Chainsaw Sharpening question

[clemsonfor]

I sharpen with a file in the field, usually 1-3 times a day as needed. And up until recently, I sharpened with a file at my workbench too, when doing periodic maintenance (where I'd flip the bar, clean out the clutch cover, etc).

I just got an Oregon grinder and touched up one of my chains that has been filed all this time. Can't say it's any better. I did notice that my hand filing angles were off a little (I seem to file to 25 degrees, whereas Stihl calls for 30 degrees).

Anyway, I really think it's important to file out on the job while you're working, as much as needed. Choose a semi-chisel chain if you find yourself filing too much. There is a right balance where you maximize productivity.

You can choose what ever angle you want. the steeper the angle the faster it will but but faster to dull. you could get by with 25 in softwood and last a long time till dull

 

[clemsonfor]

The reason hand sharpening is better is because the metal stays cooler. When metal is heated on a grinder or dremel, the metal gets hot. When metal cools down slowly from high heat, it softens the metal and thus, it is easier to dull it. After every use, I set the saw in the vise and hand sharpen every tooth about 20 strokes. It takes little time and the chain performs flawless as a result of the harder metal. Also, I'm still on the same chain for over three years.

I cut more wood than that !! no way even hand sharpening i would have same chain after 3 years!!!

 

[ruffdog]

Twenty strokes ! You need better wood or a better file !
I touch mine up every three tanks or so with three or four strokes.

Same here, I've been filing for 30 years now.

 

[clemsonfor]

I use a file guide. Called the granberg.

I probably get 30 or 40 + sharpening out of a chain. But I dont wait until the saw stops cutting before I sharpen and I keep it out of the dirt.

Usually cut ~3/4 cord or so (what the trailer holds). Then touch it up with 3-4 strokes with the guide. Usually carry 2-3 saws with me when cutting. If I use all 3 about the same amount, I dont always sharpen after each load. Just one of them things you "know" when it is needing done.

Dont like having a machine or a "professional" sharpen mine. SOP for that is to take the worst tooth, and sharpen them all back to that level. Thats a waste of tooth life on ALL the other teeth. I only take what is needed, on a tooth by tooth basis. Adjust the rakers accordingly.

usually equal teeth equals a better cut. IF one tooth is rocked sure just hit that one and let it be but usually you dont want a bunch of different sized cutters. And i can sharpen many times on a grinder not just 4. Sure it usually takes more but if i can sharpen a dozen times or more i am fine with that. But i buy chains when on sale cheap like $10 a 3/8" 72dl loop of oregon shipped to my house. Or i pick up the tossed chains from my loggers out of their box when there "done" . they never file the rakers and cant handfile worth a darn so there jacked up at about half life. so i run them maybe a dozen more grindings till the teeth start to knock off. Sure you have to be carefull with a grinder not to heat a tooth and i cant get as sharp as by hand but it works for me. Id say right now i have close to a dozen "used" 20" 3/8" chain handing in my shed and at least 4-5 more new in the box. I dont have as many 25" ones ...i think 2-3 used ones and 2 new ones and i only have one 32" chain but i only use that bar on huge wood and thats maybe once a year so i dont stock pile those.

 

[clemsonfor]

I use a Dremel tool (HF) with diamond sharpening bits. Touch each cutter for 1/4 second and have the chain done in 60 seconds. I touch up at each fueling.

Are you useing a 16" full skip chain? i dont see how you can sharpen a whole chain in 60 seconds!!! On a 20" full comp chain thats every tooth in less than a second. there usually 72DL and you have a tooth for every driver!! And you still would have to advance the chain!!

 

[Deere Dude]

i have the HF grinder. Its good for what it is, but thats it. Once you use a better grinder you really see the difference. One thing is to make sure you get the right size wheel for the HF grinder. it comes with a 3/8" LOW PROFILE wheel which is different than a normal full size 3/8'' size grinding wheel.

I was never a great hand filer as i never tried to learn before i got big into saws. But i can still grind with the HF grinder better than hand file, but the consistency is not there as there is so much slop in the grinder.

The timber tuff grinder and Roughneck (northerntool version) is a copy of one of the Oregon grinders. Its 20x the machine the HF grinder is. I got mine on sale with a coupon for $90 at NT. It has two more adjustments to fine tune a chain that the HF one does not. Once i used it i can really see the short comings of the HF unit.

