Hello, Dick.

First, you need to have a real sharp chain, equally sharpened on both
sides. This is because you will have to cut from two opposing sides to
get to the middle. If there is any tendency for the bar to wander, the
wander-error will be at least doubled when you go from the other side.
You are in very dangerous territory. A guy once asked my son if he
knew how to run a chainsaw. Son said "yes". Guy asked "do you know how
to sharpen a chain saw? Son said "no". Guy said "Then you don't know
how to run a chain saw". ---My fault!!!

Self inflicted lobotomies (sp?) are more common in the kind of work
you have in front of you. The problem is when the tip of the saw bar
catches in the log, pivoting the bar upwards at a rapid rate (with your
support arm as the fulcrum. This aims the running chain at your
forehead. This all happens before you can get your finger off the trigger.

If you happen to have chainsay that has a protector on the end of the
bar, you can't bore or go deeper than about 2 inches less than the bar
length anyway. You'd have to take that part off to do the job at all,
but that adds a lot of danger. An Anti-kickback chain will make the
job less hazardous.

Please don't misunderstand me, but just asking this question means that
you don't have the experience to do this without some hands-on tutoring.
Call up a tree service and ask them to help or go to the place where
you bought your saw and ask for lessons. This may sound like an
expensive way to utilize a "free" piece of wood, but if you DO learn
proper methods, it will stand you for the rest of your life. If you
DON'T learn, and miss just one subtle clue that something isn't right,
it will also stand you for the rest of your life, but you may not BE
standing!

I don't have sycamore around here, but have you considered splitting
your chunks to get down to your saw's bar length?

I would have no qualms at all about doing what you suggest, but we
have been dropping trees here and sawing wood since 1972. I would still
approach the job with a lot of care.

Pete Stanaitis
western Wisconsin

Olebiker wrote:
I have a couple of pieces of sycamore that are about 18" long and 24"
in diameter. My chainsaw has a 16" bar. Any thoughts on how best to
cut these logs into blanks without removing any digits?

Dick Durbin
Tallahassee