Filed under: Choosing a Chain Saw — Tags: buying a chain saw, electric chain saw, gasolin powered chain saw, how to buy a chain saw, specifications of chain saw — admin @ 3:30 am

Chain saws are used differently by different users. Lumberjacks use them to fell huge trees or cut logs. Backyard gardeners use them to prune tree branches. Artists use them for woodcarving. What they will look for in a chain saw will differ greatly. Still, there are a few things that all potential chain saw buyers must keep in mind.

The first thing that you have to remember is that a chainsaw is a very powerful equipment and that the more powerful it is, the more difficult it is to handle. You do not want, therefore, a chain saw that delivers capabilities far beyond your needs. If you need one only for the trimming and pruning of trees in your backyard, you can settle with electric powered saws, with perhaps a 16-inch bar length. If you work in the forests cutting timber, you want a gasoline-powered type, as this delivers more punch, and perhaps one with a longer bar length.

As far as power is concerned, therefore, what you should look for in a chain saw is totally dependent on what you plan to use it for.

Regardless of your power requirements, you want a chain saw that you can handle with as much comfort as possible. All chain saws vibrate, although the intensity of the vibration varies with the power output. You will want, therefore, one that has springs or rubber pads where the handles are attached to the chassis. These will help absorb the vibration from the engine, the movement of the chain as it slides along the bar, and the cutting of the teeth into the tree.

Some gasoline-powered models feature a quick-start electronic ignition, thereby reducing the pulling force that has to be applied to the cord needed to start the engine. This is a convenience that you want to have in your chain saw.

A model with an automatic chain oiler would also make life easier for you. The chain has to be oiled at regular intervals for it to function smoothly, and thus cut through wood more efficiently. Older models are equipped with a manual pump to accomplish this, but there are new models that come with an automatic chain oiler.

The constant use of a chain saw often results in the greater slack of the chain. To keep the saw functioning efficiently, the chain must be readjusted to its proper tension. You want, therefore, a chain saw that incorporates a quick-adjust chain feature that will enable you to perform this task with built-in levers or knobs, instead of having to reach for other tools.

You also want a chain saw that limits its carbon monoxide emissions. There are models available in the market today that are fitted with filters through which fumes must go through before being released into the air. Remember that you will be holding the saw close to you and that you will be breathing in its exhaust fumes.

Finally, a carrying case for your equipment would also be a plus.

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Filed under: History of the Chain Saw — Tags: chain saw's history, development of chain saw, first chain saw, history of chain saws, invention of chain saw — admin @ 3:23 am

Lumberjacks, loggers, and husbands who have to prune the trees in the backyard must be thanking the ingenious inventor who thought of the chain saw. Environmentalists and nature lovers, on the other hand, must be condemning the stupid and short-sighted inventor who thought of the chain saw. On whichever side of the fence you are, it would pay to know who actually invented this device. At least you will know who to thank or blame.

The German orthopaedist Bernard Heine is generally credited to be the inventor of the first chain saw at around 1830, although he did not quite conceive of it as the tree-cutting machine it has become. He called his invention the osteotome and he meant to use it to cut bones. His chain saw had a chain that carried small cutting teeth. The chain glided around an extended guiding blade with the cranking of a handle attached to a sprocket engaging the chain. The teeth were angled to give them more cutting power.

A Californian inventor named Muir is said to be the first person to apply the principles of the chain saw to logging. However, his success with his invention was limited because it was too heavy that it required a crane to operate it.

In 1861, a certain Hamilton is said to have seen a hand-cranked simple logging machine that was operated by one or two men, and which looked like a spinning wheel. In the 1880s, there was also the American riding saw. It looked like a rowing machine and the operators could sit on it.

Three persons can be credited for the development of the modern chain saw. In 1926, another German developed and patented the “Cutoff Chain Saw for Electric Power”. His name is Andreas Stihl, a name known by almost half of those who use chain saws in the United States. In 1929, he developed a gasoline-powered version and mass-produced them at a company he founded.

Stihl, however, was not the first to develop a gasoline-fed chain saw. This distinction belongs to Emil Lerp who tested his invention in Mount Dolmar in the Thuringer Forests of Germany in 1927. He later founded a company, Dolmar GmbH, to mass-produce his invention. In 1991, the company was bought by Makita of Japan.

Joseph Buford Cox is another contributor to the modern chain saw. He invented the chipper type chain for chain saws. Observing a timber beetle chew on trees, he concluded that a chain saw cutting teeth with the same configuration as the jaws of the beetle would be more efficient than the existing chains. He, too, founded a company to mass-produce his invention. It exists today as the Oregon Cutting Systems Division of Blount, Inc.

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