mikim
Veteran Member
OK -- so where were you when I was spending $100 more for the same !@#$% thing from Baileys?? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif -- but they sure do work --
Chainsaw chain sharpening
- Thread starter sendero
- Start date
- Views: 6645
mikim
Veteran Member
that's OK -- I don't need a top on it as much as you do anyway /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif (watching behind while hoggin' and driving under limbs is tough on hats)
woodmills1
Gold Member
cut as much with a chain saw as I do and two things become clear. that 5 or 6 dollars begins to add up, and more important, I can't stop working to go out and get a chain sharpened after hitting dirt or a rock in the woods. so sharpening is a must. good advice earlier to hit each tooth 2 3 times at each start and refuel. now for the scoop. first you have to use a chainsaw file not a rat tail and it must be sized to your chain, nothing else will do. put a hadle on it or you won't get a good cut. now push the file from the inside to the outside of the teeth don't pull. try it on a lightly used blade so the angle is good to use as a guide. with the saw in front of me motor close and bar away I sharpen the teeth on the left from the right side of the bar. the the ones on the right from the left side of the bar. righties and lefties will be better at one side or the other. I use my right hand to push and my left as a guide with the file lightly riding on it. sharpen all the teeth that are on one side at the top of the bar then rotate the chain untill the whole thing is sharp. the do all the teeth on the otherside. you don't have to push hard or fast using just a little down pressure. mor light passes are better than one heavy one. the entire curved part and the complete cutting edge should be shiny. rotate the file after each cut.
now most important WEAR GLOVES. DO IT YES saw chain will bite you bad in 2 seconds and you will bleed profusley. I know this you won't be happy.
now most important WEAR GLOVES. DO IT YES saw chain will bite you bad in 2 seconds and you will bleed profusley. I know this you won't be happy.
Spencer
Veteran Member
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I hate to tell ya, but I think you got ripped off on that hat too /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>
sendero, that actually made me laugh out loud! Thanks
sendero, that actually made me laugh out loud! Thanks
cowboydoc
Super Member
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Like all things it requires a touch and a feel. Not everybody can be a machinist, roper, quarterback, mechanic, etc. Everybody has their gifts. Not everybody can sharpen a chainsaw chain. Certainly to get good you first have to see what good is. The only way to do that is to get with somebody that can sharpen a chainsaw chain. Learn from them and repeat what they do. If you don't get it right go get another lesson. That is really the only way you are going to master it.
knucklehead
Platinum Member
Sendero, you made wifey spit watermelon on me! She was sitting here making fun of my measly post tally and asking me why I wasn't so manly as Mr.XXXXX and Mr.YYYYYY (funny, she was really ticked when the new windows and siding weren't getting put up last year), and laughing at the funny profile pics, when you popped up with the hat thing. Watermelon is sticky.
knucklehead
Platinum Member
I was waiting for Woodmills to pop up, and I defer to his wisdom, as I am only a brush clearer and 10 cord +/- firewood cutter. But I also couldn't help but notice Egon had a nice, concise (can you teach me that?) post of very pertinent info, which I second from my experience:
<font color="blue">Never let the chain get a glaze on it. Tighten it well before sharpening [even overtight so you don't round the edges] and touch up often. Like at each fuel refill as mentioned. When cutting don't force the saw to make a cut.
When you have a fresh sharpened saw on the blade check out the angles with a file so you can repeat them later. When filing always use a straight stroke and work at a convenient height. </font>
Get comfortable - if you get the saw at roughly elbow height, you will find the stroke of the file is naturally straight, and the file itself has less tendency to roll over the bar like a rainbow. I also notice things go much better when the chain isn't trying to roll away from my file stroke, so the tension is checked first on my saw, too (but not over tight - it's too hard to roll the blade, and that's how I get cut, even through the gloves). The left side is the one I fight rolling the bar or chain, because I am pushing the saw over in it's unstable direction. They make bar clamps you can drive into stumps, and my Father made one by welding a sharpened piece of bar stock onto a C-clamp. I was thinking of a simple piece of 4x4, maybe 12" long, with a saw cut part way into it - the bar would have to be lifted to advance the chain, but it's simple and I wouldn't have to drive that spike into my tailgate /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
<font color="blue">Never let the chain get a glaze on it. Tighten it well before sharpening [even overtight so you don't round the edges] and touch up often. Like at each fuel refill as mentioned. When cutting don't force the saw to make a cut.
When you have a fresh sharpened saw on the blade check out the angles with a file so you can repeat them later. When filing always use a straight stroke and work at a convenient height. </font>
Get comfortable - if you get the saw at roughly elbow height, you will find the stroke of the file is naturally straight, and the file itself has less tendency to roll over the bar like a rainbow. I also notice things go much better when the chain isn't trying to roll away from my file stroke, so the tension is checked first on my saw, too (but not over tight - it's too hard to roll the blade, and that's how I get cut, even through the gloves). The left side is the one I fight rolling the bar or chain, because I am pushing the saw over in it's unstable direction. They make bar clamps you can drive into stumps, and my Father made one by welding a sharpened piece of bar stock onto a C-clamp. I was thinking of a simple piece of 4x4, maybe 12" long, with a saw cut part way into it - the bar would have to be lifted to advance the chain, but it's simple and I wouldn't have to drive that spike into my tailgate /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
knucklehead
Platinum Member
Action item report:
I just got back from my dealer, 15 miles west of here and worth driving by the other shops along the way. Turns out that overheating is the big cause of fast dulling, as MarkV mentioned - takes all the temper out of the chain. His opinion is that overheating pretty much ruins a chain, as it makes for more frequent sharpenings which reduces life significantly. Buying bulk chain and making your own, machine filing, rotating chains are fine, but he takes a simple approach (which is why I like him) - keep it cool, stop when the chain says it's time (not always when the gas runs out), and a hand file with good comfortable rest is all we need. He also says hit the rakers with two good, full flat file strokes when the saw is half used and it will be O.K..
Sendero, I'd keep filing if you like it. I like hand work, as it seems you do. You probably know to use new files. I rotate my file in the holder once in a while so I'm not using just one spot on each side (right and left). I wrap it in an oily shop rag to keep it dry and away from banging into other metal stuff in the box.
Does anyone flip their bar every so often? I never did it until I got the manual with the new saw, and it makes sense, so I do it every 6-8 tanks of gas (book says 8 hours). They say it keeps the bar from developing a dip where the cuts are made frequently. Woodmills?
I just got back from my dealer, 15 miles west of here and worth driving by the other shops along the way. Turns out that overheating is the big cause of fast dulling, as MarkV mentioned - takes all the temper out of the chain. His opinion is that overheating pretty much ruins a chain, as it makes for more frequent sharpenings which reduces life significantly. Buying bulk chain and making your own, machine filing, rotating chains are fine, but he takes a simple approach (which is why I like him) - keep it cool, stop when the chain says it's time (not always when the gas runs out), and a hand file with good comfortable rest is all we need. He also says hit the rakers with two good, full flat file strokes when the saw is half used and it will be O.K..
Sendero, I'd keep filing if you like it. I like hand work, as it seems you do. You probably know to use new files. I rotate my file in the holder once in a while so I'm not using just one spot on each side (right and left). I wrap it in an oily shop rag to keep it dry and away from banging into other metal stuff in the box.
Does anyone flip their bar every so often? I never did it until I got the manual with the new saw, and it makes sense, so I do it every 6-8 tanks of gas (book says 8 hours). They say it keeps the bar from developing a dip where the cuts are made frequently. Woodmills?