Converting a bar gauge

[Homemade]

Anyone open up a bar to a wider gauge? I have one in .058 and would like it to be 063. I’ve seen videos with a bar shop tool opening a bar slot. I was looking for a slitting wheel or chit off wheel in .063 or 1/16” but I can’t find one.

 

[Homemade]

Of course I look on line and find them all over the place :facepalm

 

[Wilhelm]

I use .058", send it to me and I will return it in a couple years when I am done with it.

Take an angle grinder to it, with a 1mm cutoff wheel?
I have deepened the groove on one of my bars this way, only at the bar tail though!

 

[Homemade]

This is what I’m referencing. I think could get close enough by hand by taking my time.

 

[Wilhelm]

That is a neat tool!

I could use one of those for a couple minutes to grind the grooves deeper in two of my bars.

 

[jakethesnake]

I’ve heard of a regular table saw being used. At least to true bars up. I’m not sure about deepening a groove though

 

[Homemade]

No need to deepen. Just widen gauge width.

 

[Larry B]

Don't have a bar shop but am a good redneck. I have a steel face plate for disc sanding on one of the table saws. I use that to true up bar edges. Straightened a bent bar and needed to open up the chain groove. Mounted an air cutoff tool in the router table. Took some finagling but worked good. In hindsight probably have been easier to just make a mandrel to mount a cutoff wheel in the router.

 

[Homemade]

You might be on to something there

 

[Philbert]

@srcarr52 made up his own machine for this (note that he is a talented machinist). Photos posted on AS seem to be gone. Starts around 3:50 in this video:

Philbert

 

[Homemade]

Yep I’m thinking of how I can get a wheel into a router. And make sure the wheel has the same speed capacity. Routers whip at 20k rippems. so that limits me to the little 3” wheels. The nice think about a router is that it has depth adjustment so i don’t have to freehand down the rail. And they are usually 1/4 inch shank so just need to get a 1/4 to air cut off wheel adapter.

 

[srcarr52]

Yep I’m thinking of how I can get a wheel into a router. And make sure the wheel has the same speed capacity. Routers whip at 20k rippems. so that limits me to the little 3” wheels. The nice think about a router is that it has depth adjustment so i don’t have to freehand down the rail. And they are usually 1/4 inch shank so just need to get a 1/4 to air cut off wheel adapter.

I found that most routers are not fine enough adjustment to get the wheel perfectly in the groove. Think 0.002" either way and it's dragging. Originally I looked at getting a shaper and using it, but none had fine enough adjustment.

 

[Shane10]

You may be able to use a router if you use a dial indicator to set your depth. The wheels may not last very long but it’ll probably be fine for personal use. I’d be more interested in how square the wheel is to the table and runout in the wheel/arbor. Just some food for thought but most routers have the ability to handle a 1/2” shank. You might have to buy a different collet but that’s what’s typically in my routers. I’m just thinking the 1/2” shank might be more true and have less deflection and possibly less chatter. Meaning better results. All that being said if they are impossible to find then give the 1/4” one a go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Homemade]

This is just for play. And to get more use of a .058 bar with a .404 tip on it. I’m not worried about exacting tolerances. I’m sure there are plenty of bars out there that started out as .050 but can fit a .058 chain with ease.