Sharpening a Chainsaw Chain

Tony Falotico

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519
Location
Lake City, Florida
Does anyone use a sharpening jig or do you go freehand? If you use a sharpening jig - which one do you use?

Lee Valley has two -- the Deluxe seems kinda complicated, lots of settings
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48079&cat=1,43072,43086&ap=1
HF sells what looks like the same one and has online instructions.

The economy seems somewhat simple -- but does it do the job? http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32959&cat=1,43072,43086&ap=1

I'm just looking to touch up between professional grindings, what I've been reading suggests 5 touch ups then bring it in to someone who knows what they are doing !!
 
Tony the LV deluxe one works good, but I'd buy it from www.baileysonline.com they have one of the best selections of chainsaw related stuff you could ever want, their prices are good and the service is top drawer.

I think you will find the >> Granberg File Guide << they sell looks a LOT like the LV unit, but it is only $26.95 :dunno:

Don't forget to get this tool as well, the >> FileMate << you need it to file the rakers, and you can use it for hand filing the chain on site.

What I do is file the chains in the workshop with the guided tool, then, I just use the filemate on site and hand file, unless I hit a rock or something, then, I'll dig out the guided set up.

Remember, chainsaw round and flat files are not the same as any old run of the mill round and flat files, they are different.

Hope this helps.

Cheers! :wave:
 
I just hand it to my husband. There are some things I just don't want to do. We bought an electric sharpener from Northern Hydraulics that has served for about 7 years now. It does a fine job.
 
Tony,

When I was Stihl dealer we sharpened customers chains with a powered grinder for economic reasons. But when I'm hand filing for myself I use this sort of a guide and have been using it for over 30 years with good results:

http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/acc_grindfiles.html

It's pretty much all manual, but the guide gives you an angle line to follow and keeps the file from going too deep in the tooth. The only other thing you would need is the raker gauge and flat file.

PS: wash the chain clean in gas or solvent before filing, then take your time with the filing.

cheers eh?
 
One of the reasons we bought a sharpener is that the local Stihl/Husky dealer burned the dickens out of the chains.

Yup... I believe you...I've seen it myself on chains brought to me by new customers.

There's a lot of dealers out there who think that competing on price is the way to run a business and they'd be charging $7 or $8 to sharpen a chain because they thought they could keep their customers by being cheaper. We charged twice what the other dealers did. We did half as much work as they did, made the same money they did, and had time to do the job correctly.

cheers
 
Tony what do you mean complicated???? :rofl: The first sentence says easy to use and well calibrated.:D Just kidding Tony. I have that one and it is easy to use plus does a great job. I also agree with Stu and get the filemate. I bought cheap to begin with and it isn't worth it especially when you get out to cut tree when you are in the woods and the saw won't cut. :(
 
I have the oregon clamp-on guide, as well as the Northern Industrial copy of the Oregon 511A grinder. Both work well. I can sharpen a file fine by hand, but my chains last a lot longer if I use the guide and keep the angles exact. It works especially well if you're sharpening ripping chain. A sharp chain makes for pretty smooth lumber from a chainsaw mill.



Edit; the granberg model from Bailey's is an old standby; its what a lot of others are modeled after. You can't go wrong ordering from Bailey's. And, you will never find chain for less.
 
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Professional wood cutters around here sharpen with a file in the field.
The rest of us take ours to a shop.


Same with me, Frank.... I dress them up in the field with a file but drop it off at the local shop on the way home. Pick it up in a few days with a fresh clean sharp chain for the next outing, 6-7 bucks and happy with the results. :thumb:
 
I am late getting into this conversation, but am a minimalist as well. I use a round file and a flat file, most of the time without handles and nothing else.

The problem with taking them to the dealer is that they are sharpened the same way as the factor and the factor does not produce a sharp edge. I have to take a brand new chain and file it right out of the box. I just can't stand a dull chainsaw chain.

Now in the certified logging course I took they spent a whole day on sharpening a chainsaw and after going through that I can easily adjust my chain to cut the material at hand.

Softwood
Hardwood
Frozen softwood
Frozen hardwood
Dirty wood

Sharpening also depends on the saw. Stihl's have more torque due to their second piston ring but also have lower RPM's. In that case you have to knock your rakers down to get a bigger chip. Don't try that with the Husky saws though. They turn faster but have less torque so a smaller chip is better. They both cut the same, as in going from point a to point b, they just use different methods to achieve that goal.

If I am cutting tree length wood, that means very little saw work. Just felling, limbing and topping. No big deal, so I make the angle on the teeth sharper and get the saw to get a good bit and aggressively so. That helps when making the difficult top cut on the notch when felling. Since the saw is going at the wood fiber at an angle, its the hardest saw cut to make sharpness wise. The problem is, the saw will saw better, but the chain dulls sooner. No big deal when felling because I will only have to sharpen my saw at the beginning of the day.

Now if I am cutting firewood into 16 inch lengths, that means a lot of saw work and a lot of cutting. I go back to a standard angle here and take advantage of how long the cutting edge stays sharp. Even then I file my saw every hour or so. Its far to hard to work with a dull saw and really shortens the life of the saw. (Heat transfers from the dull chain to the bar which transfers heat to the lower crank and can ruin your crankshaft in no time.)

