our daughter was born almost 6 years ago that we would forget so much about what they did as babies/kids.


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## missedbass (Feb 22, 2013)

Nixon said:


> First off, i'm not anything close to a professional cutter. Just an old man that heats his house with wood ,and likes saw more than he should .  I completely understand having a shortage of time do do things . Been there done that ,even got the t- shirt . But, now I'm retired ,and enjoying it immensely . One of those things I enjoy most is at the end of a day of sawing ,is sitting down in the quiet of the shop tinkering with the saws .


 Oh yeah! thats what I call livin' the high life, enjoy!  BTW that is a nice collection!


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