What's on your bench?

[Simondo]

I am not really a Stihl guy so excuse a dumb question. Is the 036 a desirable saw? Other than the obvious reasons, nice, reliable etc etc.
reason i ask is i saw one at a local pawn shop today and wondered if i should go back and try to make a deal for it.

+ 1 Dave...if its up together its well worth a punt.

 

[Backtroller]

I am not really a Stihl guy so excuse a dumb question. Is the 036 a desirable saw? Other than the obvious reasons, nice, reliable etc etc.
reason i ask is i saw one at a local pawn shop today and wondered if i should go back and try to make a deal for it.

They are lightweight for a 60cc saw. As Al had said, simple to work on. Stock they are pretty potent. Ported they are crazy. They can embarrass much larger saws. The early saws had lousy airfilters That hold them back. I love the 036/360 saws.

 

[USMC615]

I am not really a Stihl guy so excuse a dumb question. Is the 036 a desirable saw? Other than the obvious reasons, nice, reliable etc etc.
reason i ask is i saw one at a local pawn shop today and wondered if i should go back and try to make a deal for it.

^^^^....this. Would definitely go back and entertain seeing what they want for it and make an offer on it. Never know, could be a sweet deal for ya.

 

[Onan18]

T

Could you by any chance locate one of these for me? Google search turned up nothing.

They used to be on eBay, don't see them anymore, I guess they didn't sell enough? A quick search shows one available from Lil' Red Barn and one from Golf, not sure one is any better than the other?

It's a 54 MM bore, right? Husky 288 piston work?

Joe

 

[beaglebriar]

T


They used to be on eBay, don't see them anymore, I guess they didn't sell enough? A quick search shows one available from Lil' Red Barn and one from Golf, not sure one is any better than the other?

It's a 54 MM bore, right? Husky 288 piston work?

Joe

I don't think the 288 will work. Some have used a 660 piston from what I gather. I'm a little bit sceptical about the lil red barn stuff and I've never heard anything good about Golf. So I'm kind of in a hold pattern until I decide what to do. I did find a VEC brand piston on Northwood saw but I'm not familiar with that brand either.

 

[Onan18]

I don't think the 288 will work. Some have used a 660 piston from what I gather. I'm a little bit sceptical about the lil red barn stuff and I've never heard anything good about Golf. So I'm kind of in a hold pattern until I decide what to do. I did find a VEC brand piston on Northwood saw but I'm not familiar with that brand either.

Golf gets a bad rap and I don't understand why, are they as nice as a Meteor, no, but they seem to hold up well enough. I have used Golf pistons in several saws and they have all held up surprisingly well.

Joe

 

[beaglebriar]

Golf gets a bad rap and I don't understand why, are they as nice as a Meteor, no, but they seem to hold up well enough. I have used Golf pistons in several saws and they have all held up surprisingly well.

Joe

Did you use the rings as well or swap them for cabers?

 

[Onan18]

I used the Golf rings, seem to be holding up pretty well but on a saw like a 930 (i.e. RARE NLA cylinder) Cabers probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

Joe

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Good freaking God I cannot believe how long this damn thing is taking me! Only because I don't have a drill press or spindle sander. I used an old chainsaw bar with bad rails so the metal is a little tougher to drill and grind on. I need a larger shop so I can collect some stationary machining tools.
But here it is all prepped and ready to weld so I can bolt it on. Well almost prepped, I still need to hit the edge all the way around to give it a little bevel for a good bead.

 

[Brewz]

Got my 026 in bits
Sanded the base and made a cutting and sanding mandrel and set the squish to match the domed piston
I now have a nice tight .015 squish with no gasket and got the exhaust down from 97.5* to 103*
Will get the porting done on the weekend and get it running again.
Will make a video of it once done.

I have a good feeling I will be able to upgrade the .325 to 3/8.

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Got my 026 in bits
Sanded the base and made a cutting and sanding mandrel and set the squish to match the domed piston
I now have a nice tight .015 squish with no gasket and got the exhaust down from 97.5* to 103*
Will get the porting done on the weekend and get it running again.
Will make a video of it once done.

I have a good feeling I will be able to upgrade the .325 to 3/8.
View attachment 30764

Watch out for the mandrel losing grit at the edge because it leaves a little bead or step all the way around the squish band for the piston to smack or interfere with squish measurement. There appears to be one visible in your cylinder. It can be scraped out with a chisel if needed.

