The Beaver chainsaw, Cox's most interesting product

Bob, you did an amazing job of clean-up on that Cox chainsaw. It sort of reminds me of my K&B .35 Stallion clean-up that I did a couple years ago, rusty inside. Your saw may have spent a spell outdoors maybe sitting outside a shed? For it to get that much moisture inside to rust like that tells me that it lived its life stored in a damp environment.

Your restoration work helps hide its hideous past. If you complete it to fully running status will be a testimony of geniousness.

rsv1cox wrote:Thanks for that Jacob.  It verifies that it was factory not some customer mod.  The piece #4 is one unit, the spot welds have come apart.  I'm not sure how to fix that.

Bob

PS............You gotta find one.  I need some company in my Cox chainsaw miseries.  

You might need to take it to a machine shop (auto shop, performance motorcycle shop...) and see if someone can weld it back together.


I'm keeping my eyes peeled. Want to trade one for a Lawn Boy mower?

Want to trade one for a Lawn Boy mower?

I have had that in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks now Jacob.  Only you get to keep the mower.    I have saved one of the better packing boxes.  When I get everything sorted out you get my "partzer."  You will need points and condenser and a carburator.  Probably bar and chain too, so start looking.  You unlike me, rotate in those small engine circles so you should have better luck finding them than I have.  I will let you know.  No compensation necessary other than a years free subscription to the Cox Engine Forum.  

So.....today.  Rain - got some stuff done.  Sandblasted the muffler parts.  Some heat resistant engine paint will finish the job.  I also sandblasted the interior of the fuel tank to get some of the junk out of there.  

I think I have a fix for the broken fuel line.  Medium silicone tubing with a "clunk" filter direct to the carburator, no need for a junction.  A little RTV or gasket material where it enters the tank ought to prevent leakage.  Tubing is fixed to the carburator for illustration only.  That end goes in the tank with the clunk.  I must have one around here someplace.  The present end piece is not a filter, just an opened ended device.

Bob, the silicone tubing is no good for gasoline. It will swell up and fall off.
You need Tygon, Neoprene, or Viton.

Tygon is available from Du-Bro or any small engine shop. Viton is available from McMaster-Carr. More expensive than Tygon, but more flexible and doesn't harden up over time.

rsv1cox wrote:Want to trade one for a Lawn Boy mower?

I have had that in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks now Jacob.  Only you get to keep the mower.    I have saved one of the better packing boxes.  When I get everything sorted out you get my "partzer."  You will need points and condenser and a carburator.  Probably bar and chain too, so start looking.  You unlike me, rotate in those small engine circles so you should have better luck finding them than I have.  I will let you know.  No compensation necessary other than a years free subscription to the Cox Engine Forum.  

I'm always up for another project.  

I have maybe 5-6 gas chainsaws in the shed, all need attention since they've been sitting for years. Including a pair of 70s era small McCulloch Eager Beaver chainsaws. One of those two that was lent out to a cousin years ago that came back with a cross-threaded spark plug hole. I had to chase the threads, among other things.

I suppose you could call this a "gas powered" chainsaw as well   :




Damn, that grass looks long in those pictures. Thanks to near endless rain for a couple of weeks this summer. For awhile there everything was growing fast, and it was always too wet to cut. Then we had storms that took down a few branches on top of it, hence the chainsaw.

duaneh wrote:Bob, the silicone tubing is no good for gasoline. It will swell up and fall off.
You need Tygon, Neoprene, or Viton.

Tygon is available from Du-Bro or any small engine shop. Viton is available from McMaster-Carr. More expensive than Tygon, but more flexible and doesn't harden up over time.

Thanks for that Duane, I had no idea. Perhaps that is why Cox used a different tubing inside the tank where exposure would be constant. I'm glad that you let me know before I cut up that tubing. I'm careful of the stuff. It seems I'm always running out of it.

Bob

Hi Robert, Amazon stocks 1/8" ID Viton tubing.. and a small sintered-Bronze "Clunk" pick up that should work for servicing your saw's fuel tank.



Amazon Viton link



Amazon clunk link

It should work roddie.  Entrance hole looks to be a quarter inch.






Chain saw doings.  From early morning a few days ago to later in the day.  Coals still hot three days later.  Cox saw probably will not see anything larger than a branch, but I will get one or two running.

roddie wrote:Hi Robert, Amazon stocks 1/8" ID Viton tubing.. and a small sintered-Bronze "Clunk" pick up that should work for servicing your saw's fuel tank.

]

Thanks roddie. Done, ordered the tubing, I have the clunk.

Pretty dead on the CEF today so I'll add.................

More Cox  Chainsaw stuff:

I want to save this sproket drive clutch as it's the only one I have out of seven configured this way.  I have no idea if it pre or post dates the rest but I would guess it predates as it would be much more expensive to manufacture than the pressed steel clutch found on the others. It's not the only major difference, the handle attaches to the body on pegs not hardware as the others.

So, to save the broken/split cogged clutch, I cleaned it up on the wire wheel and turned the sproket on the housing until I found the sweet spot where it settled into the indentations and witness marked it.




and mixed up some JB Weld (I always over mix) and spread it around the perimeter of the sproket and pressed it on.







I'm hoping that it will hold.  But this part is under a lot of stress.  It's the clutch between the engine and the bar/chain.  At idle it slips, but give it gas and the three ears of the clutch expand (centrifugal force) contacting the housing driving the chain.  The ears being constrained by a spring wrapped around the outside of the clutch.  Much more involved than the pressed steel clutch.  





Pressed steel clutch.




