Chain saw chain sharpening

A round chainsaw file of the proper diameter and a decent eye . It ain't rocket science , and the angles aren't all that critical . I find frequent "touch-up's" work better than letting it get really dull . Easier to maintain the correct angle too .

Reply to
Snag
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SB:

Fellers like the hand-held file guide Karl Kummerling should have in stock. I'm off now but if you can't search that up under the name and something like +arborist, I'll see what can be found later on your notification.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

Reply to
Edward Hennessey

I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment jig. I have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work pretty good. But, we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think if I can figger out the angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely easier to use in the field.

Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

I kinda figgered that. I am pretty good at sharpening a knife, and that has to do with angles, too. Once you get the hang of it.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

I looked and a cannot see anything for a chain.

Reply to
Boris Mohar

"SteveB"wrote: (clip) What about a battery Dremel type sharpener? (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Oregon makes one about the size of a Dremel tool. with a gauge for sighting the angles. It clips onto your car battery, which is very convenient

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

I've got the rotary stones for the Dremel, I've got the little diamond home with the 'X' top to get the angles right, pretty much just do it by hand with a good (new) saw file. My new saw blade has the proper angle embossed into the top of the chain, makes it easy to get the angle right. If you don't have that, a simple guide made from a scrap of aluminum or plastic works just as well. The key is uniformity.

I clamp in the vice engine to the left, do the left hand side teeth. Switch ends, do the right hand teeth with the engine on the right. Use a magic marker to show where you started. 2 or 3 firm strokes per tooth, clean the chips out (very important) of the file with your hand or a wire brush. Takes about 5 minutes, I do it about every 2 run hours, more often if the bark got dragged in the dirt. In the field you can make a cut in an upturned log, works fine as a vice.

If the saw starts cutting circles (usually wants to drift to the right), one side of the saw is dull. If you did the dirt level cut of a stump, this always happens to the right side of the blade.

About every 4th sharpening you need to look at the depth gages (the little flat spots directly in front of each tooth. These need to be set to the mfg specs, usually about .025". If your saw is underpowered you will need to go less. If the wood is soft, you can go up .005" or so.

The blade needs sharpening if you look straight down at a tooth and you see a shiny leading edge from the top. If the leading edge is well rounded as viewed from the top, you will have a long job of sharpening.

Just for comparison, my Stihl 290 (3.75 hp) with a .375" width chain on a 20" bar will do a 20" wet/green red oak log in 51 seconds. My old Mac

10-10 with the same bar/cha> I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and
Reply to
RoyJ

EZ-Lap has a nice tool and makes wonderful diamond laps. I would never go back to a file ;)

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

Reply to
nick hull

If you can put a good edge on a blade , you can sharpen a chainsaw . My bud Bill the Machinist was telling me about a guy he worked with . Dude could grind the sweetest lathe cutters you ever saw . Until he "polished" them on the flap wheel . He just could not understand you don't polish the actual cutting edge ...

Reply to
Snag

I want something I can use for a day out cutting logs all day in the woods.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Cut down about 30 12" dia pines before I needed another sharpening - with the cutting blade. Nothing beats a new $30 chain - I'm just too cheap.

Reply to
everybody

I have a big flat EZ-Lap that I use for my knives. Must be ten years old now, and still works like a charm.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

The newer good Oregon chains have angle guide marks stamped into each cutting link to aid in eyeball alignment. Their site also has sharpening tips.

Reply to
Pete C.

I like this Husqvarna file guide;

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Jim Wilkins

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

  1. Get your chains sharpened at a place with a proper (auto) sharpener.
  2. Install a good, known quality sharp chain on saw.
  3. Keep that chain sharp with hand file. In the field, you can hand file the chain on the saw in not much more time than it takes to change them.
  4. I personally do not use a guide with a hand file...and so cannot comment on their attributes.

I tend to run the same chain on a saw without replacement until it is worn out. Then I discard chain, flip bar, and install new chain. Repeat.

If, when hand filing, the angle on the teeth starts getting out of alignment, then take that chain in and run it through a machine to correct. With practice, though, this will probably happen only once or twice through the life of a chain.

You can get a 'dermal type sharpener...they even have one that clips to your vehicle battery. They work well, the two problems being: they eat their stones fairly quickly; you can screw up the set in the teeth with just a moments inattention.

Reply to
SmartestOneHere

"SteveB" fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.infowest.com:

The trick the old loggers around here use is not to sharpen the chain, but to _keep_ it sharp. "Sharpening" involves more than just putting new edges on the teeth, you also have to grind/file the gauges to keep the penetration depth correct.

The old guys just use a file in the field -- a new, clean, sharp one. Most of them own a real chain grinding rig for the evening 'true' re- sharpenings. Y'know; one of those things that looks like a compound cutoff saw with an abrasive disk in place of the blade.

'course... these guys also buy chain by the roll.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Bought mine at Walmart, they might not still sell it

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

Reply to
nick hull

This works better than I expected it to:

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Reply to
Jim Wilkins

"Jim Wilkins" wrote: This works better than I expected it to:

Grinder." It works GREAT. Two of my friends borrowed it, and have both since bought their own. Sale price gets down to about $60.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

My chain is so hard that it HAS to be some sort of grinder. Even my arms would not be able to do a whole chain with a file. Besides a file would only last for one sharpening at best. Using a circular saw with a rebar blade only takes a total of five minutes and no removal of the chain from the saw.

Reply to
nomail

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