 

[Tor R]

Watch out for the mandrel losing grit at the edge because it leaves a little bead or step all the way around the squish band for the piston to smack or interfere with squish measurement. There appears to be one visible in your cylinder. It can be scraped out with a chisel if needed.

great advise, I didnt see it before you pointed it out

 

[USMC615]

Not necessarily saw related, but shop related nonetheless...inherited two 4-ft fluorescent lights after work today. The sockets are all good, ballasts are good, diffusers are good. Buddy of mine was tearing down his old Sears metal shed and said he wanted to start anew with everything. Who the hell am I to say otherwise...it's your money cowboy, lol. I'm fixing to clean 'em up with some diluted Simple Green, make'em look like new. They'll be the perfect 'gap fillers' in my shop where light is not so good for my older eyes, even though already running four 8-footers. I'll wire these bad boys in either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.

I'll take'em all day long when it comes to free 4-ft shop lights.

 

[Brewz]

Watch out for the mandrel losing grit at the edge because it leaves a little bead or step all the way around the squish band for the piston to smack or interfere with squish measurement. There appears to be one visible in your cylinder. It can be scraped out with a chisel if needed.

I noticed it in the photo just after I took it so did just as you described.
I used a small wood chisel to scrape it out untill there was no lip.

 

[Tor R]

Projects who is almost ready to be put together, need to order a few parts thats all.

545, 550 xpg, 254 xpg, 262 xpg:


Gone use the 254 and 262 case to figure out timings with, think I have 3-4 different 254 jugs, will port both the 254 and 262.

550 xp vs xpg front handle, xp has low quality handle compared to xpg, xpg is probleby glued while xp doesnt have glue, will drive to one dealer that I know have a few used parts I need so I can rebuild the 545 to a G version
Will remove the casting on both 545 and 550. Speaking about 545 vs 550 p&c, anyone know what difference there is between them?

 

[USMC615]

Projects who is almost ready to be put together, need to order a few parts thats all.

545, 550 xpg, 254 xpg, 262 xpg:
View attachment 30811

Gone use the 254 and 262 case to figure out timings with, think I have 3-4 different 254 jugs, will port both the 254 and 262.

550 xp vs xpg front handle, xp has low quality handle compared to xpg, xpg is probleby glued while xp doesnt have glue, will drive to one dealer that I know have a few used parts I need so I can rebuild the 545 to a G version
Will remove the casting on both 545 and 550. Speaking about 545 vs 550 p&c, anyone know what difference there is between them?

Don't know why with the saws I have, but I've always wanted a 545. Everything I've ever read about them has been good.

 

[paragonbuilder]

Not necessarily saw related, but shop related nonetheless...inherited two 4-ft fluorescent lights after work today. The sockets are all good, ballasts are good, diffusers are good. Buddy of mine was tearing down his old Sears metal shed and said he wanted to start anew with everything. Who the hell am I to say otherwise...it's your money cowboy, lol. I'm fixing to clean 'em up with some diluted Simple Green, make'em look like new. They'll be the perfect 'gap fillers' in my shop where light is not so good for my older eyes, even though already running four 8-footers. I'll wire these bad boys in either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.

I'll take'em all day long when it comes to free 4-ft shop lights.
View attachment 30809

Barbecue much? Lol


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[Tor R]

Don't know why with the saws I have, but I've always wanted a 545. Everything I've ever read about them has been good.

545 is under rated, I'm looking forward to run them side by side, not sure I will feel that 550 is better.
Perhaps I should send Husky one mail when I've rebuild it to be 545G, I think it could had been a massive seller.

 

[USMC615]

Barbecue much? Lol


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Yeh...we do some serious grillin' around here. I fire my grills up around here all yr long. Grill plenty of racks of ribs, whole chickens, half chickens, chops, pork loins, venison, wild hog, all types of fish, sea scallops, veggies, etc, etc. If it can fit on my grills, it either gets smoked on low heat or otherwise...thin or thick cut bacon is always a friend on these grills as a wrap or otherwise when basting gets a goin'. I catch HD or Lowes a couple of times a yr when they run twin 20lb bags of Kingsford for $9.98 a twin...usually around Memorial Day and Labor Day. I'll buy 8-10 twins each holiday. There's three more twins behind the front row in the pic. Probably have 6-8 twin 20lb bags in the top of the shop. I don't put near the dent in it some of my buddies do...they'll take their truck and trailers, have either store load it by the pallet. And I thought I was a serious grillin' fool.

 

[Stump Shot]

Jonsered 630 in and out, had a kinked up bar plate causing an oil leak and lack there of at the bar, plastic guide buttons missing as well. New parts from HL and it's good to go again.

An odd side note about this saw: Was rebuilt a year and a half ago with a Chinese 266 piston and cylinder that has open ports, not closed as original. This saw will absolutely not even come any where close to reaching top RPM as original. Squish with gasket was .050" and was left that way for ease of starting with no decompression valve, especially in winter. When I said I could probably do something to help this situation the owner replied "No way, you can lean on that saw all you want and it wont slow down". So off it went. I guess a good firewood saw is in the eye of the beholder.