Chainsaw - Sharpening Chains

[MMH]

I have a 4 chains that I have used to cut some big stumps up out of the ground into small enough pieces so that my JD 4500 could pull the stump bits out. The chains were blistering hot as they were cutting thru clay dirt, imbedded rocks and occasionally some wood. I can get the chains resharpened but am wondering that as hot as they got, will they hold edge?

 

[sea2summit]

I'd be more worried about the bar than those chains.
Sharpen them up and if they are trashed next time you use them pitch them, if you're paying to get them sharpened probably still worth it. Unless they where glowing you're probably good.

 

[MBTRAC]

If the chain has been severely overheated for a long time there's a good chance the hardening is now lost on the chain & it won't hold an edge - if they've only been lightly heated you may be able to grind back to the hardened steel but but IMO if you've cut through clay & rocks the chain will be trashed (teeth, rakers & links) & most likely the bar as well

 

[Egon]

May as well get new chains.

 

[LD1]

As cheap as chains are, I would get new ones. But sharpen and saved those chains you trashed incase you ever have to cut out stumps again:thumbsup:

The cutters are mildly hardened, but they arent that hard. After all, a file cuts them. Its the chrome plating along the top and side of the cutter that give it the sharp long-lasting edge. I doubt getting it a little hot hurt them too much.

 

[jinman]

May as well get new chains.

Yep, and buy a battery powered or corded reciprocal saw with a long coarse blade for those stump jobs in dirt. Recip saw blades are dirt cheap. . . pun intended.

Battery Powered

Corded

 

[Gary Fowler]

This sounds like a good job for the elcheapo Harbor Freight chain saw sharpener. It will pay for itself on the sharpening of 2 chains if you are paying someone to sharpen them. It worked well for me on some chains that had hit some fencing and rocks when clearing the fence line. They came out good as new. Very simple to set up and adjust so it just takes a small bit off each tooth(just a few sparks). The plastic housing has a little flex to it which is good for putting a little side pressure on a tooth that has a ding. DONT have to adjust the machine that way for just a tooth or two. Set if for the average cut needed to sharpen and when finding a tooth in need of a bit more, just put a little side pressure on the machine, it doesnt take much just enough to remove any burr that might be there from hitting metal or rock.

 

[sandman2234]

Whatever happened to a rat-tail file and a vise, to give it a good sharpening yourself? It isn't rocket science and a few minutes will fix the dull teeth and if they don't stay sharp, all you have lost is a few minutes of time, plus gained the knowledge of how to sharpen your own saw. Addng in one of those file angle holding devices is a plus, but not required, however one will make it easier to get it right.
David from jax

 

[Gary Fowler]

I used to sharpen saws with a file and have files, angle gauges etc, but with old age comes not necessarily laziness but a will to do it easier. TRIFOCAL glasses dont necessarily contribute to good saw filing either. I can remove the chain, put it on the little sharpener and grind every tooth in less than 10 minutes on an 18" bar. It takes me at least that long to do with a file sometimes longer depending on how many cramps I get in my hands. Using a file to sharpen a saw is indicative to using a mule to plow with, or slide rule rather than a calculator. It's OK if you're into that sort of thing but I prefer the new ways rather than the old way when it is as cheap to do as the HF sharpener and it does an adequate job for me. Maybe some folks can make them cut better than new but I never could and the electric sharpener gets every tooth perfect on angle and length everytime, it super easy to use too.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I would sharpen and continue to use. Hot to your hand is not the same as hot to steel.

If you have a deep pocket, and you want to do more stumps or cut dirty logs, you might want to look into a carbide chain

Carbide Chainsaw Chain -- Longest lasting carbide chainsaw chain! Rapco Industries

The loggers in our area carry two saws, one for cutting clean and one for cutting dirty. Dirty cuts tend to be with Carbide. Different tools to sharpen with but survive the dirt much better.

 

[dstig1]

I think Northern still has their sharpening grinder on sale for a very good price. Yep, was right on the front page:
Northern Industrial Bench- or Wall-Mount Chain Grinder | Chain Saw Sharpeners, Maintenance Repair| Northern Tool + Equipment

Rumor has it that you need to get grinding wheels from a decent source like Bailey's and don't use the Northern/HF ones. So far I do all my sharpening by file, until the chain gets far enough out of whack that I bring it in for a professional sharpening to get it back in line (rarely)

 

[clemsonfor]

I use to hand sharpen all the time and that's all I did. Bought the HF grinder sharpener for $30.. the best thing I bought from there in a while. Can take a trashed chain back to facotory sharp in 5 mins. I never use hand file unless in the woods and need a better edge. Now I just take 2 chains.

Your chains and more likely bar are toast by now!! It only takes 1 second in the dirt to make a chain cutter so dull it will basically not cut wood anymore, I cant imagine using it to continually cut in the dirt!

 

[clemsonfor]

I think Northern still has their sharpening grinder on sale for a very good price. Yep, was right on the front page:
Northern Industrial Bench- or Wall-Mount Chain Grinder | Chain Saw Sharpeners, Maintenance Repair| Northern Tool + Equipment

Rumor has it that you need to get grinding wheels from a decent source like Bailey's and don't use the Northern/HF ones. So far I do all my sharpening by file, until the chain gets far enough out of whack that I bring it in for a professional sharpening to get it back in line (rarely)

I use to just hand sharpen, thought I was pretty good and really I am, but that first time you grind a chain you don't think is to bad you will see how outta whack you are!!

 

[cqaigy2]

Yep, and buy a battery powered or corded reciprocal saw with a long coarse blade for those stump jobs in dirt. Recip saw blades are dirt cheap. . . pun intended.

