Take a look behind the scenes at STIHL and follow the development and production of our chainsaw guide bars.
15.03.2024
STIHL develops guide bars for chainsaws at the company headquarters in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg. The bars are manufactured at three locations around the world: the USA, Brazil and also in Waiblingen – in the immediate vicinity of the development department.
The more than 100 guide bars available differ in length and design to cover a wide range of application scenarios. Despite these big differences, all STIHL guide bars have one thing in common: they offer a first-class weight-to-durability ratio.
The route to series production begins with the first steps of bar development. First, customer requirements are analysed. These are a major focus in bar development. The analysis defines the applications that the new bar will be developed for and which requirements the model should meet. This has a direct influence on the design of the bar.
Three-part bar: These guide bars consist of three metal plates welded together and are suitable for professional and private users alike. Three-part bars offer high stability despite low weight with a maximum bar length of 63 centimetres, enabling comfortable and precise work.
Nose bar: For heavy timber work, nose bars are the first choice for precise cuts thanks to the particularly rigid bar body. These bars are available in lightweight design and are optimally adapted to professional forestry requirements. They are ideal, especially in combination with our larger chainsaws, such as the STIHL MS 881.
Solid bar: These guide bars have a solid steel body, the body and tip of which are protected by a durable carbide alloy plating. This makes the solid bars ideal for heavy timber work that places particular demands on torsional rigidity and where the weight of the guide bar plays a minimal role.
As soon as the application and design of the bar have been determined, the development department creates the first CAD designs on the computer. The new guide bar is created virtually.
The next step in production is to produce the first prototypes from the CAD designs. Thanks to the close proximity of development and production in Waiblingen, this can be done quickly and easily.
Extensive test loops are carried out to ensure that every guide bar fully meets the high demands placed on STIHL quality. In this process, each bar is not only optimised and improved for its later purpose, but also subjected to specific tests to ensure maximum safety, torsional rigidity and material quality.
Kickback test: The kickback test bench is used to test how the overall system consisting of chainsaw, guide bar and chain behaves in the event of a kickback. This data is incorporated into the development to produce guide bars that ensure maximum safety for users.
Bending test: This tests the rigidity of the guide bar. The STIHL guide bars may deform under high force in the wood, but then return to their original, straight position.
Hardness test: This test ensures that all materials incorporated in the guide bar have the intended hardness.
Dimensional check: Exact dimensions are a basic requirement for every STIHL guide bar. This test therefore checks whether the bar meets the detailed specifications.
When a guide bar is released for series production, the required production aids are created. The first series production units undergo all the tests again before they are given to STIHL customers for testing in practical use worldwide.
Feedback on the general handling in use and on the behaviour of the guide bar under a wide variety of climatic conditions is provided directly to the development department in Waiblingen. This means that the properties of the guide bar can be tested and confirmed under real conditions on the one hand and, on the other hand, a wide range of experiences and feedback can be incorporated directly into the development of the guide bar.
Good to know
In order to increase the cutting performance of cordless chainsaws, STIHL has developed particularly narrow guide bars designed for professional use. Since 2022 October the three-part STIHL Light 04 guide bar has also been available with a groove width of 1.1 millimetres.
STIHL solid bars are first cut from a high-quality alloyed and hardened tempered steel blank by a laser cutting machine. The laser cutting process causes no burrs and, not only cuts the outer contour of the solid bar, but also the drill holes and the slotted hole in a single work step.
Two stellite moulded parts protect the nose of a STIHL solid bar from wear, abrasion and high temperatures. The stellit moulded parts are first laser welded on. A machine specially developed by STIHL then grinds the material transition precisely.
In the next production step, a closed grinding machine grinds the groove required for the chain guide into the solid bar. The chain track is then hardened again. This ensures that the solid bar meets the highest quality standards.
Before the finished solid bar is packed, the oil hole is drilled and coated. Bars are coated completely automatically with water-based paint. A high-precision camera system monitors the painted surface, hole pattern and dimensions to ensure that every solid bar produced has the tried-and-tested STIHL quality before it reaches customers.
Three-part guide bars weigh the least. They are made of two side panels and a large recessed centre plate. These recesses create a lightweight bar that is easy to handle but still has good torsional rigidity. All three parts are pressed together in a welding press with up to 20 tonnes of pressure and welded together using electrodes.
Just as with the production of a solid bar, the track of every three-part STIHL guide bar is hardened in a fully automatic machine.
The sprocket is then mounted in the nose of the three-part bar. This reduces the friction on the bar as the sprocket wheel lifts the chain off the bar. During assembly, the bar nose is spread and the sprocket with bearing is inserted.
In the last step of production, the three-part bar is first painted and then printed by a digital printing system.
A nose bar consists of the body of a solid bar and the nose of a three-part bar. STIHL nose bars are manufactured in both classic solid construction and weight-saving lightweight design.
In order to produce a lightweight nose bar, the quenched and tempered steel blank is milled out at certain points in an upstream production step before laser welding cutting in order to reduce the weight of the bar by around one third of the weight of a solid bar. A cover is then welded on to protect the cut-outs.
The body of the nose bar then goes through the same production steps as a solid bar, i.e. it is first hardened, laser cut and then the guide groove is ground in.
The bar nose, on the other hand, is designed in three parts to ensure improved handling thanks to its low weight and very high cutting performance. It is first riveted to the bar body, then the track is hardened and finally the sprocket wheel is mounted.
In particular, STIHL lightweight nose bars, such as the STIHL Rollomatic ES Light, are 30 percent lighter, making them ideal for very demanding work in forestry whilst also meeting the highest professional standards.
| Bar type | Model examples | Features | Use and benefits |
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| Solid bar | Duromatic E, 1.6 mm |
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| Three-part bar | Rollomatic E light, 3/8“ P, 1.3 mm |
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| Nose bar | Rollomatic ES, .404“, 1.6 mm |
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| Lightweight guide bars | Rollomatic E light P, 3/8“, 1.3mm |
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| Lightweight guide bars | Rollomatic ES light, 3/8“, 1.6 mm |
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