On 12/11/2020 22:27, ss wrote:
Used for 1st time today although purchased 2 years ago.
If I am holding the chainsaw in front of me with the `chain` pointing
away.Â* So on the righthand side the chain moves away from me, then
coming down the other side the `chain` is moving towards me.
Does it make any difference from a safety point of view which side I cut
with left or right?

My cuts are mostly at waist height and horizontal.

If you are holding a traditional "right hander" saw with the chain bar
pointing away from you and vertical, then on the top of the bar the
chain will be moving away from you, and on the underside of the bar
toward you.

If you were say cutting logs from a section of trunk supported
horizontally, you would use the under side of the bar. Because of the
"handedness" of the saw it will normally be a little to your right in
these cases. Ideally you want to keep out of a direct line of the chain,
so it it were to snap and whip round under the saw your body or legs
would not be in the way.

Likewise be careful what you do with the tip of the bar - it the top
quadrant of the nosewheel snags on something, it will flick the bar up
and toward you. Not being directly behind it is again very worthwhile!
(forestry helmet with a visor will also keep your head in one piece
should a kickback hit your head or face).

If you are felling a tree - and so need to hold the saw horizontally,
then you will typically cut from right to left with the bottom of the
bar again.

The only time you would normally use the top of the bar is when cutting
through a branch that has load on it, and there is a danger of it
splitting and ripping a section off the underside of the branch before
you manage to cut right through. In that case you could use the top of
the bar to make partial cut to the underside of the branch before
reverting to cutting from the top. That will let you do a clean cut
without splitting the underside of the branch.

All in all, take a moment to think through each cut. Clear stuff that
might trip you out of the way before each cut. Plan an escape route. If
it goes pear shaped, let go of the saw and move! Wear PPE. Don't forget
electric chainsaws still need bar oil to work properly.


--
Cheers,

John.

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