Chain saw sharpening advice sought

[turnkey4099]

A couple things, one, depth gauges aka rakers are easy. You need to lay a straight edge across the top of each set of two cutters and see how far below that the raker between them is. .025" is what you want. A caliper works for to measure, but after a few times doing it, it's easy enough to eyeball. A Carlton File-o-plate is the best for determining where each raker needs to be, but they're out of production.

Rakers are easily taken down with a flat file, but I prefer a dremel with a sanding wheel or stone. Much less hand cramping.

Lastly, if you don't already grease you bar sprocket, you don't need to start now. Oregon says they do fine with just bar oil lubrication, and that greasing through the hole can actually force grit and grime into the bearings. Some people grease, some don't. I never have, and haven't ever had as problem.

Stihl has the raker filing guide, I don't know what it costs but abour $1,00 would be my guess. They come with different clearances, .025 for hardwood, .035 for soft. May have others. I use .035 for everything as most of what I cut is softwood.

Nice part of about the Stihl raker guide is it has a couiple "hooks" on one end for cleaning out the bar rails. One swipe each side leaves a clean channel.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Quote: But I guess I could also not sharpen all 20 at once and only do so one by one on the bar as I needed a new chain - I could just mount a new (used) one and sharpen it on the bar.

Makes sense.

Turnkey quote: Dunno about the squre shaped teeth but the round shaped (sorta like a question mark) had sharpening angels of 35 degree across the tooth and 10 degree up angle.

Reminded me that my chains had a 10ｺ angle too, and not horizontal as recommended in the link I gave earlier.

 

[scdeerslayer]

I've tried using chains that were supposedly sharpened by professionals using electric sharpeners but they never seem to cut as well as when sharpened with a file.

I use the guide in this kit:Amazon.com: Husqvarna 531381 3/8-Inch Saw Chain Filing Kit: Patio, Lawn & Garden

That comes with 7/32" files, and I also have the same thing for the low profile chains that use 5/32" file. I don't use it for the depth gauges though, I use this:Amazon.com : Oregon Chain Saw Depth Gauge Tool And Flat File 4466 : Chain Sharpeners : Patio, Lawn & Garden

I do plan on getting the timberline also at some point.

 

[kidr]

A couple things, one, depth gauges aka rakers are easy. You need to lay a straight edge across the top of each set of two cutters and see how far below that the raker between them is. .025" is what you want. A caliper works for to measure, but after a few times doing it, it's easy enough to eyeball. A Carlton File-o-plate is the best for determining where each raker needs to be, but they're out of production.


Baileys has em.

 

[gsganzer]

I have a Timberline and love it. It's real simple and quick and puts on a great edge. The key to it working right is to spend some extra time the first time you use it on a new chain. You have to spend some time setting the "hook" on each tooth.

 

[buickanddeere]

Use a power sharpener

 

[deanocraft]

I use one of these. It has worked for well for the last 15 years, and is quick, cheap, and fits in my saw case!

 

[jb1390]

I bought one of the HF grinders, not bad for a cheap unit, got some slop in it but I find that I can hand file faster than doing it on the grinder.

I sharpen mine using a wall mount electric grinder from Tractor Supply. However, I had to modify it to get satisfactory results. There was too much slop out of the box, which caused inconsistent tooth length, and hence the chains would cut on a curve. The 16"-20" chains were ok, but the 36" bar has to be spot on or you'll have to fight it through the wood.

It seems like with my luck, the chains stay pretty sharp until I hit something. I can't imagine having to file a 36" chain by hand after hitting dirt or a nail and getting decent results. If I get the rakes and teeth ground correctly, I can get the chains to cut like new.

 

[ovrszd]

I use one of these. It has worked for well for the last 15 years, and is quick, cheap, and fits in my saw case!

Yep. Got two of them. Most cost effective saw sharpener ever made!!!!

 

[ovrszd]

It seems like with my luck, the chains stay pretty sharp until I hit something. I can't imagine having to file a 36" chain by hand after hitting dirt or a nail and getting decent results. If I get the rakes and teeth ground correctly, I can get the chains to cut like new.

Yep. After hitting a foreign object while sawing the same end result happens whether the chain was sharpened with a machine or by hand. A properly filed chain cuts like new as well. I would imagine the time it takes to sharpen a long chain versus a short chain would be proportional regardless of tool used.