I have a few dozen chains. I never sharpen in the woods and am ADD and cant sit to file the larger bars or chains (not blades) so i just take a few loops of whatever i am useing and then i sharpen them when i feel like it later.

To use the dremel you have to basically know what your doing with a hand file first and like someone said its going to be way easier to hack up a chain with that thing than hand fileing. With any machine or grinder you have to actually under stand how to hand file to get good results.

I also had a HF grinder for a few years then went with the Timber Tuff bench grinder. I let them pile up untill I get half a dozen chains then sit down and rip through them.

My problem, is the settings. I generally use 30 deg for the angle and 60 for the tilt, but have no idea if that is correct. Ine chain I did last had a scribed mark on it so I lined that up with the wheel and it was 25 degrees. I went with 25 deg for that one but for the rest I do 30.

Would you say 30 deg and 60 deg is correct?

But, I love the grinder.

 

[motownbrowne]

Are you useing a 16" full skip chain? i dont see how you can sharpen a whole chain in 60 seconds!!! On a 20" full comp chain thats every tooth in less than a second. there usually 72DL and you have a tooth for every driver!! And you still would have to advance the chain!!

16" full skip full chisel on a 70+cc saw in 12-16" softwood would be a LOT of fun!!!

 

[CobyRupert]

Same here, I've been filing for 30 years now.

Wow, you either file REALLY slow, or that's a really big bar you have on your saw.

 

[clemsonfor]

I also had a HF grinder for a few years then went with the Timber Tuff bench grinder. I let them pile up untill I get half a dozen chains then sit down and rip through them.

My problem, is the settings. I generally use 30 deg for the angle and 60 for the tilt, but have no idea if that is correct. Ine chain I did last had a scribed mark on it so I lined that up with the wheel and it was 25 degrees. I went with 25 deg for that one but for the rest I do 30.

Would you say 30 deg and 60 deg is correct?

But, I love the grinder.

Yes the 30 on the table is pretty much right for that angle but most eveyone i have heard talk about these and thats a few dozen folks on different saw forums and what my experience is that the back angles are all over the place. Mine has two markers on the back if i remember right and i think each is a tad different. I think i read the mark where it lines up with the back plate? But anyway the concensus is that these sharpeners usually have to be set around 55 degrees on the top angle to match 60 actual degrees. The angle indicator is just not precise. For yours i cant tell. but 30 60 is the right numbers you wnat to hit. I actually tilt the table now 10 to get better hook and self feeding. this is not really necessary.

 

[clemsonfor]

I also had a HF grinder for a few years then went with the Timber Tuff bench grinder. I let them pile up untill I get half a dozen chains then sit down and rip through them.

My problem, is the settings. I generally use 30 deg for the angle and 60 for the tilt, but have no idea if that is correct. Ine chain I did last had a scribed mark on it so I lined that up with the wheel and it was 25 degrees. I went with 25 deg for that one but for the rest I do 30.

Would you say 30 deg and 60 deg is correct?

But, I love the grinder.

Yes the 30 on the table is pretty much right for that angle but most eveyone i have heard talk about these and thats a few dozen folks on different saw forums and what my experience is that the back angles are all over the place. Mine has two markers on the back if i remember right and i think each is a tad different. I think i read the mark where it lines up with the back plate? But anyway the concensus is that these sharpeners usually have to be set around 55 degrees on the top angle to match 60 actual degrees. The angle indicator is just not precise. For yours i cant tell. but 30 60 is the right numbers you wnat to hit. I actually tilt the table now 10 to get better hook and self feeding. this is not really necessary.

 

[clemsonfor]

16" full skip full chisel on a 70+cc saw in 12-16" softwood would be a LOT of fun!!!

yep! I know a guy on one of my forums had videos of him with a 90cc saw with a 16" bar!!!

 

[MossRoad]

yep! I know a guy on one of my forums had videos of him with a 90cc saw with a 16" bar!!!

That's for pruning.... :laughing:

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I started with hand filing, then sent them out, back to hand filing, Dremel and now back to hand filing. I have not tried a bench mounted sharpener.

