Chainsaw Bar Refinishing

[Homelite410]

Late to the party..... I use a belt sander to get the brushed look then use a bridled abrasive brush in a CNC to engine turn the bar then pocket mill the logo. Once I'm done, I mask, blast, and cold blue the tip and letters.

 

[Homelite410]

Here is a stihl bar. I have done 3 so far.

 

[Homelite410]

The logo is .015 deep milled with a .093" endmill. The whole process usually takes 4 hours from stock bar to what you see on the saw. Stihl is the only logo I have drawn as three of these bars were gifts.

I have just gotten a sugi hara rw 24" that I will engine turn and mask off the plastic inserts. I hope it turns out good.

 

[Jimmy in NC]

I may strip the paint off a few more bars. I'll let the bar oil protect them. Gb bars paint don't last no time.

My favorite bar is a run of the mill Oregon 24" power match. Stripped 100% of the paint with a scotch brite disc early on...4 years later still my favorite.

 

[Magic_Man]

Late to the party..... I use a belt sander to get the brushed look then use a bridled abrasive brush in a CNC to engine turn the bar then pocket mill the logo. Once I'm done, I mask, blast, and cold blue the tip and letters.

Nice Engine Turning, that's an art you don't see much of anymore.

 

[Brewz]

Homelite, that is fantastic!
I looked at my Oregon bar after I had sanded it back and thought to myself that if would look great if it was jeweled like a rifle bolt.
Your bar proves it does!

Problem is, If I made mine look that nice I wouldn't want to use it.

 

[Stihl working Hard]

Late to the party..... I use a belt sander to get the brushed look then use a bridled abrasive brush in a CNC to engine turn the bar then pocket mill the logo. Once I'm done, I mask, blast, and cold blue the tip and letters.

That looks awesome great detail to the bar

 

[Stihl working Hard]

Here is a stihl bar. I have done 3 so far.

That looks awesome as well

 

[Homelite410]

Thanks fellas, I wanted to have something different that not too many people had and I have yet to keep one.

 

[Stihl working Hard]

Thanks fellas, I wanted to have something different that not too many people had and I have yet to keep one.

Well you have definitely achieved that

 

[Brewz]

I have to say I am super happy with the blued finish.

The pictures dont do it justice.
I cant wait to see how it goes in some timber.
I am hoping less heat now that all that paint is off it.

 

[67L36Driver]

Above mentioned Remy bar.

 

[S Tebo]

After the last layer was cleaned up under water, I blew the bar dry with compressed air and hit it with oil to stop the corrosion process.
If you dont you will be able to watch the rust form.
Sprayed on oil, gave it all a bit of a rub and polish with some fresh steel wool and then wiped it clean with dry clean paper toweling.
View attachment 18452

Fitted the new 404 tip and had fun taking out some inner frustration peening out the rivet.
Bolted it onto the 066 Red light, and am very happy with the result.

View attachment 18453

View attachment 18454

Damn, all I did today was cut the lawn! Nice work for sure and well documented. Now I have a guide and much better idea of the process so thanks for the info. I have 6 of them to do so I should be an expert by the time I'm done- Lol.

 

[Brewz]

I forgot to add that if you are going to blue the bar, it should be clean and oil free.
Even heavy fingerprints and affect the finish

 

[Keith Gandy]

I have to say I am super happy with the blued finish.

The pictures dont do it justice.
I cant wait to see how it goes in some timber.
I am hoping less heat now that all that paint is off it.

Im pretty sure thats why Cannon blues theirs from the factory

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

I may strip the paint off a few more bars. I'll let the bar oil protect them. Gb bars paint don't last no time.

If the bar/saw manufacturers want me to carry around their advertising billboards, they'll have to pay me. I prefer bars devoid of paint/coatings and kept rust free by constant use (although Jenolite works very well too), so sand every bar clean. Look better to me and my IR temp gun says they run cooler too (an interesting observation to me at least and by no means an OCD targeted result).

 

[Duane(Pa)]

Damn, all I did today was cut the lawn! Nice work for sure and well documented. Now I have a guide and much better idea of the process so thanks for the info. I have 6 of them to do so I should be an expert by the time I'm done- Lol.

Scott, what is the texture of the bar after soda blasting? Sort of like sand blast or bead blast?

 

[Brewz]

I have an old beat up 25" bar that came on a saw I bought and was sat in the corner of the garage and forgotten about.
I was going to fit it to the 066 I am selling but noticed its an old Oregon solid pro bar.
I measured the depth of the rail groove and its got bugger all wear. It has a deeper groove that the bendy 25" Stihl laminated bar I have so I decided to bolt the Stihl bar to the saw to sell and keep the old Oregon bar.

I drilled the rivet and removed the cheap nasty Chinese tip that had been fitted as I have a really good Oregon 3/8 tip that I removed from the 30" bar I blued in this thread.

Both the bar and the Oregon tip have had the paint stripped and I sanded back the bar to tidy it up.

Now to decide what to do with it

 

[S Tebo]

Scott, what is the texture of the bar after soda blasting? Sort of like sand blast or bead blast?

Hey Duane,
I have not had very many things blasted to compare to. This was my first go-around at having things soda blasted. I live in a boating area and fiberglass hulls are not easy or cheap to maintain. Soda blasting is all the rage at the moment because it's supposed to be easier on the material. The results do not look like what I have gotten with a wire wheel in the past. Don't get me wrong, the results are good, but not as clean as a wire wheel finish which is a bit shiney or polished looking by compairison. The finish is a little pitted looking almost like they are salt coated. I have been inspired by this thread and started my restoration process. After soda blasting, I belt sanded my 6 Stihl bars with 80 then 120 grit. Then wire wheeled them on my bench grinder. Then power palm sanded them with 240 grit (see pic). Next I will palm sand them with Scotch Brite pads and then hit them with "000" Steel Wool. Then onto the actual blue solution- fingers crossed. I will take a couple of close up pics of the bars and clutch covers as they are- untouched after the soda blasting to give you a better idea of the initial results.

 

[Brewz]

Buffed up the old Oregon bar and decided to leave it naked for now, see how it goes.

I blued the Oregon tip and will bash a rivet into it tomorrow