Fixing a saw cutting crooked

[livemusic]

Bucking big oak logs, one of three freshly sharpened saws (Stihl ms400) cuts to the left. I did them with a Dremel and it's been working well until this. And the other two saws cut fine. A few inches deep into the cut, it feels like it binds, so, I stop. It's curving to the left. Which is unusual for me and to do it freshly sharpened is new. So, are the right cutters too long? I thought I sharpened both sides the same but something is off. Wondering how to guess as to how much to take off. Oh wait... measure them with a caliper?

 

[Hinerman]

Measure with a caliper. Also, how old is the bar? The rails may need to be dressed if it is a well used bar. Make sure the gauge of the chain matches the gauge of the bar.

Post some pics of the chains if you can...

 

[blades]

Depth gauges / rakers- same height both sides has more effect than the teeth being off length wise from one side to the other. chain streching and getting loos will allow things to twist. bar rails same height and also the thickness of each side needs to be the same. If one side thinner time for new bar. if the chain drive links are real sloppy in the bar grove that can be pinched tighter with a tool but doesn't always last that long. so that's another reason for a new bar.

 

[livemusic]

It is a bar only a few months old and same for the chain, very little time on it. Gotta find my caliper.

 

[Sawyer94]

It is a bar only a few months old and same for the chain, very little time on it. Gotta find my caliper.

More than likely it’s the depth gauges being different heights. Get a good depth gauge tool to check and you’ll be cutting straight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[davidwyby]

Swipe the RH rakers one swipe at a time ‘til it cuts straight.

 

[fearofpavement]

There's multiple reasons why a saw could cut a curve but in my experience it's always the chain. Simple test is to install a new chain and see if the problem goes away...

 

[Hinerman]

There's multiple reasons why a saw could cut a curve but in my experience it's always the chain. Simple test is to install a new chain and see if the problem goes away...

True. I have a tree service bring me saws and chains because it won’t cut straight. Their chains are always jacked up. I have closed the rails on a bar for them before though. I also ordered them 4 chains for each bar and told them to do what you just said; they only had one chain per bar, so production stops if the chain doesn’t cut!!!!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Most chains that cut to the right or left have cutters that are sharpened more on one side that the other. I have several chains that were given to me by sawyers who gave up on them. Most of the time there is a huge difference between the length of the right cutter and the left cutter. These have usually been hand sharpened in the field with a file.

 

[davidwyby]

It’s the difference between the height of the cutter and the depth gauge as well as the distance between the two.

 

[huskihl]

First thing I do is see if the bar will stand on edge on a flat table. If not, usually the rails are uneven. If it stands up, move on to the chain

 

[stihl livin]

https://opeforum.com/threads/if-the-cut-always-curves-to-the-right.27465/

How did you fix this problem. Seems like your over corrected maybe