Chainsaw - Sharpening Chains

[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.