Onoff Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) How soon should the chain stop? The hybrid Makita battery powered Einhell 36V jobbie performs far better than I'd expected. 10" dia logs no problem etc. I popped into the BiL and had a chainsaw lesson yesterday at his log pile with him using the tool (close, extended family btw, living in each others pockets so no real social distancing issues). Tbh I'd only popped in to show off the 3D printed battery adapter conversion. I think he was suitably impressed with the grunt/potential leathality of the thing etc so felt obliged to give me some pointers. His smaller Makita aerial job, again 36V stops pretty much the instant you take your finger off the trigger. This Einhell, well it goes on for a bit. The instruction manual is a bit ambiguous. It says first that the integrated brake will stop "within a very short space of time" - it does. Then a litter later that the motor brakes the saw as soon as the ON/OFF switch is released. After that the manual goes on that the chain brake stops the saw in less than 0.1 seconds. That's the front hand guard you knock if the saw bar jerks upwards and that does stop pretty much instantly as they say. It's if you take your finger of the trigger its slower to stop than when the chain brake does it. Maybe I need to video it to show the differences... Edited April 25, 2020 by Onoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 A petrol chan saw won't stop the chain instantly just by releasing the trigger. That's what the physical chain brake is for. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Same as a petrol saw. Take finger off the trigger and it slows, hit the chain brake and it’s dead stop. I take it your BiL is certified then ..?? Or is he teaching you his way ..?? Chainsaw 101 for you - any time you put that saw down, or stop it, chain brake on. No Exceptions..! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 minute ago, PeterW said: Same as a petrol saw. Take finger off the trigger and it slows, hit the chain brake and it’s dead stop. I take it your BiL is certified then ..?? Or is he teaching you his way ..?? Chainsaw 101 for you - any time you put that saw down, or stop it, chain brake on. No Exceptions..! Doubt he's ever had any formal training. Apprenticed as an agricultural mechanic back in the day at a Massey Ferguson dealer, now nearly 70. Just been around/using them all his life. Seemed to cover a lot of bases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 50 minutes ago, Onoff said: His smaller Makita aerial job, again 36V stops pretty much the instant you take your finger off the trigger. This Einhell, well it goes on for a bit. Unless it stops in less than 1% of the thickness of your finger in chain travel that might not help.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 52 minutes ago, Onoff said: Doubt he's ever had any formal training. Apprenticed as an agricultural mechanic back in the day at a Massey Ferguson dealer, now nearly 70. Just been around/using them all his life. Seemed to cover a lot of bases. So as my old instructor would say, he is an expert in bad habits. As I said, PPE, chain brake, sharp chain. Three things they drill into you on any course. Hands Eyes and Ears : gloves, goggles or better a forestry helmet, and a decent set of defenders. Boots and thick trousers - preferably chaps or proper class workwear. Chain brake : if it’s out of your hands, it’s on. Running or not, the chain brake is what stops you lighting up the chain when you pick up the saw. It’s a habit, get used to it. You only ever pick up a saw once without the brake on, it usually scares you enough that you never do it again. Keep it sharp : decent file, decent chain, little and often. Usually when you stop to fill the fuel, give it a sharpen. It’s 5 minutes and easily done. With that one, check the oil when you change the batteries and run the file over the cutters. That chain that came with it will be cheap I expect so buy 2 more decent ones. As soon as it starts to struggle it will start to kick. And that’s when it will bite. The chain may not be sharp enough to cut wood but it will cut flesh. @Russell griffiths anything to add ..?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) Its an Oregon chain & bar if that's anything to go by. Edited April 25, 2020 by Onoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 All I will add is that PPE, should not be a substitute for having your brain turned ON imagine being in OZ and using a saw with flip flops on, it should give you the thought to keep the saw away from your feet, so just because you have a good pair of boots on don’t get complacent that you can swing it about like a sword. The majority of accidents are caused by poor work position or body placement, you should be in a position that you cannot physically contact your body if you make a cock up. I notice this all all the time with these diy YouTube vids with an 8 stone girl holding a circular saw, they just haven’t got the arm strength to stop a kick back hitting them straight in the groin area, which is one of the most cut areas with a circular saw, better to re position so the saw is to your side and cannot make contact with you in the event of a kickback. Same with a chainsaw. With a chainsaw one one of the biggest cut areas on the body is the back of the left hand, it is physically impossible to cut your left hand if you have both hands on the handles, the damage is done when a log moves so the operator decides to hold it still with his left hand and bingo, he’s cut his left hand. I would say another very dangerous task is cutting wood on a log pile, while you are cutting one log you do not notice that the tip of the bar comes into contact with another log resulting in kickback. Far better to lift every log log onto a saw horse and cut individual logs rather than plunging into a big pile. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 58 minutes ago, Onoff said: Its an Oregon chain & bar if that's anything to go by. I would guess it’s an Oregon bar (most are even the cheap saws now) chain may be a generic chain though. I use RotaTech now for all my chains as they have lasted longer and hold an edge better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 2 hours ago, PeterW said: Chainsaw 101 for you - any time you put that saw down, or stop it, chain brake on. No Exceptions..! I was watching my BIL sawing his firewood and he just put the saw down without putting the brake on. I told him he should use the brake. "Why, the chain has stopped" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Chainsaw 102 Keep your trousers outside your boots (otherwise your boots fill with chippings) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 minute ago, ProDave said: Chainsaw 102 Keep your trousers outside your boots (otherwise your boots fill with chippings) As stated earlier flip flops are easier just shake you foot regularly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 The ones that scare me (And I won't do it myself) are those that hang from a tree by a rope and use a chain saw one handed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 27 minutes ago, PeterW said: I would guess it’s an Oregon bar (most are even the cheap saws now) chain may be a generic chain though. I use RotaTech now for all my chains as they have lasted longer and hold an edge better. I can assure you it's an Oregon chain. Thrown the bag away now but I've written what was on it on the back of the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 I was going to show it cutting wood then realised I had nobody else to film it and anyway one battery is near dead. Shows how it doesn't instantly stop though. Interesting how at the end of the video clip the tool stops after a short while as it knows it isn't seeing full voltage I guess: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Bloody hell how quick do want it to stop, my petrol ones run on a lot longer than that. Get the the flip flops on and stop worrying 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidFrancis Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 My Titan/Screwfix one stops faster. Pretty much instant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Looks to be just the way this one is: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 So while we are talking electric "chainsaws" I just saw my neighbour cutting fire wood. I have never seen anything like what he was using before. It seemed to have some form of "chain" that ran between 2 large pulleys and the open bit of "chain" was what he was cutting with. The best way I could describe it would be a hand held band saw. Anyone know what it was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 2 minutes ago, ProDave said: So while we are talking electric "chainsaws" I just saw my neighbour cutting fire wood. I have never seen anything like what he was using before. It seemed to have some form of "chain" that ran between 2 large pulleys and the open bit of "chain" was what he was cutting with. The best way I could describe it would be a hand held band saw. Anyone know what it was? Literally a hand held bandsaw? Like this: https://m.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200437678_200437678 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Makita (and others, I think) do a portable band saw: https://www.makitauk.com/product/dpb180z.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 ^^ Yes that was what he was using. I had never seen one before and a quick search for "handheld electric saw" did not show one either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 My chainsaw safety tip is keep checking how secure your footing is. After a few hours sawing a pile of logs at a fix location the accumulation of resin on the ground becomes dangerous particularly on a concrete drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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