Full Chisel VS. Semi Chisel Chain Performance

BlacknTan · Jan 1, 2020

I bought good chaps, maybe 20 years ago... Still unworn to this day. Very uncomfortable and confining!

RI Chevy · Jan 1, 2020

They may be a bit uncomfortable, but will save your life if you have one slip up. [emoji106]
Just like glasses. Price of eyes are out if sight these days... [emoji6]

Duane(Pa) · Jan 1, 2020

BlacknTan said:
I bought good chaps, maybe 20 years ago... Still unworn to this day. Very uncomfortable and confining!

Something wrong... I bought cheapest I could find, no problems at all

huskyboy · Jan 1, 2020

The husqvarna chaps aren’t too bad.

Philbert · Jan 1, 2020

AND. . . Back to full-chisel vs. semi-chisel chain please.

Lots of chaps threads.

Philbert

Duane(Pa) · Jan 1, 2020

Philbert said:
AND. . . Back to full-chisel vs. semi-chisel chain please.

Lots of chaps threads.

Philbert

Yeah sorry bout that...

Wonkydonkey · Jan 1, 2020

Im boredwiththchaps want girl threads

Or better still chains un stuffs

gurwald · Jan 1, 2020

I dont run semi on 3/8 chain but use it (oregon speedcut) on my 550xp and borecuts no problem. Cuts great in every way.

birdmeter · Jan 1, 2020

i am a full chisel man myself

Pincher · Jan 1, 2020

If the wood is clean, I use chisel. If I know it may be dirty, semi. Good thing about CAD is you can pick the saw with the correct chain for the job at hand.

Wilhelm · Jan 1, 2020

I know there is always the possibility that in the path of my bucking cut is a mud patch or stones embedded in the logs bark, I still prefer and use full chisel.

I don't like the feel of semi chisel on my mid size and big saws.

Philbert · Jan 2, 2020

This is similar to an illustration in the first post in this thread, from the Carlton Complete Book of Saw Chain.

Philbert

3browns · Jan 2, 2020

Philbert said:
This is similar to an illustration in the first post in this thread, from the Carlton Complete Book of Saw Chain.

View attachment 216591

Philbert

It doesn’t matter how many times and how many ways this is explained to me it has never made sense

I am not saying it’s wrong, I’m just saying I cannot find the logic in it

Semi cuts a different shape groove for lack of a better term but why it’s said and repeated that it has to sever the same fibers repeatedly makes no sense TO ME

I guess on paper at the very end of the cut the full chisel will finish first because it doesn’t leave a rounded corner that might take one more revolution of the chain to sever

But I simply don’t see any other way it could not cut as well

That’s like saying a rounded end woodcarvers knife can’t cut as much as a straight blade knife

I am not saying the vast majority of you guys are wrong

Just saying I can’t see it and in the cutting I have done I can’t feel it

YMMV

Philbert · Jan 2, 2020

I tried to explain it with my illustration in the first post. It took a few times to make sense to me.

A rounded cutter making a round bottom groove is not a problem. But, since the kerf has straight sided walls, the next pass has to chop out that rounded corner on the bottom along with the next set of fibers.

Since the full chisel chain cuts the bottom of the groove square, it does not have to cut the fibers at the corner a second time. Gets the job done faster.

Philbert

3browns · Jan 2, 2020

Oh lord I’m getting old

In my ranting above I finally had to settle on the word GROOVE because my decrepit mind couldn’t come up with the word KERF...

3browns · Jan 2, 2020

Philbert said:
I tried to explain it with my illustration in the first post. It took a few times to make sense to me.

A rounded cutter making a round bottom groove is not a problem. But, since the kerf has straight sided walls, the next pass has to chop out that rounded corner on the bottom along with the next set of fibers.

Since the full chisel chain cuts the bottom of the groove square, it does not have to cut the fibers at the corner a second time. Gets the job done faster.

Philbert

Philbert, you have explained it many times over several forums over several years

You are coherent and explain it well

You are the keeper of all chain knowledge and are quite modest about it

I get what you are laying down

With the utmost respect...

I just don’t buy it

But difference of opinion and our ability to discuss it without resorting to poo flinging is what makes this the best OPE forum on the web

I will keep cutting the way I have always cut, I will keep reading every word you write, and in all likelihood I will agree with 99% of it

Just not this time

lol

Regards good sir

Tugg · Jan 2, 2020

The biggest difference I have noticed is in dirty wood. I have had to cut up trees that have uprooted and you have to separate the tree and the root ball. Beat the dirt and rocks out of the root ball, so you can cut it loose or cut it up. You can never come close to getting all the dirt off. I am sure logs that have been skidded are similar. Even if you do not strike a rock it just polishes the working corner off chisel chain. Semi chisel fairs considerably better. It always seems to still cut. Which is always appreciated when your in the middle of a stump wrestling match.

Wonkydonkey · Jan 3, 2020

@3browns when someone types a leason,,, for some it’s hard to see and understand it.
I’ve thought Philbert explained it well and it took me a while to understand what he had put on paper.
. But when I watch this vid, it helped answer a whole lot of questions.. or another way to say it you ignore what your brain tells you. But just listen/see what it is receiving

Philbert · Jan 3, 2020

I don't understand how most of the things in my car actually work, but am able to drive it satisfactorily.

No worries.

Philbert

3browns · Jan 3, 2020

Wonkydonkey said:
@3browns when someone types a leason,,, for some it’s hard to see and understand it.
I’ve thought Philbert explained it well and it took me a while to understand what he had put on paper.
. But when I watch this vid, it helped answer a whole lot of questions.. or another way to say it you ignore what your brain tells you. But just listen/see what it is receiving

@Wonkydonkey, I appreciate the input and I had actually seen that video before

I get the difference in cutter styles

I don’t want anyone, especially Philbert, to think I disrespect his knowledge or his ability to explain this particular quirk of chain performance

The same information is stated in multiple places by multiple people and is one of those bits of saw lore that is pretty much a given

I Thank y’all for trying to expand my saw consciousness

I am ready to move on to another topic and will keep my apparently irrational beliefs to myself from now on...

Now, how about a good oil thread folks?

Full Chisel VS. Semi Chisel Chain Performance

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