Sending them out was just inconvenient. The stones in the dremel don't last worth a darn. Getting good with the hand file is far more productive and I get a far better sharpen. It only took me a couple years to learn to stop doing it in bare hands and wear gloves to keep from cutting my knuckles if I slip.

Lee Valley Tools has a decent sharpening jig to use with a hand file to keep your angles accurate. Works well for those that don't sharpen very often and never get to learn the feel of the angles.

I'd really like to try one of the Timberline sharpeners

 

[5030]

Bailey has them on sale this month and the carbide cutters as well.

 

[gsganzer]

I started with hand filing, then sent them out, back to hand filing, Dremel and now back to hand filing. I have not tried a bench mounted sharpener.

Sending them out was just inconvenient. The stones in the dremel don't last worth a darn. Getting good with the hand file is far more productive and I get a far better sharpen. It only took me a couple years to learn to stop doing it in bare hands and wear gloves to keep from cutting my knuckles if I slip.

Lee Valley Tools has a decent sharpening jig to use with a hand file to keep your angles accurate. Works well for those that don't sharpen very often and never get to learn the feel of the angles.

I'd really like to try one of the Timberline sharpeners

Like the old saying, "Buy once, cry once" buy the Timberline and be done with it. It works in the field or on the bench. It's quick and effective and I can't really see where any other sharpener can offer much improvement over the Timberline.

Like some others that have used a Timberline say, make sure you wear gloves and eye protection. Because the Timberline machines, rather than grinds or files, the small turnings it creates can be very sharp. You get one in your finger and it's a pain to dig it out.

 

[5030]

+10 on a Timberline with one exception and that is, if you want to sharpen PICCO chain, small pitch, it's a PITA. no issue with 3/8 or 404, but the small anti kickback chain, especially on shorter bars is an exercise in hair pulling. I use Dremel electric saw sharpener with guide, instead. I've tried and tried and it won't give a satisfactory result.

The place the Timberline really shines is in the field. Add a stump vise to secure the bar and sharpen or touch up a chain right where you are cutting. I carry mine with me to the field.

 

[Alien]

I used to do all mine by filing but over time found that I seemed to favour one side of the bar and eventually the saw would not cut dead true.
I bought a bench sharpener and will never hand file again.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I file by hand. All my saws run 3/8 LGX chain. I like the little square-ish Husqvarna guide with the two rollers and the fold out depth gauge guide. I like this file guide because I can see the tooth as I file and it is fast and easy to manipulate. I hate the cumbersome guides that cover the tooth you are filing. I file in a bench vise in the morning and at noon and free hand in the woods as needed. A few light strokes produce the sharpest chains.

gg

 

[fxdb96]

Also, when you flip your bar feel the edges that the chain rides on. You will find a burr or rolled edge where you cut the most. In other words - if you cut down all day onto 10" logs approx 6" in from the tip - there will be an area maybe 10" or so long that needs to be carefully touched up with a flat file.

 

[SpringHollow]

I have used a huge number of different sharpening systems. The Timberline creates a very sharp chain but I have difficulty getting the left and right hand cutters to be equal. I did not like the 12V Dremel style sharpener that I used. The Granberg style sharpeners work well but I found them slow. I can free hand but I am not the best at it. The nicest hand guides for in field use that I have tried are the Husqvarna ones, for example: Husqvarna Chain Roller Guide Combination .404 3/8in | SHERRILLtree
They are very fast to use and do a very good job. I had terrible luck with a bench grinder - I tried special lubes and special wheels and only took multiple very light cuts on each tooth but I could always see the tooth get hotter than I wished.

I have drooled over diamond sharpening blades for years and finally bought one from Diamond Wheel, Inc. to put on my Oregon sharpener. Should have done it years ago. Very sharp chains that stay sharp for an extremely long time. I think this is partially due to the diamond cutting cooler and I took the time to even up all of the cutters. Normally, I would either swap chains or hand touch up after every couple of tankfuls. However, the current chain has cut well over 15 face cord without even touching up by hand sharpening. I find that truly amazing given that I did not brush off the dirt etc where i was cutting like I normally do. I should swap the chain out now since the chips are not quite as large as they were but it is not creating dust yet. I always buy Stihl brand chain - it seems to stay sharp longer than the other brands I have used when in a pinch.

Ken