In article ,
"Wilson Lamb" wrote:

Well, letting the smoke out is never a good thing to do.
You should touch up the chain every time you fill the tank. More if you
suddenly feel it start to cut poorly, like you have hit something.

A touchup like that only takes a couple of minutes and gives you a chance to
rest and think about safety. There's no reason to overload the engine or
ruin the parts prematurely, or to waste time cutting slowly.

If you damaged the bar by softening it, you'll soon see the saw veering off
line when you cut. As soon as that happens, you have to dress the bottom of
the bar to make the two sides exactly parallel. If the blade has softened,
it will soon wear unevenly and veer again. Good shops can dress the bar
pretty well, but if it is bad it will pay to get a new one.

My troll alarm is tinkling on this, but maybe the advice will be useful to
some beginners.



You know, I'm always amazed at how some folks can't help but beat their
chest and display their ego every time someone asks a legitimate
question.

First of all, I never said anything that indicated that I wasn't being
safe with the saw. This was my first cut into oak with this saw, and
the high degree of smoke did tip me off that something wasn't right,
even though I now realize (with a new chain) that I shouldn't have had
to work nearly that hard to cut through even seasoned oak. However, I
suspect that I did little more than burn some bar oil off the bar and
chain, along with some bar paint.

Secondly, I'm not sure what caused your "troll alarm" to start
"tinkling," but I don't appreciate the suggestion that this question is
somehow a troll. If you don't feel that a question is worthy of your
great body of knowledge, you are always free to not reply.

I will state that I do appreciate thoughtful replies from those who
don't have anything to gain by making snide remarks.



JKG