chain sharpening

A

acushman

Location
tampa, fl
HELLO, I AM A NEWBY. I WAS HOPING SOMEONE ON THIS SITE COULD GIVE ME SOME ADVISE.
I HAVE BEEN OPERATING A TREE SERVICE FOR 10 YEARS. I HAVE MAINTAINED ALL OF MY EQUIPMENT WITH ONE EXCEPTION.
I CAN NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME SHARPEN A CHAIN. I CAN RIG A 60' OAK OVERHANGING A HOUSE WITHOUT HESITATION. BUT I CAN NOT SHARPEN A F@#*!#@ CHAIN TO CUTT STRAIGHT. IS THYERE ANYONE WITH SOME ADVISE THEY WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH ME? I WOULD LOVE TO GET AWAY FROM THE EXPENCE OF SEWNDING MY CHAINS OUT FOR SHARPENING.
 
Every chain manufacturer has their own recommendations on sharpening chain (angles and files) so the first thing you might want to check is what chain you're using?
 
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HAVE YOU EVER USED A BENCH GRINDER? I BOUGHT A NICE ONE, WITHOUT A OPERATION MANUAL.

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I haven't, either, but I've seen the results of misusing one. If you decide to tackle this device, be careful not to burn the teeth. If you bear down too long on one tooth, it will overheat, lose its temper, and be ruined forever. Lots of short, gentle bursts with the wheel are what you need. Get a depth gauge to make sure the rakers aren't defeating your nice, sharp edge by holding it above the wood.

As for hand filing, if you ain't got it after ten years, I don't know what to tell you. Make sure you use the right size of file. Touching up frequently can help, since you don't have to do as much work (there's less chance of going a long way down the wrong road). I've heard you should touch up every time you refuel, but I don't usually file more than once every two or three tanks (maybe more if I am in some really hard oak or something).

Maybe you haven't really practiced enough even after all this time? You want to get a consistent angle (two, really--the angle across the tooth and the one perpendicular to the bar). I just watch the edge of the tooth. You can see a dark line between the file and the cutting edge that will get narrower as you get closer to having the tooth sharp. This line should be straight and parallel to the tooth edge. Eventually, the line will disappear, a thin flake of steel will come off the tooth, and there you are (STOP!). Avoid digging too deeply into the gullet and also avoid pushing up and out of it (thus making a flat spot at the end of the tooth). I think it comes down to a firm but gentle pressure on the file. If you let the file do the work, it will tend to find the right place.

Rereading that, I see it makes little sense. I return to my best advice: practice a lot, and focus on making each tooth identical. Good luck.

k
 
The cutting "system" all work together. The bar, chain and sprocket all come into play for a straight cut. Check the bar rails for even height, burrs and gouges. The bar rail height has to be even for the chain to cut straight. All cutters should be filed to approx. the same length and angle. The depth gauges should be lowered to .025 with a gauge. The drive sprocket should be changed every 2 to 3 chains. A worn drive sprocket will ruin a new chain in no time. All 3 components will contribute to a chain cutting on a curve.
Once a chain has been sharpened with a grinder, the remainder of the chain will have to sharpened with a grinder as the grinding wheel will temper the steel.
 
If you have problems sharpening a proper chain,just buy an Oregon file guide.Learn to file with it.When you get that down pat,remove the file and do it freehand.
Most people forget that the side cutter does most of the work.If you follow the directions of the chain manufacturer you will be fine.
Get the basics down pat before you try the fancy stuff.Anybody can file a pretty sharp chain with practice.It's so simple even I can do it. /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif
A little tip,the point where the side and top plate meet is the most crucial.Look at a new cutter link and make yours look like it,you can't miss.
 
hey guys,
just thought id add my two cents about sharpening. Alot of people that i know in the industry tend to sharpen without a guide just using the file, and some people even sharpen their 020's with 7/32 files!!
At the end of the day,everyone does it a bit differently,but if your having problems,use a guide.
I dont know how many times ive come to use a saw and the chain has been sharpened badly,the classic banana comes to mind!!
It it is generally because we all have a dominiant side and this means we sharpen more on that side.
So basically, use a guide,all the correct angles eg 30',25' are all on the guide and it will always file to the correct depth if the correct guide is used,some people think guides are for sisys,but at the end of the day, if its sharp and cutting right it makes our job alot easier!!
treekiwi
 
I m a neuborn to the buzz sharpening chains is always a pain especially if there are three of you sharpening the same saws day in day out, if your a climber do your own saw yourself. Then there is no shouting only at yourself, but sure I ll fix it when you need the repairs done to it. I worked as forester back home in Scotland for my local university doing all ground saw operations so sharpening saws and repairing them are my forte, if you want it done right do it yourself. But for those of you who are having problems practice makes perfectness.

