Advantages and disadvantages of chainsaw

Introduction: The main advantage (speed) of using a chainsaw is obvious. It may be difficult to deforest the forest with a hand saw all day, but of course you can use a chain saw to cut the forest.

advantage

Rough mathematical operations can explain why chainsaws are 5 to 10 times faster than ordinary hand saws. Consider how many boards can be made with a neat suitcase: maybe ten or fifteen? Now think about how difficult it is if you want to see through the wood with a hand saw. Assuming you did not run out of energy or melted the saw blade first, it would take at least 10 times longer to cut down the entire tree.

Let's try more complicated estimates. Suppose you have a tree with a diameter of 30 cm (about 1 foot), and each time you cut wood with a chain saw, it will cut into a 0.5 mm (0.02 inch) chain saw. This means that the chain needs to pass through the wood 600 times (30 cm = 300 mm, and the chain needs to be removed twice to clear every mm). If you use a powerful chainsaw with a rotation speed of about 2800 rpm (to simplify mathematical operations, please call it 3000 rpm), the chain (in theory) will complete 600 runs in 20 seconds. In fact, this will take longer. Let's talk for a while.

How long does the hand saw take? Assume that the size of the saw tooth is the same as the size of the chain saw, and its length is about the same as the length of the chain saw (so, the length is half of the chain saw). You still need to make these 600 sheets through the woods. Maybe you are Superman: suppose you can complete a full saw every second and maintain that speed. Then, it still takes at least 600 seconds (or 10 minutes). In practice, as you get tired, the saw will slide out of the groove from time to time, which will take longer, and so on. These are only speculative envelope calculations, but you will understand that using a chainsaw is certainly several times faster (perhaps 5 to 10 times faster) than using a good hand saw.

Disadvantages

The two biggest disadvantages of chainsaws are safety and maintenance. Although any strong adult can use a chain saw (with proper training), it is inherently dangerous. The biggest risk comes from the problem called rebates. In this case, the chain hits something, but the engine keeps turning, so the entire saw is flying towards your head (considering movement and reaction-Newton's third law of motion) can cause fatal injuries. A chainsaw helmet with a sun visor provides some protection. The same is true for chainsaw uniforms (made of synthetic fibers such as nylon, which will bite the chainsaw teeth and quickly stop the machine).

Another big problem with chainsaws is the amount of maintenance required. The hand saw is very maintenance-free: the wood chips you produce will only fall into the groove you want to cut. In the chainsaw, it is interesting that there is a full-page chart showing dozens of different inspection and maintenance tasks performed every week, month, or year before or after starting work every day. Therefore, although you can see that the chainsaw does save you time in cutting wood, unfortunately, some of this time is wasted on maintenance!