And dirty work, that is a subject unto its own. Google up flat filing a chainsaw chain and you will see a new method that really keeps your saw sharp for a long time in mud and debris. I seldom use this method as I found cutting dirty wood up when its still wet and muddy is better then letting it dry. If you are out of options on that, try the flat filing method.

The problem with all those guides and gizmo's is that it does not let you adjust the angle very good, nor does it let you file down the throat of the tooth so that your chainsaw tooth is taking a bigger bite (required if you run a Stihl and want to make the saw cut fast). Its like anything, it takes practice.
 
Wow Travis -- great information -- I'm sure I'll be referencing back many times.

I'm a backyard woodcutter, use may chainsaw maybe 6 - 10 times a year when I come into some good turning or firewood. I have a Husky 353 for serious cutting, and a inexpensive electric I use for trimmin' firewood on cold nights. I looked seriously at the stihl's but bottom line the local Husky dealer takes much better care of his customers. To an occasional user, having a dependable dealer near by means a lot.

Again, thanks for all the good info -- I'll start with the guides to see if I can get consistency, then see if I can graduate to freehand.
 
Sharpening also depends on the saw. Stihl's have more torque due to their second piston ring but also have lower RPM's. In that case you have to knock your rakers down to get a bigger chip. Don't try that with the Husky saws though. They turn faster but have less torque so a smaller chip is better. They both cut the same, as in going from point a to point b, they just use different methods to achieve that goal.

The problem with all those guides and gizmo's is that it does not let you adjust the angle very good, nor does it let you file down the throat of the tooth so that your chainsaw tooth is taking a bigger bite (required if you run a Stihl and want to make the saw cut fast). Its like anything, it takes practice.



Travis, unfortunately you're misinformed about the piston rings. Many husqvarnas run 2 piston rings; mine does, and I'm under the impression most of the XP series do. Also, my 394XP has more torque than the 066/ms660 which is a comparable displacement saw. Also, there are definitely some Stihls that run just one ring. Each manufacturer makes homeowner models, and pro models. my MS361 has 2 rings, but some of the older stihls, especially top handle saws, have only 1 piston ring. Also, some of the older husqvarna saws, which are torque MONSTERS---like the 2100XP, it has only 1 ring. Many old homelites had 1 ring. Sounds like someone used that as a sales gimmick. Don't get me wrong. I love my Stihls, but I like my big Husqvarna too.

Also, in regards to filing, its funny that you mention filing the gullet of the chain; I use my jig once in a while, or even hand file, because the grinder I have does leave that annoying hump that will get in the way of taking a big chip. Its a PITA on a long chain. Every 3-4 sharpenings I have to hand file the hump away. People who run hotsaws will also file the back end of the cutter, so that the chip ejects the cutter as fast and as smooth as it went in. Talk about some powerful saws! Dangerous stuff. For most people, unless you really know what you're doing, you should follow the sharpening angles that the chain came with, as modifying them can change the way the saw handles in the cut. If I bury a 32" bar in wood while running a ripping chain, (filed at 15deg. or less--I personally run 5 deg. for smooth slabs), it will potentially grab and kick much more than a 30-35deg. chain for "crosscutting", no matter whether it is flat filed, semichisel, chisel, square ground, or whatever. Just be careful. Wear your kevlar chaps and steel toed boots.
 
I run both Husky's and stihls. Mostly I sharpen by hand with no gage. The eyeball sufices. I do use a chainsaw grinder on occaision, usually after hitting something hard. This is just to shorten the job of getting the chain back in good order. I also sharpen the long chains on a grinder.( I sometimes put the 42" bar on.) I would highly reccomend wearing a glove on the hand you file with. It is human to slip once in a while and those cutters are sharp.

It used to be true that husky's would outcut stihls hp. to hp. When I worked logging, we had been using stihls but found that production went way up when we switched to husky saws. (8-10 more trees per saw per day) I don't know that this is true anymore since the pollution control changes have been made to the saws. I still wish I had my old model husky saw. -284xp. That saw ran like a ...you get the idea. Many of the sawyers I know are of the same opinion. They fix their old saws rather than 'upgrade' to the modern ones.

Husky saws would not last as long as the stihls back then, but we didn't care because they payed for themselves many times over. It was common to wear one out in a year or so. I haven't run a side-by-side comparison for quite a while. I just know that my 385xp isn't in the same class as a 6-6.5 hp saw of earlier vintage.

I run the 385 most of the time with a 24" bar. It actually saves the back some because it cuts faster and with the longer bar you don't have to bend over much to reach the ground.

The vendors will always tell you to sharpen from the inside out on the tooth. I think they say this for liability purposes. The reality is that if you sharpen into the cutting edge you will have a sharper chain because you file the burr to the inside of the tooth rather than outside. When the burr breaks off, it dulls the cutting edge. This is why I always wear a glove. If I slip, I'm not going to have to clean up a blood spill.:D
 
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