The brass pin was a PO mod.  He evidently lost the Woodruff key (picture) seen on the right above in the "good" clutch.  I snapped the PO's clutch while drilling out the retaining screw and lifting it with the three legged gear puller.  

Lot's of fun these chainsaws.

Little two stroke engines are fun to tinker with….Amazing amount of power for their size…. I finally had to give up on my cheapie WM weed eater….. I kept fixing this and that it until it just absolutely lost power due to lack of compression ….

rdw777 wrote:Little two stroke engines are fun to tinker with….Amazing amount of power for their size…. I finally had to give up on my cheapie WM weed eater….. I kept fixing this and that it until it just absolutely lost power due to lack of compression ….

I finally had to give up on my cheapie WM weed eater.

Me too. Switched to an electric spool fed B&D and never looked back. I love the thing. No more winding line and it feeds automatically and perfectly.

duaneh wrote:Bob, the silicone tubing is no good for gasoline. It will swell up and fall off.
You need Tygon, Neoprene, or Viton.

Tygon is available from Du-Bro or any small engine shop. Viton is available from McMaster-Carr. More expensive than Tygon, but more flexible and doesn't harden up over time.

I ordered it from Amazon per roddies link.  Not cheap, $15.38 per foot shipped.  Dubro has it in 3' rolls for much less but it's 5/32" ID too big for my purposes.

Below link has a video.

https://www.amazon.com/Du-Bro-554-I-D-Tygon-Tubing/dp/B0006O8TW6/ref=pe_386300_440135490_sr_d_sccl_2/131-2746572-5432326/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0006O8TW6&pd_rd_w=HelI0&content-id=amzn1.sym.3860b7b7-a905-4d2a-a55a-a11512bfd866&pf_rd_p=3860b7b7-a905-4d2a-a55a-a11512bfd866&pf_rd_r=EPX40R6B2A1G49FRP9KC&pd_rd_wg=pFIai&pd_rd_r=b9c9037a-bca7-465e-8239-81e528a59f21&ref_=sr&th=1

Roberts reeds arrive yesterday. Perfect fit.

I’m glad the reeds fit Bob….. Your photos and scale were perfect for trying to replicate…. Between that and the new tubing will be interested to see if it will run for you ….

I think I've got a service manual for this somewhere. Not sure if its already floating around somewhere, but if not and there's interest I can try to dig it out.

EXModelEngines wrote:I think I've got a service manual for this somewhere. Not sure if its already floating around somewhere, but if not and there's interest I can try to dig it out.

Thanks Matt, I have the owners manual, looks like this:



but not the service manual. If you could find it and post scans here it might help me solve some problems and answer some questions.

Bob

Poking around ebay last week this popped up. Arrives today.

Well, it arrived this afternoon, clean and with a complete carburator.  Complete except for one very little detail............



What do you do.............scream and shout or fix it.  I do both!  I like the other fellows idea, a brass tube threaded.  It works.  Years ago I bought a set of taps and dies in 2/56 and 3/48 anticipating this.  But I think a common 4/40 might be a better choice.  A brass tube on a wooden dowel threaded with a little blue loctite or JB Weld.  





The rest of the engine is perfect.  Definately a bicycle engine, extremely clean.  A chainsaw engine would be beat to death.  

Here's the front cover. Scanner is broken and I've got to get a new one, but if there is something specific you had a question on in the meantime let me know and I can snap a picture.

Thanks Matt, that would be perfect. No rush on the scans I have many other things to keep me busy.

Nobody noticed the Schwinn Krate bike with the banana seat......you had to notice the banana seat where the Cox bike engine is located. I bought the "Grey Ghost" model for Mark back around 1972.

Hello fellow Cox chainsaw enthusiasts,

I am currently restoring a Cox Beaver and am looking for the round COX decal affixed to the pull-start cover.
I saw on another Cox Beaver thread, a gent had some made. Anyone know of a source for these?

A copy of the Owner's Manual would also be fantastic.

Matching the yellow paint on the saw has been a challenge. Thus far, I have not found an exact match.

I have posted elsewhere on the COX forum with pictures of my restored and modified Rhino (Cox) 140 engines and I am the guy who posted the YT video of one of mine running.

Hi BW, I have scans of the owners manual and will send them to you. Matt of EX engines is coming up with the Service manual.

Yes, the paint. A difficult match. It's an orange yellow, more yellow. Krylons SunBurst yellow is fairly close but there must be something better. Do you have pictures of your restoration to post? There are differences. Start a thread, people here love the Beaver..........

Looking for those decals. Levent did a fantastic job. I can't tell them from the originals, but I used many of them.

Bob

I scanned and sent you the owners manual in three or four separate emails.  If I missed a page let me know.  There should be 20 pages there.  The most helpful will be the exploded diagram.  Someone, not me crossed out the carburator for some reason.  

It may also be under "Documents and Manuals" listed under Cox History on the tool bar left side here.

Also a quick look and I could not find the decals, if I still have two, you get one. Otherwise there is the levent option, but these are not quick and easy to make.

Bob

rsv1cox wrote:I scanned and sent you the owners manual in three or four separate emails.  If I missed a page let me know.  There should be 20 pages there.  The most helpful will be the exploded diagram.  Someone, not me crossed out the carburator for some reason.  

It may also be under "Documents and Manuals" listed under Cox History on the tool bar left side here.

Also a quick look and I could not find the decals, if I still have two, you get one.  Otherwise there is the levent option, but these are not quick and easy to make.  

Bob

Bob,
THANK You so much for the Owners Manual scans.
I did count 20 pages total downloaded.

Perhaps you can enlighten me on the "Levent" option for decals? I am not familiar.
I would certainly be happy to pay you for one yours, if you can locate one.


I will post some photos later of my resto...