would all brands of saws have a nikasil cylinder these days?

[r7000]

I am thinking about buying another saw, something between ~38cc up to 50cc, preferably in the 40-45cc size, and was wondering whether it be poulan, homelite, echo, husqv, stihl, and so on {rank the manufacturer from best/worst or worst/best however you like} would any make saw having a single cylinder 2-stroke motor have a nikasil (nickel silicon carbide) plated cylinder?

is there any other kind of plating besides nickasil these days that would be used, that would be better/worse? I mean if I look for the best manufacturer of small 2-stroke powered equipment and also for what might be considered the worst including stuff at harborfreight and any no-name stuff from amazon that ships from china to my door, what would all these use as a cylinder liner?

 

[huskyboy]

If your even gonna waste time with disposable crap saws, buy a echo instead. A lot of the smaller echos are a pretty good price point. A echo cs400 (40 something cc) or something like that on ebay is probably pretty close in price to some of these knockoff saws... and is actually a decent useable saw for small firewood. If I’m not mistaken the echo cylinders are nikasil. A dolmar 421 is another good little firewood saw to consider in that price point range too. Too many good options to consider buying a “disposable” saw.

 

[r7000]

i understand what u are saying, but i am asking more out of curiosity is there really any difference between cheap & disposable vs best of the best specifically in regards to cylinder lining of the typical 30-50cc sized cylinder?

i assume all pistons are basically the same (aluminum hypereutectic) and the rings are all cast iron, and the cranks & bearings are nothing special...

(a) do all cylinders have a nickel silicon carbide lining?

(b) is there another composition commonly used besides nickasil and if so what?

for sake of argument i buy some cheap no name saw sure a dozen other things can be problematic or fail with it, I am focusing only on cylinder liner.

 

[mgr1]

Hard chrome is also used instead of nicasil.

Cheap vs good: thickness of the nicasil, maybe a cheaper formula of nicasil that has a shorter life.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

I believe there are A few types , but as with all things manufactured there are lots of variables in formulation of base materials.
Some coatings may be thick or thin, and also if the prep cleaning is done proper. In the rice burner builds, there were a few with flaky bits an others that never even thought it could/would peal off.

Anyways, there are many other factors involved. Which you may not be looking at. It’s a bigger picture, so to speak, not just plating

Btw, don’t some still use chrome, or is it just some of the older cylinders

Edited to reflect some reading I’ve done.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

https://www.electrosil.com.au/pdf/ElectrosilRobArticle.pdf

 

[r7000]

Trying to comprehend sub $200 saws in the 42-50cc range on Amazon, eBay, Google. And the available cylinders ~$50 for doing rebuilds/upgrades... Recently replaced crank seals on a borrowed Stihl 029

 

[Wonkydonkey]

There is also the port timings, which some can be modded, but time is money, so add it all up then factor the longevity in especially if it’s a work saw,

To give you an idea, I got a cheap 026, oem cylinder, timings 99/123/70 I got a f-tec cylinder just in case I needed it if I couldn’t clean the oem up, I checked the timings, 93-4/123/66 which are not very good imo,
so i will have a play and see if I can improve it, but I’m limited to what I can do.

There are a few threads on cheap China if you have a look around

Anyhow I’m a cheap and cheerful type, and happy to tinker, but if it was for work, I’d have to have a good quality backup saw.

So keep us posted on your ways into CAD

 

[r7000]

a 1990's stihl 029, or a brand new 2018 MS290, or a poulan saw, my old poulan PL25 weed trimmer, a homdox 52cc $150 amazon, or a husqv 240 #saw $180 amazon, what would one expect and how can u tell on any of these what the cylinder liner would be... nikasil, alusil, electrolsil, whateversil, chome?

is the lowest/cheapeast/easiest? most likey to find on an inexpensive 2-stroke motor 30-60cc for a cylinder liner to be chrome?
is that what china manufactures would be using?
my impression is chrome is on the way out for various reasons and I don't see it being cheaper to use now that a nikasil knockoff?

would a chrome cylinder with cast iron piston ring require more 2-stroke oil 20:1 to 40:1 for longevity/less wear vs a proper nikasil at 50:1 ?
I see some chinese stuff that recommend mix down around 30:1 and I wonder since it's a cheap no-name that is might be because of a chrome cylinder?

or would more likely be not chrome and some nickel silicon carbide knockoff... would maybe expect not as high end as a licensed "nickasil" or "electrosil" from those U.S. or Australia based platers that would be on a "Mahle" cylinder... ?

"So keep us posted on your ways into CAD"

what is CAD?

 

[Wonkydonkey]

Your right, chrome is used less, due to the reason in the link above, it has to be honed just right to hold oil, where as whatsoever-sil is lipophilic ( oil is attracted) there for better lubed rings etc.


I think you just have to go with something that has a name that’s recognised and warranties they stand up to. Buying a Cheap China is looking for trouble, unless you get a secondhand saw and want to fix cheap.
I never buy new, I just buy s/h and fix when needs be. But that’s me


CAD is
Chainsaw Addiction Disease...
this is where we hangout and Get our daily fix, but every so often we rush out and buy another saw