This time of year we build a few ice saws for the sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago. Ice saws don't use the typical oiler system used when cutting wood. The oil would foul the water and limit visibility in the hole. A simple grease system is used sometimes just after the hole is cut and this prevents freeze up of the chain. Ice saws have a specially cut chain that limits the amount of water thrown and also have shields or covers in place to limit the amount of water that can enter the cooling system and air box.
There are regulations on the size of the hole you can spear from and that size is measured at the surface of the ice. For better field of view, many people cut the hole back at an angle so they can see the big fish approaching. This means the saws bar length has to be much longer than the vertical thickness of the ice.
The small saw in this pic is average size with a 20" bar. The ice saw has a 42" bar. One issue we have is that Husky currently doesn't offer a scabbard for this big of a bar so we made our own.
The first step is to borrow a "hot box" from a local contractor. These are used to make bends in pvc pipe.
We slipped a piece of wood through the pvc pipe and set the whole works in the heater. This allowed us to really get the pipe hot and easily lift it out without distortion.
Next we set the hot pipe on a smooth straight surface. In this case it's a snow plow cutting edge. The piece of wood is still in the pvc pipe. We then quickly lay another cutting edge on top and apply a little weight. The pipe squishes easily and in a minute is hard enough to retain it's shape.
These are a couple of rough 48" blanks. They will get trimmed to length and have a retaining cord attached to them. Then all that is left is to add a decal with our company name and phone number.
I had no idea that day that we would be making these. A few ideas turned into possibilities and the next thing ya know we had scabbards. It keeps the job interesting.
Later.
My son is always making stuff from PVC pipe. Really useful stuff. I didn't know that they made an ice specific chain.
ReplyDeleteI don't think "they" make one. All the shops I know that offer it are modifying standard chain.
ReplyDelete