Thread: Chain Cutter Glint

I try not to look so close at my chains, tend to see how bad they really are

Amazing photo set-up Bob

Don't know how you find the time I guess staying away from making pens helps

Great photos Bob. You can sharpen a lot better than me if you can get a chain sharper than new. Carlton say their chains are the sharpest as they are sharpened after assembly where others are sharpened first then assembled.
I have found Carlton chain to be made of softer steel than Sthil and Oregon but the surface is just as hard.

Originally Posted by glenn k

Great photos Bob. You can sharpen a lot better than me if you can get a chain sharper than new. Carlton say their chains are the sharpest as they are sharpened after assembly where others are sharpened first then assembled.

Thanks Glen.

RE: I have found Carlton chain to be made of softer steel than Sthil and Oregon but the surface is just as hard.
That's interesting because my lab tests of over 100 measurements using an Rc hardness tester have Carton just slightly harder than Stihl and both are harder than Oregon but this could be just due to batch differences.

Did you test the surface of the teeth or the steel inside? The rivots seem much easier to push out in Carlton chain aswell. With the softer steel I was going off what a friend told me; he said when you hit a rock etc and remove a lot of chrome and try and sharpen the steel with no surface Carlton will not hold an edge where Stihl will. I have never had to try this thankfully.

Great work Bob, when are the photos of the prefect razor sharp chain with no glint being posted

Originally Posted by glenn k

Did you test the surface of the teeth or the steel inside? The rivots seem much easier to push out in Carlton chain aswell. With the softer steel I was going off what a friend told me; he said when you hit a rock etc and remove a lot of chrome and try and sharpen the steel with no surface Carlton will not hold an edge where Stihl will. I have never had to try this thankfully.

I tested all over the cutter inlcuding the filed part of the cutter but not the chrome plating. I couldn't measure a difference between the hardness of the steel anywhere on the cutter to within about +/- 1Rc . I reckon the stihl chain steel is a touch softer and the chains I it seems to go blunter slightly quicker than Carlton and is easier to resharpen. Of course there could be batch differences.

Originally Posted by Burnsy

Great work Bob, when are the photos of the prefect razor sharp chain with no glint being posted

As soon as I can make one I'll be posting it.

That is some amazing macro photography BobL, what sort of camera is that, and what are its optical and digital zoom specs? Have you just used the max zoom, or have you got some special lens too? Now you just need to shrink the setup and stick it into the cut to see what goes on in there.

Great pics Bob, really helps to show people that even though the file has gone over it, the cutter can still have that 'rolled edge' glint to it and cut like a horse's @rse.

And yep you gotta have a good pair of eyes out in the paddock

Originally Posted by timbertalk

That is some amazing macro photography BobL, what sort of camera is that, and what are its optical and digital zoom specs? Have you just used the max zoom, or have you got some special lens too? Now you just need to shrink the setup and stick it into the cut to see what goes on in there.

Cheers TT!

The camera is a digital SLR (Canon 50D, 15 Mp) with a Canon f2.8 100 mm Macro lens - its equivalent to a 160 mm lens. All up about $2.5K worth of camera and lens. The shots are taken with the end of the lens about 350 mm away from the objects. To get a decent amount of the object in focus the aperture must be set to minimum (in my case it's f32 or a 3 mm opening) which even with the 400W of light power directed at the objects requires about a 30 second exposure. Hence the special stand and setup to keep the camera steady. I don't have to touch the camera to take the picture I drive the whole shebang from the computer and the picture appears on the computer.

Very impressive. At times I have wanted to photograph gemstones which might measure 3-5mm, and your setup would be ideal for it, as well as of course diagnosing chain sharpening faults! Thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by timbertalk

Very impressive. At times I have wanted to photograph gemstones which might measure 3-5mm, and your setup would be ideal for it, as well as of course diagnosing chain sharpening faults! Thanks for the info.

It would be perfect for gemstones. I also use my set up to photograph my wife jewelry. Here is an example.

That's pretty good Bob. now do you have access to the University scanning electron microscope so we ca see what things REALLY look like?

Originally Posted by artme

That's pretty good Bob. now do you have access to the University scanning electron microscope so we ca see what things REALLY look like?

There's 3 just down the hallway from me at work - I used to even have a users licence but it's no longer current and the lads and lasses than run them have far better things to do with their time. Maybe after Xmas when things get a bit quieter for a coupla weeks.