Chainsaw chain sharpening

[sendero]

A year ago I purchased 40 acres in Texas. About 35 of them are wooded with oak, elm and cedar.

I bought a Husky 350 and it's been a great saw. But, I can't help but think I'm not handling the chain maintenance correctly.

A new chain cuts like butter, and then the ease of cutting steadily declines. I have the proper files and have read many a treatise on chain sharpening, but no matter what I do the chain just seems dull. You have to push hard to get it to bite.

I thought the scrapers needed to be taken down, but my guage says they are fine. The teeth look good to me, not rounded, sharp edge.

Is this normal, am I just expecting too much life out of a chain? I always thought (and in the past) that a chain was good until it stretched out so long it couldn't be tensioned enough, but this chain is nowhere near that point.

 

[rmorgan]

FWIW, my Stihl dealer sharpens 'em in five minutes for five bucks and they are back to butter; I have three chains and rotate them until they're all dull and drop them off for an hour. Maybe not too rural livin' of me, but time not spent fixing the saw is time spent using the saw. If I were you and wanted to verify my sharpening technique I'd take one in and see if their results were different than mine.

 

[MikePA]

Take one that you've sharpened to a local shop and ask them to look at it. I bet they'd be glad to tell you what the problem is.

 

[thcri]

rmorgan,

I do about the same as you. I have three chains. One on the saw and two out to get sharpened or are sharpened. This way I always am ready and can do a lot of cutting without worring about chains. I have found the do it yourself kits for sharpening chains just don't quite do it. I gave up on them and usually take them in to have it don't proffessionally. They usually test the chain for bad spots or twists also. Just more at ease.

But I felt the same frustration when trying to sharpen myself. Father in Law sharpens his own too. He cuts 4 or 5 logs and then he is changing chains.

murph

 

[MarkV]

Sendero, I had the same feeling you do about chains and sharpening for years. After talking to a friend in the tree business I believe I learned a trick or just got better with a file. His advice was to hit the chain, three strokes per tooth, with a file before each use and at each fuel change. His feelings are that if you use a dull chain it produces much more heat and the cutting edges will not hold an edge as well after they have been over heated. Even if you do your file work properly a chain that has been over heated will dull so fast you don't get the performance of a new chain. I can't say if that is true, but I don't buy near as many new chains as I did before.

MarkV

 

[Bird]

I've read lots of instructions, too, in books and on this forum, and was still never satisfied with the sharpening I did myself; finally decided like a lot of other folks to just have a spare or two and leave them with a pro to be sharpened. Incidentally, I was in the Smith Farm & Garden store at I-35 just south of Business 121 Saturday when a customer brought in some chains to be sharpened. I think he had 10 of them. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif He does a lot of chainsaw work. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Will_C]

I agree with the advice about 3-4 strokes at every gas stop. I have good luck keeping chains sharp. this way. If you manage to ding the teeth. then it is worth paying a shop that will use a machine. I'm lucky, my brother has a professional Oregon bench sharperner /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Will

 

[popeye]

I learned to sharpen a chain while working one summer for a tree service fresh out of high school. There is a trick to how you use the file and the proper angle. Also you have to take a flat file and get all the burrs and rough edges out or they will roll back. If you can, take a chain in and ask if they will show you how to sharpen your own. It would be worth a try.
Mike

 

[Egon]

Never let the chain get a glaze on it. Tighten it well before sharpening [ even overtight so you don't round the edges ] and touch up often. Like at each fuel refill as mentioned. When cutting don't force the saw to make a cut.

When you have a fresh sharpened saw on the blade check out the angles with a file so you can repeat them later. When fileing always use a straight stroke and work at a convenient hight.

All easy to say but someday I might even learn how to do it properly.

Egon

 

[OkieG]

I pay for several sharpenings a year. The price has gone up from $5 last year to $6 this year. The saw file I have doesn't seem to cut the metal of the saw blade at all. Very discouraging.
Put "sharpener" in the Search for Product space and look at Nick the Grinder at <font color="red">this</font> link. The grinder pictured is much like the tool I see used to sharpen my blades when they go to the shop. For the price, I am tempted to buy one. Anyone use something like this to sharpen their blades?

OkieG