Tungsten Chainsaw Blades: Your Questions Answered

If you've been searching for tungsten chainsaw blades, let's clear one thing up first, and there's no shame in it, because half of Australia says it the same way. On a chainsaw, the "blade" is the chain: the loop of cutting teeth that spins around the bar. The flat metal arm it runs on is the bar, not the blade.

So a tungsten chainsaw blade is really a tungsten carbide chainsaw chain, and that's exactly what our GoldStrike tungsten carbide chainsaw chains are. This page answers the questions we get asked about them every week, in plain English.

Blades, Chains and Bars: Getting the Names Straight

Is the "blade" the chain or the bar?

The chain. The part that does the cutting is the chain, a loop of steel links with sharpened teeth that travels around the outside of the bar. The bar is the flat metal arm the chain rides on; it guides the chain but doesn't cut anything itself. So when you're replacing a "blade", you're buying a chain. The bar is a separate part, and a good one lasts through several chains.

Does it matter what I call it?

Not to us, say blade, chain, whatever you like, we'll know what you mean. It only matters when you're ordering, because chains are sold by three measurements (pitch, gauge and drive link count), not by the word "blade" and a bar length. We cover those measurements below, and if you're ever unsure, send us a photo of your bar and old chain and we can usually work it out pretty quickly.

What Tungsten Carbide Actually Is

What is a tungsten carbide chainsaw blade made of?

A tungsten carbide chain starts life as a normal chainsaw chain. The difference is in the teeth: each cutter has a small tip of tungsten carbide brazed (a kind of high-strength soldering) onto its cutting edge. Tungsten carbide is an extremely hard man-made material, the same stuff you'll find on the tips of masonry drill bits and metal-cutting saw blades. It's many times harder than the steel a standard chain is made from, so the edge survives conditions that would round a steel tooth off in minutes. Everything else, the shape of the chain, how it runs on your bar, how it fits your saw, stays the same.

Why does a carbide chain last so much longer?

Because the thing that blunts chains usually isn't the wood, it's the grit. Dust in the bark, dirt on the log, sand kicked up from the ground: it all works like sandpaper on a steel edge. Tungsten carbide shrugs that off. The result is an edge that holds up to 10x longer than a standard chain, fewer sharpening stops in a day's cutting, and far more total life out of the chain before it's done.

Does a carbide chain cut faster than a standard chain?

Fresh out of the box (or fresh off the file), a sharp standard chain cuts about as fast, sometimes a touch faster. That's not the point of carbide, though. The point is what happens over the next few hours: the steel chain dulls and slows with every tank of fuel, while the carbide chain is still cutting like it was at the start. We've done the full head-to-head in our tungsten carbide vs standard chainsaw chain comparison if you want the detail.

When a Tungsten Blade Is Worth It: and What Saws It Fits

When is tungsten carbide worth the extra money?

Carbide chainsaw blades earn their keep wherever standard chain dies fastest:

• Dry Australian hardwood: ironbark, red gum, dead standing timber. Dense, dusty wood that rounds a steel edge off in a session. Our guide to the best chainsaw chain for Australian hardwood covers this in full.
• Dirty wood: logs that have been sitting on the ground, dozer-pushed heaps, anything with mud or sand through the bark.
• Fence-line and paddock work: cutting near soil, where the tip catching dirt now and then is just reality.
• Storm and fire clean-up: long days, gritty timber, and no time to stop and sharpen every hour.

If a decent slice of your cutting looks like that list, the maths is simple: one carbide chain holding its edge up to 10x longer works out cheaper per hour of cutting than a stack of steel chains, plus all the time you don't spend sharpening.

When is a standard chain the smarter buy?

If you only cut occasionally, the wood is clean and green, and the saw spends most of the year in the shed, a standard chain does the job fine and costs less up front. It also sharpens with a plain round file, which suits people who like touching the chain up themselves every few tanks. Our TUFOZI standard chains cover that end of the range. Plenty of farms run both: steel for clean work, carbide for the rough stuff.

