Chain sharpening

[Richard]

When we moved here we cleared out a spot in the woods for the house, so I had many, many fallen trees that needed cleaned up....consequently, my chains were either digging into the ground and/or the tree which was laying on the ground had loads of dirt.... I bought a 100' spool of chain and had it made into loops so I could swap & go.

Yesterday, I went to cut something and got a bit productive.....I had a couple round files and thought I'd sharpen an old chain. This chain was "dry" bordering being rusted....or maybe I should say oxidized a bit. So it became my guinnea pig.

Used round file, chain on bar, otherwise freehand. (to cut to the end, the chain cut fantastically when I was using it) But my question is, when using round file, do you cut TOWARDS the point of the tooth or do you cut from the backside?

I've always felt you sharpen something cutting INTO the angle and was doing this....then tried some from behind. It was easier and seemed to go faster. (in the end the chain worked so whatever I did was good enough)

Now....RAKERS..... Rakers (if I spelled that correctly) are the bane of my life. Years ago, and one of the reasons I simply bought a ton of new chains) I had a chain "professionally sharpened". Went to cut a tree down that was within distance of hitting the house. I had a new chain on. Tree settled back, pinched bar. I went to house, got second bar, freshly sharpened chain.....and it wouldn't cut melted butter. They neglected the rakers and the cutting adjustment was simply screwed.

Which brings me back to yesterday and seeing those rakers. Not knowing how low to file them, I pulled my 4" grinder out and simply flattened them to the same height as the link attached to them, totally getting rid of the "point".

I really liked how it cut when I was using it. I sort of went nuts cutting some junk from the woods behind the house (clutter) and then walked to the field and cut all the pines that were sprouting next to the trees that I can't mow close enough to get. (pines were anywhere from 12" tall up to 20' tall)

I'm rambling huh! HA!

My real question is which is the best direction to push the file? I still think it's towards the front of the edge rather than from behind.... but I did both and it works fine for my needs. (I don't cut firewood at all, I drag to burn pile and burn everything)

 

[OzKioti]

(1) From behind
(2) Rakers are there to limit the "bite" each tooth takes. Eliminate them, and you might get away with it (depending on the nature of the timber being sawn) or you might be in for unpredictable behaviour of the chain!

 

[ArlyA]

(1) From behind
(2) Rakers are there to limit the "bite" each tooth takes. Eliminate them, and you might get away with it (depending on the nature of the timber being sawn) or you might be in for unpredictable behaviour of the chain!

The rakers are there for safety. Without them saw kickback is much more likely and someone will be eating there running saw. There reduction or filing off is suppose to match the cutting teeth hieght.

 

[newbury]

That's what I see as one of the benefits of the Stihl/Pferd 2-in-1, it takes care of the breakers at the same time.

 

[stuckmotor]

^^^^
I use the Stihl files too. Easy to use and they work very well.

Mike

I seem to get more sharpenings per file with Stihl files than with.any others I've used.

 

[ericm979]

I keep up with the rakers, using a gauge. But when hand filing the rakers don't need attention more than ever 5 or so filings, and very little gets taken off. It doesn't take long to do. Every couple times I do the rakers I reshape them with a file to match the original shape. If you only file down the top the effective depth is not as deep as your gauge would indicate because the tooth attacks the wood at an angle.

I don't see that much value myself in using a tool that does both teeth and rakers.

 

[RalphVa]

The Sthil 2-in1 chain sharpener is about as easy as it gets:

View attachment 691081

Cannot figure out how this thing works. Googled it. No help.

 

[bridge4]

Cannot figure out how this thing works. Googled it. No help.

I'm interested as well, I've seen them, but don't understand them.

 

[japody]

I'm interested as well, I've seen them, but don't understand them.

They are very simple to use, almost intuitive. Works great, fast and simple.

 

[FTG-05]

Any of these should help; there are tons of YT videos on how to use the 2in1 sharpeners.

 

[RalphVa]

Any of these should help; there are tons of YT videos on how to use the 2in1 sharpeners.

Neat that it does the bits in between the teeth at the same time.

 

[RalphVa]

I ordered the Stihl sharpener from Amazon for a tad less than $24. Didn't have a tool for checking filing the depth things in between. Used to have, but I gave all that stuff away when I had to give away my gas powered Stihl.

 

[bridge4]

Any of these should help; there are tons of YT videos on how to use the 2in1 sharpeners.

Thank you!

 

[FTG-05]

Note the white handle in the 2nd video's preview. See that diagram? It shows you how to orient the sharpener relative to the chainsaw. All you have to do then is: go in the direction indicated (see the arrow?), keep it oriented at the same angle as the handles and then keep the sharpener flat and at 90 degrees to the bar. Pretty simple.

 

[ArlyA]

Please do wear gloved while handling or sharpening your chains. The visit to HR and get parts sown back on,, isn't that much fun.

 

[SergLab2018]

I use Stihl either

 

[RalphVa]

Tried the new Stihl sharpener. Like the Dremel better. You can easily see the shiny teeth where it has gone. Cannot easily see where the file has gone. Think the Dremel does a better job.

Does anyone have a good suggestion about how to mark the chain? I've some tailer's chalk that my wife gave me. Not too bad. Have tried white spray paint. A little container of regular, brush-on white paint might work the best. Anything else?

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Does anyone have a good suggestion about how to mark the chain? I've some tailer's chalk that my wife gave me. Not too bad. Have tried white spray paint. A little container of regular, brush-on white paint might work the best. Anything else?

I use a red or blue magic marker to color the rivet heads under one tooth, then sharpen until I see the colored rivets come around again.

One thing I learned the hard way using the Oregon bench grinder is not to take so much off the tooth that it overheats the chain and spoils the temper. I set it up so the wheel hits the stop just as it touches the tooth. Then I give the handle a little shove sideways to take material off. If the steel in the tooth shows blue color after the wheel does its work, that chain won't cut for very long.

 

[CobyRupert]

Tried the new Stihl sharpener. Like the Dremel better. You can easily see the shiny teeth where it has gone. Cannot easily see where the file has gone. Think the Dremel does a better job.

Does anyone have a good suggestion about how to mark the chain? I've some tailer's chalk that my wife gave me. Not too bad. Have tried white spray paint. A little container of regular, brush-on white paint might work the best. Anything else?

I usually count out loud. 17 teeth each “side”. Usually my count matches up so there’s a shiny tooth coming around after #17. I’ve probably sharpened some teeth twice and skipped others. Not a big deal, hand sharpening doesn’t take off too much if you hit it twice,
and if you missed it, you’ll get it next time.
Maybe take 4-5 strokes of the file instead of 3-4 if a tooth looks longer than the others.

Sharpening chains applies the old 80/20 rule. You can put in 20% of the effort and get 80% of the result. To get that last 20% upgrade, you have to put in 80% more effort.
I don’t race saws, and too me it’s it’s not worth extra time and effort when I might hit some barbed wire 2 minutes into my next sawing anyways.

 

[ericm979]

I mark the top of a tooth with magic marker so I know when I've done all the teeth.