HELP! How to know when you have too much hook

[HumBurner]

Mmm…bliss…

Happiness Is a Warm Saw

 

[EFSM]

Edit: A fast chain and a durable chain aren't mutually exclusive. Semi-chisel can cut quickly, and full chisel can be tailored to be more durable while maintaining speed.

I like NK chain/bar combos like Speedcut or the equivalent because of how nice they combine speed and durability. I wonder if anyone will ever try a NK 3/8 chain.

 

[STOVE]

Thats about where I like my chains for bucking hardwood; looks durable with a lot of meat. Also looks like you're getting a bigger bite with the 'C' part of the cutter and not the top, which is also my preference. I'd definitely take the depths down a stroke or two, then round them out. Make a few cuts, and as @huskihl said, if the saw isn't feeding itself smooth (cutting one-handed in a log is a good way to tell) under its own weight, take another stroke or two off the depths and round the top out again.


Edit: A fast chain and a durable chain aren't mutually exclusive. Semi-chisel can cut quickly, and full chisel can be tailored to be more durable while maintaining speed.

When you say round out, are you hitting the side edges of the rakers? After setting the depth

 

[edisto]

When you say round out, are you hitting the side edges of the rakers? After setting the depth

I believe he is referring to the front of the raker. Filing it down will tend to square the tip were the raker meets the wood, so you need to get that rounded shape back so it rides on the wood.

It's just a matter of restoring the rounded shape that it had before filing:


When I'm feeling fancy, I do thin the raker a bit (making it a bit wedge-shaped from a top down view), but I think that doing that probably makes me feel better instead of actually decreasing resistance on the raker.

 

[HumBurner]

When you say round out, are you hitting the side edges of the rakers? After setting the depth

No, but because i dont have the best control over my hands, I do sometimes have to do what you mention, taking down any "lip" that may have formed (one side of the depth gauge may be a hair higher than the other because of my shaky hands when filing down the top.)


The goal is like @edisto suggested, just rounding out the top/front to eliminate the flat/ramping effect.

Some people prefer ramped (slight or dramatic) depth gauges, but i find it to be chattery and harder to keep consistent.

 

[TreeLife]

Everything you're doing should be dictated by the material you're dealing with. Soft wood chains can be aggressive with a deep gullet for loading the saw. If youre cutting hard hard wood, you dont want the same cutter shape or angles. Same thing with your depth gauge. Soft wood, lower depth gauge.

These days all I deal with is hardwood myself. Everything changes.

 

[pbillyi69]

exactly. if you are cutting hardwood the more consistant each cutter has to be to each other. softwood is more forgiving the chain tolerances can be bigger and inconsistant. when the wood is hard cutter shape and depth guage makes a far bigger difference.

 

[pbillyi69]

i sharpen all my chain for hardwood so transition to softwood my saws will cut a little faster and i can lean on them more. but still cut really well on hardwood.

 

[Wilhelm]

Grinding the rakers at an angle may remove the need for rounding them of.
It may not look as fancy but it seems to work fine on about a half dozen loops I ground.




Untouched raker with a little bit of a flat spot from filing the rakers prior to me grinding it.

 

[huskihl]

Grinding the rakers at an angle may remove the need for rounding them of.
It may not look as fancy but it seems to work fine on about a half dozen loops I ground.

View attachment 473299
View attachment 473300

Untouched raker with a little bit of a flat spot from filing the rakers prior to me grinding it.
View attachment 473301

It works better than leaving them horizontal. Ideally they would be rounded or have about a 6–8° down angle

 

[pbillyi69]

when i file the rakers i just make the last swipe of the file on the leading edge corner it is only keep it from dragging.