Archer ripping chain...

Anyone try any of the Archer ripping chain? If so let me know how it did.

 

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Copycat...

 

Older post, but I can comment. Recently tried their 3/8 .063 20” & 24” ripping chains. Actually impressed me for a hot minute in a small mulberry log, but when I hit an old nail in the redwood log I cut next, right after sharpening, of course, 90% of the chain’s cutters basically exploded. In the past when I’ve hit steel of all kinds with granberg, stihl, or even Oregon and Carlton chains, the cutters have taken a beating, perhaps I lost one or two if it was a particularly beefy bolt, but I still had a recoverable chain afterwards. One archer ripping chain is now in the artistic welding scrap pile. The other will be considered a liability to be used only as a last resort. YMMV

 

Thanks for the input! I never did go for any Archer. Glad I didnt!

 

I just fished the carcass out of the scrap pile, because everyone enjoys a photo of carnage. Looks like I exaggerated slightly - only 2/3 - 3/4 of the cutters blew off chewing through a single nail

 

Wow thats impressive!

 

Soft cutters. They lack the proper heat treat.

 

I just read a thread about making your own skip tooth out of a full chisel. I think you have a new thing

 

Was it by any chance a old square nail? Hit one with an Oregon chain before and it took out some teeth like that.

 

Not square but it was a fatty, somewhere in the 5 gauge neighborhood, I think.

One of my 167dl granberg loops is missing several cutters from one of those old square nails I hit in a 300 year old oak trunk last fall. Probably the hardest thing I’ve run into so far, if I had to guess, but I haven’t been busting out the Rockwell hardness files to check.

I suppose it is possible that I hit a nail made of an unusually hard alloy. Nevertheless, it was a surprising amount of damage. I admit I do like the teeny weeny Archer chain I have run on my 2511T and MS150TC.

 

I hit this on an old barnyard maple with Archer semi chisel on my 7900 28” bar. Did some damage but the cutters held up well. The pipe was 1” diameter.

 

I just ordered a 25' roll of the Archer 3/8LP .050, hoping the breaker/spinner and the roll get here in the next two weeks or so. In the meantime I'm collecting saw worthy logs. Just making 4x4's right now for fence posts, but any larger logs will get turned into 6x6 or 8x8 cants and misc boards.

 

I have lately seen a lot of chains missing a tooth or two. Idon't know how it is happening, but it is usually on nearly new chains. I can't remember what brand. I can't say I've hit metal with an archer, but have never lost a tooth that I can remember. I've seen others strip the teeth off who are more determined than I'd ever be to cut through metal, so maybe that is the issue? Some people don't know when to let off.

 

So I just cut this with 3/8” full skip archer semi chisel that I filed to 10 degrees with a file n joint. It’s a 156 DL on a G660.
I made 3 cuts 30+” (almost two full tanks per cut) wide with it at factory grind (maybe 30 degrees) before I decided that it needed sharpening. It was grabby. Now at 10 and the rakers to .025 it’s much better. Still grabbier than the full house Carleton ripping chain. But for 70$ for a 25’ roll I’m impressed with the value. Stretch wasn’t bad but I oiled the heck out of it.
Evan

 

Over the weekend I was milling with my Archer 3/8lp ripping chain and lost a few teeth when hitting a screw. The first screw dented the cutters up, but I managed to save them. The second screw basically ruined the chain and took two cutters. I may try and save that chain and use it for experimental grinds and stuff. I broke my 84dl loop a few times, called it quits after the third time.

 

I'll add my $0.02 here, as I recently used my first Archer chain. I read some of this thread before I bought this chain, so maybe it's fitting that I comment here.

I'm impressed. This was brand new chain, on a nearly new bar. I think I made 3 cross-cuts with the bar prior to this exercise.

Here's the setup:

Husqvarna 2100xp with base gasket delete and a modded jungle muffler. I'm running a 42" Oregon with a Stihl adapter, 3/8-.063", and like I said above, that bar has very little run time. Not running an aux oiler.

The chain was fresh out of a sealed Archer bag and I tightened the chain like I would have done for any chain. Not overly tight, not loose.

I had a usable milling width of 34" and used it all in about 5 cuts, with another 5 being about 25" width. Cut length was roughly 48". Wood was green, silver maple. (I know it's not a terribly hard wood).


The chain didn't "stretch" at all that I could tell. It's still all bolted up to the Granberg and doesn't appear to need any touch-up or tightening.

Take my experience for what it's worth: I'm not a wood worker, and I'm a bit of a novice at milling of any sort. I've managed to cut a few dozen planks/slabs over the past 5-7 years, and sometimes I actually follow-through and make something from the milled stuff. haha.

Any of the irregularities that I got in my lumber finish I can attribute to my technique, pausing or hanging up on the undulations on the log, or simply not getting the wedges in the right spot when I finish the cut.

My limited experience usually gives me 'some' stretch after cutting even on chain that's broken-in. Maybe I just got it more solidly loaded against the tensioner than I normally would, but I have no sag at all after running about 3 tanks of fuel with no re-tension or re-sharpen.

Your mileage may vary.

Phill