Chain sharpening difference?

[dodge man]

I have a Stihl MS250 and a 261. The 261 is a pro saw and noticeably more power than the 250. For whatever reason the 250 chain throws better chips and is sharper. They are both using the green safety chain, I use the same tools to sharpen them but do use the 261 more. It’s not like the 261 is throwing sawdust but there is a difference.

Before I came in the house I checked the rakers on both. If anything the rakers on the 250 are just a tad higher but both look good using the Stihl gauge. I generally sharpen the chains after each tank of fuel. Usually 2 to 3 stroke of the file per tooth. The chain on the 250 is worn more than the 261 but both have a lot of life.

Any ideas?

 

[airbiscuit]

Buy a chisel chain

 

[Dan Hunter]

Are you bringing down the depth gauge or at least checking it between substantive sharpenings? If not, yes, the chain will progressively take less of a bite. I use the size of the chip to determine whether I need to drop the depth gauge.

 

[airbiscuit]

Some on the Arborist site say that a worn chain cuts faster, but there is no real consensus. They do seem to agree that racing chains are ground back pretty far however.

 

[Dan Hunter]

I'll delete this at anyone's request but I believe:

A dull or improperly sharpened chain will run hot.
A hot chain will stretch.
A stretched chain will wear the drive sprocket.
The whole thing gets expensive.

 

[dodge man]

I usually check the rakers every sharpening but not every one, just a few. I may need to check every raker.

 

[airbiscuit]

I took my little top handle chainsaw chain into my dealer for one last sharpening. He h=just shook his head.

 

[ericm979]

Do both saw use the same type of chain? I think they both ship with .325 chain in many markets in the US but not all.

 

[Dan Hunter]

I took my little top handle chainsaw chain into my dealer for one last sharpening. He h=just shook his head.

View attachment 2664554

I'd rather listen to Taylor Swift than look at that.

 

[dodge man]

Do both saw use the same type of chain? I think they both ship with .325 chain in many markets in the US but not all.

Pretty sure yes.

 

[Jstpssng]

I took my little top handle chainsaw chain into my dealer for one last sharpening. He h=just shook his head.

View attachment 2664554

I was running a chain with 7 teeth left back in my R/W management days but the foreman told me to keep cutting; he had to go make a phone call. He hadn't gotten one pole toward the truck when the tip blew up... only time that I have ever lost a bar.

 

[IXLR8]

I'd rather listen to Taylor Swift than look at that.

For me, there is NO reason to ever listen to Taylor Swift.

 

[5030]

Who is Taylor Swift?

On the subject of one loop cuts better than another that is equal in sharpness....

Bar rock has a lot to do with how a chain cuts. If the bar lacks sufficient rock, it won't present the cutters (no matter how sharp they are or how the rakers are set) in an aggressive manner so the tooth can cut into the wood. Bar rock diminishes as the bar wears and all bars wear and wear out eventually, fact of life.

 

[5030]

I never hand file any chain, ever, All my loops are machine sharpened. Machine sharpening (if done correctly) yield a very uniform cutter tooth and I machine grind (set) my rakers as well. Only tooth profile you cannot machine grind is a square tooth chipper but I doubt many if anyone on here runs square tooth chipper. I don't, never have. Square tooth chipper is really for hopped up saws anyway as it requires some serious power to run efficiently.

 

[Topzide]

I took my little top handle chainsaw chain into my dealer for one last sharpening. He h=just shook his head.

View attachment 2664554

There is a line on the tooth that shows where you can sharpen too. You can go past that line if you wish, but if you are having them sharpened, they won't go past that line.
The nice thing when sharpening by a chain grinding sharpener is that you'll get even tooth grind. That helps make even cuts and prevent drifting cuts. Have sharpened many a loop of chain and always check the makers and file the back for better cut as the chain wears.

 

[airbiscuit]

I know that chain was on it's last gasp. That's my trail cutting saw, so I'm often cutting stumps off on the ground. Here's what I use to sharepen my chains in between dealer sharpenings. It keeps my cutters and rakers in fighting trim

 

[Topzide]

For what it's worth, the HF chain sharpener doesn't do a bad job. If you take the time to adjust it properly, you'll get a good sharpening out of it.
I've used the Dremel chain sharpener when we were buried under down trees from a hurricane! Didn't need a large inverter to run it at the truck, and of course, the power was out for a week!

 

[John_Mc]

I hand-sharpen all of my chains. It's easy to beat the performance of the typical hardware store flunky using the store's chain grinder. I also don't have to deal with the aftermath of a ham-fisted grinder operator who overheated the cutters or depth gauges to the point where they air-hardened, and I destroy files trying to hand file them while working in the woods. (Many of the real chainsaw shops around here - with owners who actually knew how to operate a grinder properly - went out of business years ago.)

With a bit of practice, it's not hard to beat the performance of new chain fresh out of the box. (It's surprising to me how many brand new chains are not sharpened to the manufacturer's own spec.)

I owned an Oregon grinder for about a year (I think it was their model 520?) I eneded up selling it and going back to hand-sharpening. I could get acceptable performance out of chains I sharpened on grinder, and it was certainly faster than hand sharpening, especially if I was cleaning up rock damage or sharpening multiple chains. However, I found I could get better performance out of my hand sharpened chains.

I also appreciate the break that stopping to hand sharpen a chain forces me to take. I find I'll often get caught up in the work when using a chainsaw and not notice how tired/hungry/thirsty I'm getting. However, no matter how involved I am in the work, I'll immediately notice a chain starting to lose it's edge.When I stop to hand-sharpen is when I'll notice tht I'm dehydrated or need to stop of lunch.

I'm not doing this to make a living, and I don't have someone on an expensive piece of equipment following me that I need to worry about keeping productively occupied. So I can afford to stop and take a little time to sharpen, rather than just doing a quick chain swap.

 

[5030]

The inherent issue with manual sharpening is, being human, you cannot hold the cutting angles and gullet depth consistently across every cutter. You think you can, but in reality you cannot simply because of the human factor.

Far as grinding loops. I never use the red stone wheels, in fact I gave them away a long time ago I use aluminum rimmed CBN Cubic Boron Nitride wheels that never need dressing, just an infrequent cleaning with a soft white carborundum stone so the radius on the wheel is always constant and the radius determines the gullet profile. When machine grinding, gullet depth and profile stays consistent on both the right and left side cutters as well, you cannot obtain that when hand sharpening, it's not possible simply because you cannot exert the same pressure each tooth, don't care what you assume, you cannot. Called the human factor. I grind a ton of chains for others and I don't overheat the cutters ever, in fact, using CBN wheels, it's not almost impossible to overheat the cutters no matter how ham fisted the operator is.

Whatever blows your dress up is fine with me. I know what works in my situation and consequently, I do it.

I always maintain that the difference between a good running saw and one that isn't, lies in the condition of the chain loop and the rock of the bar to a lesser extent.

 

[repete]

A good source of information here:

Chainsaw Tips & Tricks | Madsen's Shop

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