Scotty Boy
 
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but as they say,...practice makes perfect!!!

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Correction: Perfect practice makes perfect. You can practice it the wrong way for 10 years, but that won't make you perfect at it. One thing I found helped me when I was starting out to help make the right and left cutters even when I was sharpening in the field was to flip the saw over to sharpen the side my left hand would usually have to do, thus making it so that I could sharpen both left and right cutters with my right hand. I don't get too caught up in counting strokes as much as I pay attention to how each cutter looks, and I try to make them all the same length rather than take the same number of strokes, since not all strokes are equal, especially with your left hand.
 
That little Oregon bar vice is good once you have set right and get the hang of it, had one back home would use it on the 088 chain they cost too much to screw up. Stop you being to heavy handed and ruining the side plates. Yeh no point using a grinder where do you find an electricty supply in the in the middle of a forest. Can anybody tell me where the socket is?, yeh its in that loggers cabin at the bottom of the mountain Sonny Jim, start walking. The best feild companion a good stump vice, and maybe a roller guide from husky even though there are not ment for Stihl Chains apparently. Why is that? something to do with the pitch height/angle I think whatever. 12 years in this industdry and still things confuse me, getting old thats what.

Dreaming Tree

Only if everything in life was perfect.
 
Re: Stupidity

Mark, Can I be student of my own stupidity also, I originally went to the wrong tree college and then moved to the correct one a week later to study my Higher National Diploma in Arboriculture, but luckily i did not cash in my Students loan. But dropped out after the first year and Started to work for Pius Floris in Amsterdam, does that rule as a stundent of stupidy also. Or can there only be one.

Well maybe I can be the Muppet of Stupidity.

Dreaming Tree
 
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... and maybe a roller guide from husky even though there are not ment for Stihl Chains apparently. Why is that? something to do with the pitch height/angle I think whatever.

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They can be modified to work perfectly on Stihl chain with a little judicious filing and a couple of small zip-ties.

There are three factors involved:

- they should be made to ensure that they do not fit too snuggly front-to-back when being placed as this causes either the front or rear of the cutter to rise, thus unpredictably changing the recession angle

- the front slot should be filed deeper, as necessary, to ensure the file is at the proper depth at the start of a new cutter

- the angle at which the top of the cutter recedes is evidently shallower on the Stihl chain, so to prevent the file from going progressively too deep, the rear slots are made shallower by wrapping a small zip-tie around the rear of the guide within each slot; this is a multi-step process with the necessary combination of slot depth + filler combination being arrived-at on a cutter at the end of its life

- naturally, symmetry is necessary between left and right cutters, so the process is doubled

I believe it's worth the time and effort as the results are top-notch. With one such modified roller guide, a chain can be quickly brought back to having cutters with the proper edge geometry in the field after a few freehand filings.

I still contend that absolute uniformity of cutter lengths is not mandatory unless one is racing for money or bragging rights.

Don't forget to use the Husky per-cutter depth gauge guide, which really goes most of the way in making cutter lengths not-too-critical as well as maintaining cutting efficiency throughout the life of the chain much better than the across-multiple-cutters guides do.
 
Many thanks Glens for your useful modifications for the Husky roller guide to adapt them for Stihl Chains, i notice the first area, having the cutter tooth not the same depth is a couple or so millimeters higher in the tooth, and would have to run the file freehand through it to make it the correct cutter depth. Would sometimes feel the chain would lose it cutting edge alot quicker also and would start spitting dust not chips

Glens if you´ve got a digi cam a little photo would be cool just to see the modified Husky roller via attachment if possible.

Pity my chainsaw course trainer never told that when he handed me one back in 95, only known the last four years that they werent ment for Stihl Chains.

Will have to searh my toolbag now for these roller guides.

Dreaming Tree
 
They're nice enough, but not the same thing by a long shot. The Husky roller guides can be used not only to pull the chain 'round the bar, but make an excellent handle for holding the target cutter nice and still. And like I've suggested already, the depth guide gauge Stihl likes to sell pales in comparison to that which Elux is marketing.

It's kind of a shame, really, that the Stihl chain is so much better than the Oregon the Husky bits are made for.
 
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