The Nuts & Bolts Of Measuring...

Let's take a quick break from chain sharpening - in the last post I mentioned using a nut and bolt to measure how long the cutter was - but tantalisingly didn't say how. Find out how after the jump...

Do you need an infinitely variable, highly adjustable, yet lightweight and small tool for measuring? And you want to pay no more than a few pence for it?.

I give you the humble nut and bolt, or to be more specific bolt and two nuts. This is such a simple idea, cheap and effective that it's wonder why anyone would do it any other way. Let's look at how it's done...

Once you've sharpened your first cutter, you need to make sure that all the remaining cutters are filed down to the same size. Naturally you could use a ruler, or calipers, but for nearly all my teaching I just use a nut and bolt - it's easy to carry out about and if you do lose it out in the woods then it's no big deal to replace it (not that I condone dropping bits of metal in the woods, you understand).

By placing the head of the bolt between the forward edge of the cutter top plate and the depth gauge, as shown in the picture, you can then gently screw one of the nuts up to the back edge of the top plate; left tlike this, the nut will move about as you measure the remaining cutters, so once you have set the first nut, tighten up the second nut to it. That way, it acts as a locknut and it will resist moving about as you work around the chain.

In the next post, we'll get back to sharpening the chain with a look at depth gauges.