Thread: Dressing and aligning a Lucas Slabber

Looks good sidgi!

I use an 8" grinding wheel in the same way as you do for dressing bars but your method looks better.

I recently picked up a bunch of old 9" saw blades for nothing that am going to use for various tool projects and I think I will grind the teeth off one of those and then balance it up on a lathe and makes a sanding disc out of it.

This method of grinding can cause premature wear of the chain due to ribbing across the bar face, A linisher does a better job as the sanding scratches run with the direction of the chain.

Originally Posted by rustynail

This method of grinding can cause premature wear of the chain due to ribbing across the bar face, A linisher does a better job as the sanding scratches run with the direction of the chain.

It's a good point but I haven't noticed premature chain wear compared to using a file to dress bars for many years.

If anything there has been less chain wear since I started using a metal cutting wheel to dress the bar, probably because this enables the bar to be more easily dressed than using a file so means it can be done on a more regular basis. Admittedly using a linisher would be better.

A further potential problem with scratches perpendicular to the bar is that they are more likely to be the starting point for a crack in the flame hardened edge of bar.

You are quite right, the use of a disc causes less "damage" to the bar, thus less wear, but dressing in the direction of the run gives even less wear. The other advantage with a linisher is there is minimal burring.

Don't have a linisher, also don't have a table saw, but Dad's is living here for a while

The sandpaper on this side of the disc is really fine, so the marks are very small, but I suppose to get them more longitudinal, versus mainly perpendicular, I could have raised the table until I was sanding at the 12 o'clock position as compared to the 3 o'clock position.

I have to admit I didn't look at the bar face yesterday while slabbing, dunno how long the sanding marks have stayed around...

Lining up the bar after dressing it...

Once you have fitted your bar back into the carriage, lay a straight edge perpendicular to the bar and long enough so it reaches under each side of the carriage...

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then measure to the underside of the carriage on the front and the back...

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In this instance for me the difference was close to 4mm from front to back, if this is left as is, the chain will be wanting to rise in the cut, potentially ruining a lot of nice slabs. So now the bar needs to be shimmed to bring it closer to level with the carriage, I use a soft drink can to make the shims...

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Loosen off the bolt holding the bar into the frame, allowing space to slide the shim at the front or back (depending on where you need to push the bar down, for me in this instance it was at the front) between the bar and the flat washer...

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Now tighten the bolt holding the bar into the frame and re-measure the distance to the carriage front and back...

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Head over to the other end of your bar and set up the straight edge the same way...

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measure front and back again...

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again I use a soft drink can to shim between the bar and the frame to alter any difference, in this instance about 2mm, but this shim needs to be cut out to accommodate the 2 bolts holding the nose of the bar...

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re-tighten the bolts and check the measurements...

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slabbing bar is aligned properly again