Okay, so the chain grinder arrived yesterday, and I put it together and figured out its workings and a rough idea of its settings. I say rough because there are several adjustments for a chain, and I am only pretty sure I have got them right, though I always allow for human error, or in other terms, for me to fuck up. Nah! What are the chances of that?
I put on a chain and gave it a go, then hung it up on a peg in the shop labelled “sharp.” Then I got another one. I recognized the dirty pitch on it and remembered that a few years ago I replaced it because it was cutting off to the right pretty badly. Funny to be able to remember a chain among many chains, and what was wrong with it. So I gave it a go, then put it on the saw and ran it out in the service yard. Well! It cut true and fast. I am not totally confident I was getting it right because while it did produce a lot of good shavings, it also made a fair bit of finer dust, and I’d like to get past that and refine my sharpening for more shavings. Either way, it was a straight cut. I also wonder if I took down too much of the metal on the chain and could have got away with grinding off less to accomplish the same.
I only did the two chains to start with in the end so I could get a feel and now go learn some more about the workings and settings so I can see if I can find a better grind. I mean honestly, I am fairly sure I have the correct disc on the machine, but I am not completely. I suspect it differs based on the size of the chain, and two of my saws use smaller chains. The third wheel that came with is for the rakers, so it has a flat profile rather than the rounded ones of the two sized discs. I am going to want to set chains aside while sharpening several, then doing those rakers all at once, rather than changing the wheels between each as I go.
Alright, so this is all more complicated stuff that I am not sure the reader or the Russian bots will understand. I mean, it turns out it is fairly easy to understand, but that is with the machine sat in front of you. It is not so easy to explain and understand the way I am going about it here. But really this is more for my own benefit as a journal of the moment that changed my productivity with the chainsaws and made it possible for me to get the logs down faster and with less effort. It should mean the beginning of the firewood business. There is a couple of tasks yet to do, but I should hopefully be able to sell firewood from the front of the house soon, and keep stocked up. I need to build my sales stand, and I need to get the winch fixed up and start getting more logs. All to come soon.
Today begins a marathon week working deliveries. I took yesterday off despite the urge to go get ’em when the app was showing me that it was busy in the city. I only looked because I got an alert on my phone. But apart from that, I stayed clear of even thinking of it as much as I could and just focused on resting. I have only given myself one day off a week so far while doing this. It’s not my dream life. It is certainly not my dream job, though I do at some level enjoy it. Surprisingly, I don’t enjoy the people as much as I thought I would. There are a couple worth talking to. But that topic must result in more than a new paragraph.
Right then! It is 6:45AM. I should like a little more shut eye, then it’s up and ready to start the marathon. Sometime in it I will have to put a pause on and change the oil in the car. A quick Google says that by using synthetic oils, I can extend the changes to seven to ten thousand miles. I am at 3,300. I do have synthetic in the engine now, for at least two oil changes. I went with it when we bought the car because a person is not supposed to switch back from synthetic once they start using it, and I have no idea what past owners used, so since it is a one-way gate, it is best to go into it, or to stay into it.
I think I would also like to watch the weather and the ground this week, and get some saw-time in when I can, and start getting the wood pile going. Oh, and there are oil changes to do on all the machines, and also a repair on the winch, and getting ready to start at acquisitions again, while it is cool out! Summer heat is thankless and cruel! I think I need to remember to build up a shade canopy to work under out there in the service yard.