The Lumberjack Bill Show: Chainsaw Loading

Hi, I'm Lumberjack Bill.

In today's segment, I'm gonna show you how I put the bar and chain on a chainsaw. Remember, everybody, don't handle a chainsaw unless you've been trained by an expert.

The chainsaw engine must be shut off when doing any adjustments.

The disassembled parts of a Stihl MS 260 chainsaw.

The first thing I do is place the chain into the track slot
of the bar with the chain teeth in the proper orientation.
The chain teeth travel from motor over the top of the bar,
and return to the motor on the underside of the bar.

This is the tricky part: While holding the chain tight to the bar
horizontally with one hand, the other hand sets the chain around
the motor's sprocket wheel. This wheel pulls the chain around the bar.

As I set the chain around the motor sprockets, the bar must
also be set into the chain tensioning post which is located
just to the left of the screwdriver on the MS 260.

While I still hold the loose chain and bar in position, I slowly
tighten the bar adjustment bolt with the flathead screwdriver.
This adjustment bolt is set between the two larger mounting
bolts on the MS 260, but the location may vary on different models.

With the chain tightened, but with still some play in it, I place
the chain cover into position and finger tighten the nuts to hold the
cover well in place.

Now I do a final adjustment on the bar tension bolt with the
screw driver.

I like to have about 1/4" of gap on the chain when pulled away from the
bar. I'll click off the chain break and slide the chain along the
bar track to make sure it slides back and forth easily.

Once the chain tension is set, I use my chainsaw socket tool to
firmly tighten the bolts on the chain cover.

Now the mystery chainsaw is ready to operate. I'll check the
tension on the chain (with engine off) after running it for five minutes.
The motion and heat of the chainsaw may require me to adjust
the chain tension on the bar from time to time. I pay close attention
to this. Caution and respect and for the chainsaw helps prevent injury.

That's all for now.

Just remember: a chainsaw is a potentially dangerous tool. Handle only with expert training and supervision.

This is Lumberjack Bill saying, "Good Luck and Be Ready!"

The Lumberjack Bill Show: An Axe to Grind

Hi, I'm Lumberjack Bill.

On this segment of the show, I'm gonna show you the basics of sharpening an axe.

Here we look at the edge of the axe head. If you can see
the edge reflecting light (the top portion here), that means it's
time to sharpen the edge.


Place the axe in a vise or hold it firmly with one hand and use a
'mill bastard' to file down the dull edge by pushing it toward
the blunt end of the axe. Take the file off the edge on the return stroke.
Start with the coarse side of the file to shape the blade,
then use the finer side to refine the edge.


You can also use a sharpening stone. This particular stone requires
the use of sharpening oil to move metal filings away from the action.


Start with the coarser side of the stone, grinding in circular
motions, then do the same with the finer grit side.


Here's the after photo.

Now, if you're really ambitious, you could also use sharpening stones to make your axe (or adze) even sharper. I switched to the sculptor's adze for this section because it needed a tune up.

First I soak the 1000 grit and 6000 grit water stones...in water.
I let them sit for about 5 minutes. Notice how there's much more
bubbles coming out of the 1000 stone because it's more porous.
The stones soak up the water and both lubricate the sharpening
surface and help flush away metal filings in a 'slurry'.

I start by using the rougher 1000 grit stone, holding the axe head
still with graduated sweep up of the stone's flat surface
from the edge toward the back of the axe. I try to use the full
surface of the stone and flip it now and then to get even wear.
I do both sides with the 1000 then repeat with the 6000 stone.

With the axe head stoned, I do the same with the adze. As the
adze head only has a bevel on the topside, that's the only side I
stone with both the 1000 and 6000. Don't sharpen the flat underside.

The final touch is to strop the sharpened edge with apiece of leather
(e.g. a belt). This will remove fine metal filings along the sharp
edge and hone the blade. I just like how it shines. Ready to chop!

I think I did okay for my first time with the stones. Here's hoping I get better with practice.

Until next time, this is Lumberjack Bill saying...

'Good Luck and Be Ready!'

Cargo Sled Built

I've screwed, hammered and bolted some old industrial metal roofing together in an attempt to have a cargo sled for the snowmobile. The 1/3 section of a plastic barrel is screwed to the front in hopes of deflecting snow and mounting bumps on the trail.


