tachometer

backwoods

for chain saw what i use stardard car type one?

windthrown

No, as most types of auto tachs are:

1) typically calibrated for 4/6/8 cylinder engines
2) going to have too low a rev range for a chainsaw
3) going to be too slow reading for a chainsaw to tune right
4) typically going to need a 12 volt battery or terminals to hook up to
5) designed for 4 stroke engines, not 2 strokes

Generally these types of SenDEC tachs are reasonably fast reading (1.5 seconds), high rev range reading, and one wire hookup. They can be set for 4 or 2 strokes, 1 or 2 cylinder engines, they have an internal battery for power:

Bailey's - SenDEC STS-5000 Shop Tachometer

An EDT tach is about 3x faster with a .5 second refresh rate, for more 20% more money. They are the ones that Stihl sells. There are several types, EDT7 and EDT8, etc. The EDT7 Stihl part number is: 5910 850 1009

There is also the Tiny-Tach that has a slower 2 second refresh rate. They are cheaper, about half the price of a SenDEC:

Standard Tiny-Tach? [TT226NR-2C] Digital Tach & Hourmeter - Gasoline Tachometers - CBXManMotorcycles.com

Also, here is a good Madsen's page on carb tuning larger saws by ear, and by tach:

http://web.archive.org/web/200512280...om/sawtune.htm

Tom Forrest

As Windthrown said, NO.

Never tried it, but maybe something worth considering are the tachometers available for glow engined model aircraft. These engines rev in the range of up to 18000 rpm, are optical (ie point and shoot at the spinning propellor), and by their very nature, are portable.

Just a thought anyway

windthrown

You can use the optical tachs, and several people use them on chainsaws. But you need to add some reflector tape to the flywheel of the saw, and be able to point the tester at the flywheel to make it work. They also cost about the same as a 2-stroke tach (anywhere from $50-$100).

There are also some really cool digital tachs that can detect the spark plug firing through he air. They work just holding them within about 8 inches of the saw. They are spendy though, anywhere from $100-$300.