Will a tungsten carbide chain fit my chainsaw?

Almost certainly, yes. There's no special "carbide-compatible" saw, petrol, battery or electric, the carbide tips change what the teeth are made of, not how the chain fits. What has to match is the same three numbers as any chain: pitch (the size of the links), gauge (the thickness of the drive links) and drive link count (the length of the chain). All three are usually stamped on the bar, near where it bolts to the saw.

Gauge is the one that catches people out, so here's the quick reference, always think of gauge in inches and millimetres together:

Gauge	In mm	Where you'll see it
.043"	1.1 mm	Small homeowner and battery saws
.050"	1.3 mm	The most common homeowner gauge
.058"	1.5 mm	Husqvarna-spec, Husqvarna farm and pro saws
.063"	1.6 mm	Stihl-spec, Stihl farm and pro saws
.080"	2.0 mm	.404" pitch harvester gear

The classic mix-up is between the two farm-saw gauges: 3/8" pitch in .063" (1.6 mm) is the Stihl spec, while .058" (1.5 mm) is the Husqvarna spec. They are not interchangeable. For the full plain-English rundown, our guide to chainsaw chain sizes, pitch, gauge and drive links walks through all three measurements.

Can I keep using my existing bar?

Yes, as long as the new chain matches the bar's pitch, gauge and drive link count, a carbide chain runs on the bar you already have. One caveat: a worn bar (splayed groove, uneven rails, blued tip) will chew through any chain, and it's a shame to bolt a long-life chain onto a worn-out bar. If yours has had a hard life, a bar and chain combo sorts both in one go.

Sharpening and Looking After a Carbide Chain

How do you sharpen a tungsten carbide chain?

Not with your normal round file, carbide is harder than the file, so a standard file just skates over the tips without biting. You need diamond: either a diamond grinding wheel in a bench sharpener, or a diamond file for touch-ups in the field. We stock diamond grinding wheels to suit. The technique itself is the same as sharpening any chain, consistent angle, same number of passes per tooth, and our chainsaw sharpening guide covers it step by step. The other option: because carbide needs sharpening so rarely, some owners simply drop the chain into a saw shop once a season and let them do it.

Can a tungsten carbide chain be damaged?

It can. Carbide is much harder than steel, but it's also more brittle, hit a rock, a star picket or old fencing wire grown into a tree hard enough and you can chip a carbide tip, rather than just folding the edge over like steel would. The good news: a chipped tooth or two doesn't kill the chain. The rest of the cutters keep working, and the damaged teeth get ground back at the next sharpen. Still worth a quick look over any log that's lived near a fence line before you cut into it.

What day-to-day maintenance does it need?

The same habits as any chain, carbide changes the sharpening story, not the basics:

• Keep the chain tensioned correctly, a loose chain wears the bar, the sprocket and itself
• Keep the bar oil topped up every time you fuel up
• Clean out the bar groove and oiler hole now and then
• Flip the bar occasionally so it wears evenly

Our chainsaw chain maintenance guide runs through the full routine.

TL;DR: Quick Answers

• A chainsaw "blade" is the chain. The flat metal arm is the bar.
• Tungsten carbide chains are standard-fitment chains with carbide tips brazed onto each cutter.
• They hold an edge up to 10x longer than standard chain, the payoff is biggest in dry hardwood, dirty logs, fence-line work and storm or fire clean-up.
• They fit any saw, just match pitch, gauge (always paired with mm) and drive link count.
• Sharpening needs diamond (wheel or file), not a standard round file, but you'll sharpen far less often.

Not Sure Which Blade Fits Your Saw?

That's what we're here for. Send through your saw's make and model, or a photo of the bar markings and your old chain, and we'll match the right tungsten carbide chain to it, call 0431 183 421 or email farmandacreco@gmail.com. Or go straight to the GoldStrike 3/8 .058 Husqvarna chain if that's your saw's spec.