I need to move fuelwood and logs mostly out of the forest. This challenge has plagued my mind for months now. I've been quite depressed about the whole matter with the dread of failure. As soon as the weather goes minus again for a few days I'll try it out behind the skidoo and see how far it goes.

Crazy Adze

Adze wrought.

Adze Repair

After the double ax fiasco of SunBurn, I started to put the pieces back together again last night. By the light of the kerosene lamp, I took the metal axe head wedge out of the broad ax and performed surgery on the adze handle to get it operational.

Here's some close up shots of my dark ages effort to wedge the adze handle into the adze head.

Taking out the old, failed metal wedge from the adze head.

After cutting off the top of the wood handle - to get the old
wedge out - I saw a channel for the new wedge down the
center for the new metal wedge salvaged from the broad axe.

Now I carve down the wood handle so it will fit inside the adze head.

Old adze wedge (left) and new adze wedge (right).

It's hard to see, but this is a photo of the new adze wedge
hammered into wood handle top inside the adze head.
I bet it lasts longer than six strikes next time.

O, Snowmobile

Just bought a snowmobile from Hardcore. Spider dropped it off with a trailer and after a bit of fun, we managed to get it onto snow.

The big news is that I've been able to run it on my snowshoe trails. Though if it drifts slightly off to one side it tends to get stuck. Got stuck about eight times yesterday. Here's a couple photos for me to remember the good times of digging it out.

My virgin bogdown.

This is right at the entrance of the driveway. Going the

180 direction, the turn was too tight and I had to
grab some air and jump onto the driveway and do
a quick turn or otherwise get stuck. Kinda hairy.

This one was pretty deep. Not fun. But not the worst.
I better get used to this routine.

My second to last bogdown. You can see how it's getting
dark. Worst case scenario with getting stuck? Walk away
start digging in the morning.

The last 'stuck' in a small depression (not shown) on the trail had me leave it over night as the light was fading. Only took about an hour and a half to get it going again in the morning.

The next test will be to see if it will tow a sled of fuelwood back to the wood shed. Then the really big question is if it will skid logs back to the mill site. These are the reasons why I've got this snowmobile - not for the fun of it - as a utility vehicle. The fact that the speedometer on it goes up to 160 km/hr and there's a warning on it that only highly skilled drivers should operate it is a bit sobering.

Mallet Making

One of the things I did today was make a heavy woodworking mallet.

First I cut a short section of a beech wood log (air dried for a year) for the mallet head. Next, I drilled a one inch hole into the end of the small log to fit a handle into.


Then I used the sculptor's adze to chop down one end of a maple branch to serve as a handle. I got the handle insert close enough for a trial fit. I figured why not give it a couple whacks and see if it sticks. And it did. Go figure.


I'll use the small push knife to peel off the bark later. I'll use this mallet for driving large wood chisels.

Sculptor's Adze

Sculptor's adze.

My very good friend, Jonathan Mahood, gave me a deal on his old sculptor's adze today. I plan to use it in my attempt to make the dugout canoe for the SunBurn winter solstice celebration on Dec. 21st.

Jonathan is a masterful artist with a rare talent which awed me the first time I saw his work over 20 years ago at art school. He creates such amazing work in whatever medium he chooses, I might be jealous if he wasn't also one of the greatest guys in the world.

He's decided to focus on comics with his Bleeker daily and doesn't work wood much anymore. The adze is practically new. He told me a story a while ago. He made a wonderful, monumental wood sculpture years ago for the local high school. It was placed outside the school for all to enjoy. But one person complained about the creosote in the wood - the stuff they coat railway ties with to preserve them - and the sculpture was taken down. With all the lack of contemporary understanding and appreciation for fine visual arts, I understand why artists decide not to continue producing fine works. I could rant for hours and hour about this stuff, but I'm just gonna stop.

Check out his Bleeker blog (here) and his comics.

I hope I can do justice to this tool that a master has used.

The Way of the Chainsaw

See Crazy Bastard dispatch invisible bears over at Bill Pocock with his Kung Fu Chainsaw Form (1).

'The Chainsaw Sharpener'

I sharpened the chainsaw today, but didn't flip or file the bar.

'The Chainsaw Sharpener' (BP091114-180561) Bill Pocock, 2009