Battery Powered

Corded

Good idea, I've used recip and axe, but i'd probably be too lazy to subject my chain saw to stump work. I'd be afraid of messing up the chain, bar, sprocket, well that's all i can think of. Stumps can be a pain to dig up, but it's nice to get them out of the way.

 

[SPIKER]

I have the HF grinder it works well enough for a bad shape chain to get it cutting well again. but I also hand file all the time too. the hand file actually puts a better lasting edge on it and if you dont overly dull it a touch up only take a min or so. about 3 push cuts on the file and tooth is good or better than new.

Then I also have an idiot nephew that can kill a chain in first cut. won't listen to what I say and then )(&% when he cant get a saw to cut. just about like his dad was at that age.

Mark

 

[daugen]

Buffalo Tools ECSS Electric Chainsaw Sharpener - Amazon.com
Amazon's number one ranking sharpener by reader review.
Probably an upmarket HF.

 

[ilander]

Whatever happened to a rat-tail file and a vise, to give it a good sharpening yourself? It isn't rocket science and a few minutes will fix the dull teeth and if they don't stay sharp, all you have lost is a few minutes of time, plus gained the knowledge of how to sharpen your own saw. Addng in one of those file angle holding devices is a plus, but not required, however one will make it easier to get it right.
David from jax

I'm in agreement with the quote and carry the tools mentioned on the tractor. Based on my experiences, being out in the woods cutting trees or the back lot hacking them up in firewood chunks, I want a saw that cuts good. I learned the cutting is more efficient just keeping it sharp and in the long run I save time by sharpening every time I gas up the saw. I've timed myself, and our 20 inch saw takes a shade over 60 seconds to give each tooth one pass with the file once it's clamped in the vice. If I think it is getting dull, I give two passes. The number of passes I give each tooth with the file is based on my experience in how dull the teeth are. I really think I get a longer life out of the chain this way.

I also have a special oil can with the spout shaped to fit that tiny little hole on the bar where the front sprocket is and force oil into the sprocket enclosure while manually pulling the chain over the bar to get the sprocket to roll. The entire chain also gets soaked in oil after each sharpening.

A sharp chain and extra oiling seams to keep the bar cooler which means less bar expansion thereby keeping the chain tension more constant.

 

[Scooby074]

I use to just hand sharpen, thought I was pretty good and really I am, but that first time you grind a chain you don't think is to bad you will see how outta whack you are!!

This x1000!!

I used to hand sharpen too, thought I kept my angles right on, until I got my Timber Tuff sharpener (same as in dstig1's post, only green). No man (well im sure there is somebody out there to prove me wrong) can be as accurate as a grinder that holds the chain firmly and keeps the angles consistent.

Now I hand file with each couple tanks and machine grind after several hand filings to get the angles back in line. It probably takes me less time to grind then hand file, when considering that I'd have to remove the chain anyways to flip the bar, so that extra time is a wash. And with proper setup of the grinder, you can shave only a few thousands off the tooth (assuming the tooth isn't really wrecked) , probably about the same as what you'd remove with a hand file.

 

[newbury]

If you are going to use chains a lot you might try to follow my method.
I've got six saws - Stihl 088, 2@ Stihl 660's, a John Deere CS 62, a Stihl 021 and an EFCO MT3600. For bars they range from 42" to 10", most in the 28" plus range.
I've done a bit of Chain Saw Milling, CSM, on hardwoods and that dulls a chain fairly quickly. And a sharp chain leaves a much smoother cut.

LEARN to HAND SHARPEN

I quickly went to a three tier approach
New chain - do a several passes on say an 8' log, or when the chain seems to "just" start to dull, pause and sharpen by hand. This is also a break for my ears and back.
After doing that three times whip out the Grandberg File-N-Joint ((File-N-Joint | Granberg International) to make sure my angles are good, and at the same time touch up the rakers.
After about 3 "Grandbergs" (about 9 hand files and 3 Granderg filings) take it to my Northen Tool grinder and get EVERYTHING trued up. I usually have three chains of the same size, so I save the chains up and spend about one or two nights a year using the grinder.


Notice the magnifying light to aid in examining the chain.

One of the big differences between hand filing and using a bench mount grinder is ease - the chain stays on the saw, so I'd touch up the chain 12 times before I had to spend a few minutes taking it off the saw.

NEVER take a batch of chains to someone else to have sharpened THE FIRST TIME. When a chain costs $20+ it's bad to see some incompetent ruin them. Do investigate your local shops for sharpening - some charge by link, length, or per chain. My local shop in Virginia charges about $18 for a 28" chain. My local shop in Mississippi was charging $5 regardless of size.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I'm in agreement with the quote and carry the tools mentioned on the tractor. Based on my experiences, being out in the woods cutting trees or the back lot hacking them up in firewood chunks, I want a saw that cuts good. I learned the cutting is more efficient just keeping it sharp and in the long run I save time by sharpening every time I gas up the saw. I've timed myself, and our 20 inch saw takes a shade over 60 seconds to give each tooth one pass with the file once it's clamped in the vice. If I think it is getting dull, I give two passes. The number of passes I give each tooth with the file is based on my experience in how dull the teeth are. I really think I get a longer life out of the chain this way.

I also have a special oil can with the spout shaped to fit that tiny little hole on the bar where the front sprocket is and force oil into the sprocket enclosure while manually pulling the chain over the bar to get the sprocket to roll. The entire chain also gets soaked in oil after each sharpening.

A sharp chain and extra oiling seams to keep the bar cooler which means less bar expansion thereby keeping the chain tension more constant.

This guy must be the Flash from DC comics to be able to sharpen an 8" bar in 60 seconds would be amazing much less a 20" bar. One would need a high speed camera to watch this action, maybe get the TIMEWARP guys in for a film session.