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Archer .325 chain for milling

Iron.and.bark

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Made myself a loop of archer .325 full comp chisel chain and did some milling.

Saw and sprocket used

Dolmar 144 ( 90cc saw) & 10 tooth sprocket

Bar size - 44" hardnose

Chain - ground 10° cutter, rakers 6° and hook angle at 60.

The bad -

Very big kerf for .325, comparable to 3/8

Chain ground to specs very easily

The good -

Teeth stayed sharp through multiple 6' slabs, at approx 35" width. Would have resharpened low pro 3/8th at least once for same yield.

Speed, it was fast. Way faster than .404 8 tooth on same saw. Do the maths and chain speed is very close between 404 8 tooth and 325 10 tooth.

Finish was probably the best I have ever achieved with an Alaskan. Almost up to logosol standards.

So for the moment I am liking this chain, have to do a lot more to see how the chrome holds up though.

Will get some pics up tomorrow or day after.
 

jb-chainsaws

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Seems a lot of bar and sprocket for a small saw - (in milling terms). I'd never want to run .404 on a slab that thick with such a small saw, I'm pleasantly surprised the finish was so good and the cutting speed not too painful!

I've loved all the archer chain I've used so far, never thought to mill with it but I may give it a try now!
 

ajschainsaws

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Very interesting it's good too hear something more about the archer chain range and now you've give it a shot on the Alaskan mill
There's mixed reviews over here can't wait for the updates
 

ajschainsaws

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Seems a lot of bar and sprocket for a small saw - (in milling terms). I'd never want to run .404 on a slab that thick with such a small saw, I'm pleasantly surprised the finish was so good and the cutting speed not too painful!

I've loved all the archer chain I've used so far, never thought to mill with it but I may give it a try now!

That 144 and 152 are surprisingly good saws for big timber with that old fashioned throttle lock on them great help , and they will hang in there all day
I've been thinking about getting some archer chain to sell do you find some customers cough a little at the price of Oregon
 

Iron.and.bark

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Seems a lot of bar and sprocket for a small saw - (in milling terms). I'd never want to run .404 on a slab that thick with such a small saw, I'm pleasantly surprised the finish was so good and the cutting speed not too painful!

I've loved all the archer chain I've used so far, never thought to mill with it but I may give it a try now!


The 144 kills other comparable cc saws for milling, stroke is aslong as a 3120. Not to mention the dolmar transfer ports shape that the 166 shares.

These old girls were designed for the big bars, slow and steady. Why they work well for milling.

I don't mean to sound arrogant, but when I say a good finish it has to be at pro quality. .

When you do specialist mobile craftwood milling and charge accordingly the customer expects and deserves the best possible quality.
 

Iron.and.bark

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Another thing to note about the chain is, I went for full chisel.

Semi usually holds it's edge slightly longer and has a better quality finish aswell in these Aussie woods.

Archer should work very well in oak and similar.
 

jb-chainsaws

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The 144 kills other comparable cc saws for milling, stroke is aslong as a 3120. Not to mention the dolmar transfer ports shape that the 166 shares.

These old girls were designed for the big bars, slow and steady. Why they work well for milling.

I don't mean to sound arrogant, but when I say a good finish it has to be at pro quality. .

When you do specialist mobile craftwood milling and charge accordingly the customer expects and deserves the best possible quality.

Aah I see, apologies we don't have many dolmars round here, I've only ever come across twon in the shop.

I guess it'd be similar to running an 056 magnum with it being old school!
 

Iron.and.bark

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Can't post pics of those slabs I cut, customer is a private person and doesn't want them shown (can understand, why I don't show pics of my storage).

Anyway here's a close-up of one I cut last night on another chain I made. Forgot to take rakers down after regrind though. Found the worst section on whole slab to illustrate with

IMG_20161013_172455.jpg
 

Iron.and.bark

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Aah I see, apologies we don't have many dolmars round here, I've only ever come across twon in the shop.

