wrote in message
ups.com...
If I have to cut up a log with dirt on it I will take my one bar that
has a flat end on it (just like a screw driver) and I'll try to get a
strip of bark off, doesn't always work to easy though, but a brush does
help some to, cutting lengthwise through the bark first is also better
for the chain, rather than dragging the bark and dirt down through the
wood, not so much of a problem on the other side where you cut the bark
away from the wood.


The woodsman's mnemonic is "cut _to_ dirt, not _through_ dirt." Easier when
crosscutting than ripping, since you just put the dirt on the side closest
to you. Ripping is where you've selected for figure already, so you are
through rolling the log, so that's why I advocate the notch at the far end
to stabilize and then lowering the bar in an arc to make the initial mark
through the bark from the inside out, as it were. It keeps you cutting to
rather than through.

Chisel chain is better than safety chain for ripping, and skip-tooth is
splendid, while perhaps a bit rougher on the crosscut. A full rip chain
doesn't crosscut worth a darn, so unless you have two saws or are cutting a
bunch of blanks and can justify the chain change, I'd stick with the chisel
as the best all-round and most easily available. I think these are the
standard terms for what Charlie was dancing around with his descriptions.
For specifics it really gets complicated.
http://www.stihl.us/chainsaws/types.html

You really want to see an OSHA nightmare, you want to look at the
piececutters chains. They take the rakers right down to the links. Takes a
strong saw and a strong fool to handle, but it crosscuts like mad where time
is money.