Setting up a cs590

[Thesandman]

I'm wanting to set up my echo to have a little fun with friends of mine. Sort of a wow moment for them. I want to port saw a little to highlight torque to run a 20" 8 pin rim clutch. I'm not sure about what all the chains are or if parts are available to do it. First off the only chain available around here that I can buy locally is Oregon full chisel and safety chain. Is the FC same as what the forum refers to as full comp? Is the 325 chain a 325 kerf vs 3/8s? Same teeth or smaller? Does it take a special Bar and clutch sprocket? Saw cuts at 8500 plus now in dead ash bar hurried. More like 9k. Thanks for your help.

 

[huskihl]

A full chisel cutter has a square 90° corner when you look at it from the back or front. Semi chisel is a rounded or chamfered cutter looking from the front or rear. Safety chain or reduce kickback chain has added bumpers or shark fins so that it doesn’t kick back as bad. .050, .058, and .063 refer to the width of the drivers that sit down into the bar rail. .325 or 3/8 refers to the distance between the rivets, or pitch. A 590 probably comes with 3/8 chain. The rest of the info is probably engraved into the bar tail.

 

[huskihl]

Full comp or skip refers to the cutter sequence. Left space right space is full comp. Left space space right space space is full skip

 

[Thesandman]

Full comp or skip refers to the cutter sequence. Left space right space is full comp. Left space space right space space is full skip

Thanks Brother. Does the 325 have as aggressive teeth as 3/8s? Do I need a thinner bar for 325?

 

[Eduardo K]

3/8 vs .325 refers to the chain pitch or distance between the links. The cutters are bigger on a 3/8 pitch chain. The important thing to remember with pitch is the drive sprocket and nose sprocket are specific to chain pitch. If you have 3/8 pitch saw and want to run .325 you’ll need a new bar and sprocket.

Check this out
https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/findingtherightsawchainforyou#topic6

 

[Eduardo K]

Thanks Brother. Does the 325 have as aggressive teeth as 3/8s? Do I need a thinner bar for 325?

The tooth style and how it’s filed will determine how aggressive the chain is and how it cuts the wood fiber as it passes through.
There is also gauge that needs to be taken into account, this is specific to the thickness of the drive links and slot in the bar.
More info on cutters or tooth style and gauge here.
https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/findingtherightsawchainforyou#topic8

As Huskihl stated, the gauge, pitch, and number of drivelinks of the chain are specific to the bar and usually stamped on the bar. On my bars it’s close to the spikes or dawgs.
I want to say the width of a 3/8 or .375 chain cutter is wider than that of a .325, but I don’t know for certain without measuring.

Most of the folks on this site have forgotten more than I’ll ever know about saws and I’m sure they’ll chime in to correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[huskihl]

I think @Eduardo K has you steered pretty straight.

As far as .325 vs 3/8 goes, if both chains were sharpened identically, 3/8 will put more load on the saw in my experience due to the wider kerf, height of the cutters, and distance between the cutters. There is more room for chips with 3/8 and they don’t clog up the chain and prevent it from digging deeper as easily as .325 will.
Most Echos have the lower end grunt to cut more effectively with a bigger chain. Not saying it will always be like that, but my guess is that your saw will almost always be better with 3/8 than with .325 A high winding saw would probably do better with.325

 

[Moparmyway]

Pull the cat out of the muffler and retune it, you’ll see the saw wake up a bit

 

[Nutball]

No cat in the muffler, but take the spark screen off, and grind the 2 welds from the underside of the deflector enough to remove the inner little deflector. And run 3/8 chain

 

[Thesandman]

I done a mm and replaced carb jet to allow tuning. That is part of my problem now. Saw is running well so that makes it harder to tear into. Has 4 seasons on it now. I usually burn about 12 to 15 face cord a year but mild winters has reduced that number a little. Bar still has a lot of paint on it. Does square tooth cut better or worse in hardwood? Thanks Brothers, I'm learning a lot.

 

[Nutball]

Better in any wood, but I don't know about in hedge. Not sure why it wouldn't be good in hedge too.

 

[jetsam]

I run both, prefer semichisel for regular use. I cut for firewood, so I go after dead and downed stuff preferentially. I'll trade more cuts for a small speed hit any day.

People sometimes talk like there's a night and day difference between full chisel and semichisel in terms of speed of cutting or time between sharpenings, but I don't find that to be true in either direction. Semichisel does hold an edge a little better.

(There's also square filed full chisel, but that is even worse than round filed full chisel for staying sharp in dirty wood- but it's the fastest in clean wood.)

Bottom line, use whatever you like, bring some spare sharp chains with you. Even running semichisel won't help you when you find a rock or a piece of steel.

 

[dahmer]

If you really want the 590 to perform send it to @Red97 and have him port it. It becomes a cheetah in a land of sloths.