With one hand I use a dremel tool with diamond cylinders sized for the chain, i.e., a 3/16" diamond cylinder for a 3/16" chain. In my other hand I use a spray bottle to keep the diamond tool wet which will significantly prolong its life. With a little practice you should be able to sharpen a dull 20" chain and in 10 minutes (I clamp the bar in a vise to hold is steady). Every year I sharpen about a dozen chains and have been doing it this way for at least 10 years. I would never consider using a file again.
I bought a tool from Harbor Freight that is not bad...comes with a lot of plastic, but if you sharpen off the saw and take your time it does great. about as cheap as you can get off
Since you're trying to do a batch of chains and all off the saw, that means you'll probably want to be using a grinder/sharpener. Quick. Easy. Excellent sharpness and lets you correct all sorts of problems caused by incorrect sharpening on the saw or more extreme tooth damage from hitting something "not wood" in your log. You can go really inexpensive like HF item 63803, "Chain Saw Sharpener" or the more expensive Oregon "Professional Compact Bench Grinder". I got the HF because I wasn't sure I'd use it all that much and didn't want to spend a lot of money for a paperweight. Turns out it does a really great job and is easy to use - and I end up using it a lot (friends who just cut firewood found out I had it...)
It's certainly NOT an Oregon, with so much plastic as to make it seem like a toy. But the one I have from HF (couple years old) is solid, easy to set up and use, and produces great results. One man's POS is another man's inexpensive little gem/
Both my Oregon and the POS HF sharpeners are older sharpeners, and the POS HF is still under the bench, where it belongs! lol
My hearing is bad and I'm trying not to make it any worse. I have a stock muffler yet still use ear plugs... I won't even start the saw without them. If I'm going to be running it all day I also wear muffs, otherwise I will still hear the saw running when I go to bed.
That's why I use a guide.
Yea, I get it. I've been wearing ear plugs 5 days a week since I was 20, I have a pair in right now. They mainly protect my hearing from air hose noise in the machine shop. I always wear protection when sawing. I would wear both plugs and muffs if I had any hearing damage when running my saw. It's definitely louder now but it runs so much better than it did before modification.
It's crazy to run a saw without hearing protection (eye protection as well). I want to be able to hear and see my kids (and eventually grandkids) when they perform in the school play or come over to visit, and actually have a conversation with them without them having to shout and put up with me saying "What?!" after every sentence.
All my manly tools and machines have safty shields on and are as quiet as practical.
I purchased 2 of these after watching Project Farm on YouTube. They sharpen quick and sharper than a new chain. A couple strokes across the tooth not only sharpens it, it also sets the raker to depth. I grew up cutting trees to rotate out old apple crop. The Stihl 2 in 1 beats the hell out of anything I have in the past.
