Homemade Reduced Weight Bar

[DSS]

I have never spent more than $23.84 rebuilding a saw. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Philbert]

I have never spent more than $23.84 rebuilding a saw. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

J.B. Weld is only about $6. What did you blow the other $17.84 on?

Philbert

 

[junkman]

Another thing to consider is bar stiffness ,depending on what material is used it can be like cutting with a wet noodle for a bar if not done right .

 

[DSS]

J.B. Weld is only about $6. What did you blow the other $17.84 on?

Philbert

It was a stihl so half of the nuts and bolts were missing

[emoji2]

 

[Philbert]

OK Anchorman - there are a bunch of YouTube videos on forming things out of old milk jugs. Leave a rabbet / shelf when you mill your holes, and pack it full of this stuff. Then shave it flush with a model making plane.

(more videos where this came from. . . )

Recycling day is Friday in my neighborhood.

Philbert

 

[Jon1212]

It was a stihl so half of the nuts and bolts were missing

[emoji2]

Yeah, but it came with $37.17 worth of anchor chain, so technically, you're money ahead.

 

[Isaac]

You'd be better off using west systems 2 part epoxy. It's for boats but I use it in woodworking for filling voids and knots in live edge tables etc. I think this would be the easiest solution to fill the bars.
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/?redirect=false

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This is what I was going to suggest. ButIi was also wondering if it would be too brittle. That being said, I've used a ton of this stuff on boats and never had it crack. Also use it to finish fiberglass columns on commercial buildings. It's pretty good stuff.

 

[94BULLITT]

How about this:

http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?familyid=101

 

[Jon1212]

This is what I was going to suggest. ButIi was also wondering if it would be too brittle. That being said, I've used a ton of this stuff on boats and never had it crack. Also use it to finish fiberglass columns on commercial buildings. It's pretty good stuff.

I have thought about this, but would be curious to read some specs on temp, and oil resistance.

 

[cease232]

I have thought about this, but would be curious to read some specs on temp, and oil resistance.

Couldn't find anything about oil resistance

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[Jon1212]

How about this:

http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?familyid=101

I like the specs on the TDS, except the specific gravity. It seems kind of high.
Though I need to weigh what I remove.

 

[Wagnerwerks]

I have some plastic sheeting I'm going to use. It's almost the thickness of a bar. I've worked a lot with epoxies and while I'm sure west system has something for this.... I wouldn't spend the $$$. Plastics should be ideal if we can find a good way to mate the two.

Does a good bimetal hole saw cut a bar? How hard are they?

 

[Jon1212]

I have some plastic sheeting I'm going to use. It's almost the thickness of a bar. I've worked a lot with epoxies and while I'm sure west system has something for this.... I wouldn't spend the $$$. Plastics should be ideal if we can find a good way to mate the two.

Does a good bimetal hole saw cut a bar? How hard are they?

Not sure about a bimetal cutter, but I know the steel on the Japanese, older American, and Canadian bars is some hard ass steel. I found this out when modifying bars to larger mounts. The newer Oregon, WoodlandPRO, and even some of the more recent Windsor Sandvik bars are relatively soft by comparison.

I have some NOS Tsumura Rotary Tip bars that are an A176(similar to a D176 minus the oil passage through the adjuster hole), and taking them from 8mm to 9mm seemed easy enough, but after breaking a second Dremel brand tungsten carbide burr, I said, "Eff this *B-S....", and bought a set of real burrs.


This is what I'm going to start with.

Though I will be having a phone conversation with Bud(@Fifelaker ) tomorrow about shipping him a bar with the pattern drawn out for water jet cutting.

 

[Tor R]

Back to JB Weld - we used to mix 'micro balloons' into epoxy, when building kayaks, to make a lighter weight filler material.

its a good idea, can you remember what type micro baloons?
we used micro balloons (can't remember what type ballons we used) in paint and in vinylester, great thing to improve tickness and reduse weight with.

 

[TimRD]

When drilling a bar for different mounts, you don't want to use high RPM because the bar will actually harden as you work it. Once it's work hardened, you're hosed. If you're going to use a bimetal I would recommend staying at low RPM on a drill press and using plenty of oil. The annular cutter is made for that job, but if you can oil it do it, and still keep the RPMs lower so you don't have to fight the material as much.

 

[Philbert]

its a good idea, can you remember what type micro baloons?

Got them from the West System epoxy guys.

Philbert

 

[Isaac]

Couldn't find anything about oil resistance

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I used quite a bit of this stuff in the bilge area of my boat ( an oily/ gassy environment). 8 years later it's still holding up like a champ.


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[junkman]

I bet a titanium insert would be light plus stiff

 

[Wagnerwerks]

I bet a titanium insert would be light plus stiff

That would be the ticket. You could press it in then.

Think a bar can handle 350*? That shouldn't hurt anything on a husky bar right? I wouldn't try it on a stihl bar... It might melt.

 

[Jon1212]

So once I get a few of these cut, I'll probably try a few different approaches for filler. @Philbet has me intrigued with the idea of recyclying HDPE, and using multiple "posts" as a mechanical fastener, and I appreciate all the info provided on the Marine Grade epoxy resin(probably another option I'll try. The Devcon product holds promise, because of the ease of application, and after a little more research, it is very light by comparison to steel (2.33sg vs. 7.8sg).