How to shorten the chain of a chainsaw with your own hands?

It is safe to say that almost every private house has a chainsaw, especially if you are a person living in a private house or have a summer house. Like any other instrument, you need to treat it carefully. Many owners are faced with a typical problem - the chain is stretched due to long work. The reason for this is the heating of the metal, after which it increases in volume. We learn how to shorten the chain of the chainsaw with your own hands, because you can simply make a mistake with its length when buying. Most importantly, after such a procedure, the connection of the chain links will remain all the same strong.

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Cooking Tools

Although manufacturers claim that shortening the chain at home is impossible, there are craftsmen who can do this. To do this, get:

• Vise;
• A hammer;
• Beard;
• File;
• Electric welding machine (not always required);
• Pliers.

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Chain repair

To repair a chainsaw chain, it needs to be assembled and disassembled. We will consider these stages more closely to understand what we have to deal with.

Remove rivets

For separation, efforts will be required: for the manufacture of rivets, high-quality steel is used, their shape is geometric.

Important! A distinctive feature of the inner rivet is a larger radius. It is this thickening that is intended to rotate the link, and the role of the outer parts of the rivets is the connecting one.

To remove a rivet, you must:

• Lock the chain in a vise.
• Finish the protruding part, for which a file or file is used.

Important! You need to start the link from two sides, while keeping from damage to the side parts of the links.

• Rivets are knocked out, for which you can use a beard. The side parts are slightly bent.

After disconnecting the part, do not get rid of the remote rivet. It is possible that a replacement will never be found. It is almost impossible to buy a rivet, but it is quite possible to use it.

Important! When disconnecting the part, it is necessary to read the guide tabs on the inner side of the chain and the distance between them. There should be a combination between them and the chainsaw drive sprocket. Even with a slight deviation in the step of the chainsaw, an important detail will soon stretch again.

Connect the links

After checking all the parameters, you can connect the links. A rivet is used for connection, the side parts of the links are pressed tightly. To “grab” the rivet, electric welding is used. A file is used to remove excess metal. After that, a chainsaw can be used.

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If the repair is not performed correctly

In the event that the repair of the chainsaw chain with your own hands was performed poorly, the following consequences are possible:

• During the welding process, the current was small, which led to excessive heating of the circuit elements. In this case, the physical properties of the metal change.

Important! In the future, the product will stretch in the place where it was welded. Due to the displacement of the guide protrusions, the remaining elements of the chain will break.

• In deeper welding, the inside of the rivet is welded to several parts of the link. As a result, they become motionless. All this also leads to disruption of other elements.
• With low quality welding, the product may break during operation. This is due to the large lateral load acting on it during operation. In this case, the user is likely to be injured.

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How to avoid chain stretching?

Before deciding what to do if a chain on a chainsaw breaks, it is better to familiarize yourself with the main causes of breakdowns:

• The main reason is the low quality of the goods.
• It so happens that the spare part overheats and stretches due to the chainsaw itself. Most often this happens due to unregulated oil supply to the sprocket. There may be a misregistration or a blocked hole in which oil is supplied.

Important! A chainsaw necessarily requires adjustment and periodic maintenance.

• A drive sprocket can also cause chain stretching. In this case, the guide protrusions slip, friction and heating of the parts occur.

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Stock footage

A chainsaw, like any tool, requires attention. In addition, when buying it, you should pay attention to the manufacturer and seller. As a rule, a tool purchased in company stores needs to be repaired much less frequently.