I guess it'd be similar to running an 056 magnum with it being old school!

No apologies necessary, or asked for. Many ways to skin a cat, all about what works for you.

056mag is a close analog, but even here if you look at the cylinder heads. Dolmar has the tighter transfers and longer stroke still (like an old Villiers engine). Just better for milling imhi, no necessarily a better saw :)
 

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Oregon recommends their .325 chain only for saws up to about 60cc, and bars up to about 20 inches. This is because the chain 'chassis' (tie straps, rivets, etc.) are lighter weight, designed to run on lower powered saws, than 3/8 or .404 chain. Could not find similar recs in the Archer catalog, but assume that the chain would be somewhat similar in terms of recommended use.

Mentioning this in case your chain fails in this application - it might be due to to the lighter weight format of the chain, and not necessarily a quality, materials, or design defect. I know that some guys even run 3/8 low-profile for milling, but so many variables: power, speed, wood species, etc.

Philbert
 

Iron.and.bark

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Good considered reply Philbert.

I have come across that recommendation before. Actually made me rather nervous when I first started using .325 on my 3120xp on the logosol. Have milled through a fair few loops without an trouble using .325 058 guage running 9 & 10 tooth sprockets on Oregon and Carlton chain.

Only chain I have ever had come apart on me was a .404. Everyone should be wearing chaps when milling period.

Also while the motor develops the same torque, the sprocket size raises the gearing at the expense of torque at the cutter face. Effectively reducing the load the links and rivets endure contacting the wood.
 

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Sound like you are in a good position then to compare the brands. From your post, I had assumed that this was a .325 experiment, as well as an Archer experiment.

Philbert
 

Iron.and.bark

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Sound like you are in a good position then to compare the brands. From your post, I had assumed that this was a .325 experiment, as well as an Archer experiment.

Philbert

It is an experiment for .325 running on a bar larger than 24" for milling. Have not used 325 in an Alaskan, only a logosol farmers m8. Like this

98957-5468821.jpg
 

Hammered

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I was considering .325 on a 28" bar with 7 tooth drive mounted on the 3120.
Any thoughts as I want to get it set up and running Monday.
 

Iron.and.bark

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I was considering .325 on a 28" bar with 7 tooth drive mounted on the 3120.
Any thoughts as I want to get it set up and running Monday.

As far as I know, you can not get a 7 tooth .325 sprocket that will fit on the clutch spline of the 3120. 9 was all I could find. I had my 10 tooth's special ordered.

9 will be fine, I used 9 in the harder of our Australian woods on the logosol.

Simplest setup would be hardnose (solid tip bar), sprocket and .058 or .063 chain in semi chisel for best finish and longer time between sharpenings. Or full chisel for slightly faster cut speed. Ground to 10°, hook angle is personal preference though.

Anyway sorry for lack of updates in this thread, been doing mechanics for last few days. Will post an update and hopefully a vid of .325 running on an Alaskan while milling.
 

Hammered

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Thanks guys for the drive chain info.
The stihl dealer recommended a 7 pin for the 070.
Bought it but never used it.
Just figured I will go with what he said.
More rpm was my thought.

I will see if Juanca at the husky dealer has a 9 or 10 tomorrow.

Once I get dialed in I will also post results.
 

Iron.and.bark

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Well archer chain can take a beating.

IMG_20161017_181812.jpg
IMG_20161017_181826.jpg
IMG_20161017_182550.jpg

Sorry for the picture quality, to dark for my phone to take good pictures, will snap a few more tomorrow.

I made a mistake setting the raker depth with this chain (again), set to aggressive. Made the cut far to "grabby". This also affected chain stretch to I believe. Chain stretched far quicker than before (though I am sure a dolmar 166 didn't help things here). By the last slab had settled down and didn't seem to be stretching any further.

These are fairly wide pieces, about 38" at one end. 166 and 44" bar should help give some perspective.
 
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