Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Proper Lubrication of the Chain Saw Front Sprocket

Are you dressing down the rakers as well as sharpening the teeth?

Get the carbide tipped duro chain from Stihl. Little more money but stays sharp for a long time.

Europeans use that ball zerk on a lot of their machinery, there is a adapter for grease guns, sort of looks like a ball inflator. My Husky came with one of the push greasers. I use that style with oil on my machine tools.

I don't know how you keep a bar long enough for the front sprocket to wear out. Mine has a .043 gauge bar but it wore so much after about a year that I had to start using .050 gauge chains to keep then from coming off the bar.

Oregon makes a .050 gauge bar that matches up with the one that came on it. I'm putting one on it soon.

Harbor Freight sells these little grinders for pocket change. Functionally, they operate like a lot of heavier duty models that sell for a quite a bit more. It takes a little bit of finesse to use one. But it's mostly just a matter of getting the stops set properly.

You can't beat on them with a hammer, but they do a pretty good job. Once you get it set up, you can sharpen a chain in about 10 minutes.

get the commercial grade chain .not the home owner grade

I have one of those HF chain sharpener and I confirm others comments. It is convenient to be able to sharpen your chain when needed and bring everything back into alignment after filing it a few times. These sharpeners are not very rugged so you have to treat them with finesse. A slight learning curve but they do work. Need to grind the rakers occasionally.
I mostly use chain saws to clear limbs across the road and along fence lines. I get in the dirt and hit wire more than I should. Pretty hard on chains.

Seriously, 5 chains?
I mostly cut dead standing Locust which is on par with granite as far as hardness goes, can usually get a cord or two out of a chain before needing to sharpen[as long as I keep it out of the dirt].

Putting a new bar and chain on makes it feel like a new saw.

Do you not peel the logs and let them air dry for a year prior to construction?

Interesting hammer face on the maul. Make?

Yeah, I'm rough on chains also. I've been clearing big honeysuckles and bradford pear trees off of my property for 2 years.

I'm mowing where the cleared brush was so I cut the stumps flush with the ground. Getting the chain in the dirt is just a part of the process. That's why I bought the grinder from Harbor Freight.

I like to keep a chain going as long as possible. Not just because of the expense of new chains. But I hate breaking in a new chain. The new chains stretch so much when you first put them on that you can't get noting done for constantly adjusting the tension on them.

Stihl brand chains are 'pre-stretched' I believe.

Oregon bars have the grease hole too. I have never seen a bar that didn't though.

That is a Fiskars maul. Pretty good maul. Yes I am pretty good about filing the rakers, if anything, I file them down too much.
I use white pine logs that have set out for about 3 months, the sawmill grinds off the bark. Even if you let them cure for a year, they will still shrink and settle, especially in that first winter after the cabin is finished.

That is why you must allow for shrinkage and settling at all door and window openings. If not, your windows will be crushed by the weight of the roof. Tricky building a log cabin.

I’ve helped a couple friends build log cabins. Logs were at least a year after peeling. Some shrinkage accounted for but not what appears to be shown.

Your saying 3 months from live tree to building log?

Thanks sk7. Learn sumptin' new every day.

Yes I have no problem using a log that was cut down 3 months ago. It is important to get a winter cut when the sap is down.


I install angle iron at all window and door openings. A cut is made into the header log and goes about 7 inches deep. The angle iron runs about 4 inches up into the header log. This allows for 3 inches of settling at the door opening. The logs just slide down the angle iron.
I was supposed to install a door here in my house, this is a 4 foot door opening from the living room into the hallway.
In this case I just left the door off I would never have the occasion to close it and I kind of like the way it looks.
In four years, I got only about 3/4 of an inch of settling here at the door opening and only got about 3/8 inch of settling at the windows. Most all of that settling happens in the first winter especially if you are burning a wood stove all the time.

Have been using an old Dualco Mini Grease gun to lube the bar nose roller and clutch roller bearing on my father's old Jonsereds 52 for more than 40 years. After cursing at the thing when trying to refill with grease when it sputtered, finally got smart and drilled/tapped the top cap where the metal is thickest to install a zerk fitting. Now I just fill it with a few pumps from my full-sized grease gun. No fuss. No Muss.....

You're welcome. *grin*

Gotcha.

How to you spike the logs together.