Mill a Slot in a Chainsaw Bar?

coherent

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Has anyone ever done any milling on a chainsaw bar. I have a friend who has a 60" bar and needs a simple adjustment slot milled in the other end of the bar for chain adjustment on an alaskan mill helper handle setup.

Doable with carbide end mill? Drill holes first? Grind first? Ideas or experiences with chainsaw bars is welcome as I'm assuming they are hardened tool steel? I'd rather do it right the first try.
 
I'll bet they're toughened steel, can be worked with HSS, but not at high rpm. No Bets, however.
 
I tossed a 16” Mcculloch chainsaw and saved the bar for re-purpose. The bar was not hard and machined nicely. But that was for me. Your bar could be a different story. Just do a file test in a safe spot. The track could be hard?…Dave.
 
I've drilled the bar on a Makita electric saw to mount it on a jig I made. Drilled easily. The groove might be induction hardened for wear but the body has to be soft or it would break if it got flexed.
Greg
 
Thanks for the replies and info. Makes sense that the chain groove is hardened and the rest not so.
 
I got some Harvester bars from the junkyard that was bent... It really worked my press
to get them strait again... Very hard...
 
I have filed the sides of chain bars and bows when they wore down & the sides rolled over. They seem to be slightly hardened.

Chuck
 
I have machined slots in a bar to adapt oil grooves after welding the originals up - Machined nicely == Jack
 
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