Using a chainsaw. Any recommended course?

actuallylike

Hello all,

I'm renovating the garden and might need a chainsaw to cut some parts. I'm making a curved border with a wooden sleeper and aim to cut it at angles to lie flush with the curve.

I have a handheld circular saw, but that's really only good for straight cuts. I could make the cuts with a hand saw but thought it might be easier with a chainsaw. Also, thought it would be a nice skill to have.

I saw these workmen doing exactly what I wanted near work. He suggested the chainsaw when I asked him what he used to make the cuts.

I see some courses that are two days, is that enough? From experience, is it better to hire someone to do it. I've done everything else up to this point by myself, so if possible I'd like to continue this way if possible.

Thanks.

Lumen

Youtube videos are good, but a lot of the safety is to do with working around trees which isn't the case here. If the sleepers are well supported and secured like you would with any other kind of woodworking then there's less to go wrong. The main thing specific to a chainsaw is to avoid the kickback zone.

I have an corded electric chainsaw and it feels much safer than petrol.

I'm a bit concerned about the implication that you're not going to be making straight cuts. What do you mean exactly? Attempting to cut any kind of curve is going to be a recipe for kickback.

Can you not just cut the sleepers the conventional way with the circular saw? i.e. top and bottom and then finish with a rough cut handsaw.

CJhaughey

Electric saws are actually more dangerous than petrol saws, most PPE is designed to stall the engine by wrapping kevlar threads into the clutch, Electric saws have so much torque that the saw will pull itself through the material more easily.
OP: Curved cuts are not possible with a standard chainsaw bar, they are just too wide and attempting to try and turn the bar in the wood will cause a lot of pressure on the chain which can derail and come out of the groove of the bar.
CS31 and CS32 are the courses which start you out on chainsaw proficiency.

Lumen

CJhaughey wrote: »

Electric saws are actually more dangerous than petrol saws

I'm not doubting your expertise, but the one I have has a safety brake on it, and the power is quite low (this is actually a problem TBH as if not careful it causes accelerated chain wear). It feels very safe, the danger is purely the usual tree-related stuff like barber chair.

my3cents

Don't thing the OP wants to do curved cuts instead wants to cut the joint angle on railway sleepers so they fit together following a curve as near as possible.

I also agree that some electric chain saws are more dangerous the petrol ones. You can apply a lot of torque very quickly with an electric motor that you can't with a petrol engine which increases the chance of kickback.

actuallylike

my3cents wrote: »

Don't thing the OP wants to do curved cuts instead wants to cut the joint angle on railway sleepers so they fit together following a curve as near as possible.

This exactly. Sorry, I should have been clearer, so it will be straight cuts. Found a pic of what the workers I met were working on.

Lumen

You can do that easily with a circular saw or mitre saw.

actuallylike

I didn't know I had that picture at hand. In hindsight I probably should have started a thread with how to achieve it.

actuallylike

Lumen wrote: »

You can do that easily with a circular saw or mitre saw.

Don't know if I'd be able. The one I have is cumbersome to use.

Bullocks

actuallylike wrote: »

This exactly. Sorry, I should have been clearer, so it will be straight cuts. Found a pic of what the workers I met were working on.

If they were cut and laid vertical as opposed to horizontal they make a better and way nicer curve IMO. A reciprocating saw would be an alternative to a chainsaw as well if you didn't want to get a chainsaw for just one job

actuallylike

Bullocks wrote: »

If they were cut and laid vertical as opposed to horizontal they make a better and way nicer curve IMO. A reciprocating saw would be an alternative to a chainsaw as well if you didn't want to get a chainsaw for just one job

I initially thought about laying them vertical. Saw it done online and looked very sharp. My concern is though that the number of precise cuts grows, and I probably wouldn't be too confident in nailing each one. The pic I attached looked very nice (it curves a full 90deg seemlessly), and would require a fraction of the cuts. I was surprised how well it looked tbh.

I'd probably look to hire a tool as opposed to buying one for this job.

my3cents

Not sure if a big miter saw would do a real railway sleeper but would probably do the fake ones that are much cheaper and a little smaller.

What thickness are these sleepers OP?

A big miter saw could easily be more expensive than a chainsaw, however a chainsaw will never do work to the same accuracy.

Lumen

actuallylike wrote: »

Don't know if I'd be able. The one I have is cumbersome to use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ybjk-2zQQ

actuallylike

my3cents wrote: »

Not sure if a big miter saw would do a real railway sleeper but would probably do the fake ones that are much cheaper and a little smaller.

What thickness are these sleepers OP?

A big miter saw could easily be more expensive than a chainsaw, however a chainsaw will never do work to the same accuracy.

I would be looking for the fake, new ones, as opposed to the real ones. Will be varnishing them to match the other words in the garden. Haven't bought them yet, not sure if the size. The thicker the better. It will be the border of a step, so I want to have the border noticeable. The pic I linked is pretty much exactly what I'm after.

Lumen

They're usually 200x100mm.

Bullocks

actuallylike wrote: »

I initially thought about laying them vertical. Saw it done online and looked very sharp. My concern is though that the number of precise cuts grows, and I probably wouldn't be too confident in nailing each one. The pic I attached looked very nice (it curves a full 90deg seemlessly), and would require a fraction of the cuts. I was surprised how well it looked tbh.

I'd probably look to hire a tool as opposed to buying one for this job.

I did a big one of vertical sleepers around a playground a couple of years ago that turned out lovely and staggered the tops like an uneven parapet if you get me. I didn't angle the cuts to kiss together perfectly. Instead I opened the joint a small bit on the front and closed it at the back. It was a less precise method but still looked good. I had photos at the time but I've changed phones since

actuallylike

Lumen wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ybjk-2zQQ

This is exactly the method I used to cut other items, without much issue. But with this project my cuts won't be right angled, they'll be very specific angles that I don't think I could get the precision with my circular saw.

my3cents

Lumen wrote: »

They're usually 200x100mm.

So only 4 inches thick for a slide miter saw. But anything I can think of that would do that is in the €500 plus price bracket (305 mm blade).

What I'd think of doing is putting the main angled cut in with a circular saw then instead of trying to match up the cut on the other side with the power saw I'd use a decent hand saw. The power saw will have made a perfect cut to line up the finishing cut.

If you use a 9 inch circular saw on 4 inch timber then there won't be much left to cut with a hand saw if you are only deviating slightly from a right angle cut.

Lumen

Yeah, but the only tricky bit of cutting all round with a hand-held circular saw is the edges, which would need a bevel on the sides if the top and bottom cuts are angled.

If you keep the saw at 90 degrees, doing a top and bottom cut that line up just requires a couple of strokes with a pencil and a try square.

Tell me how

I'm no expert but trying to do neat angled cuts with a chain saw so as the finished work looks decent is work for a very experienced person.
Try doing it on two off cuts and see can you get them to align neatly.

Would it be an option to bring the pieces to somewhere with a band saw and you could run off the pieces. (You'd need to make a stock piece to create the desired angle and obvious issue is re-working when away from the saw)

listermint

Circular saw two cuts back and front. Done. There is nothing difficult in what the op is looking to do.

We'd have travelled to space and back by the time this is figured out.