Saw chain out the box

Chris Schultz

Chris Schultz

Carpal tunnel level member
Location
Minturn
I’ve been wondering this for awhile, not sure if it’s just my eyes, me, an illusion, or my technique….. When you pull a brand new chain out of the box, the angle of the tooth does not match that of the etched line on the back of said tooth. Am I imagining things?
 
You are right. Not every chain does it, and of course some chains don't have reference marks at all such as Woodland Pro (I personally like having them) but here is an out of the box Oregon 72EXL chain I was touching up tonight:

Not sure why it is that way honestly, maybe someone can tell both of us. The chain seems to come at 25* but the reference line seems to be 30*.

000 chain angle.jpg
 
This is exactly what I’m talking about! Right or wrong I try and commit/maintain to that factory angle for the first few filings, then I default to the guideline…..
 
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Interesting. It makes me wonder how critical the angle is for getting the chain to cut well. I guess there are different degrees of "cutting well" too. For bucking a log, if the saw cuts quickly from only the weight of the saw, IMO that's cutting well. If I have to push, I stop and touch up the chain.
 
Many years ago I attended a session taught by an engineer from Oregon chain. Most of the video clips were made in a lab with high speed photos and then used to illustrate various points.

He had comparison vids of various cutting edge angles across the recommended angles for various chain configurations. In the end the differences in data would interest an engineer in a lab but never a sawyer in the field. Pick an angle within the specs for your chain and keep the tooth sharp and attend to depth gauges and you're good to go.
 
The vids that the Oregon engineer used were all in the lab. Very scientific.

Bar and chain mounted on a hydraulic drive motor and down pressure was hydraulic and programmed.

The wood samples were all straight grain, no knots, round pieces chucked in a fixture

There were recordable meter readings all over. All with the goal to isolate cutting angle, in this case, as the ONE variable.

Like I said, in these pristine conditions the difference in energy input with more power or more down pressure didn't change the cut rate to any appreciable difference.

This engineer put to rest a LOT of myths about chain sharpening that are still repeated. This was one of the most educational chainsaw classes I ever attended.
 
Tom Dunlap said:
The vids that the Oregon engineer used were all in the lab. Very scientific.

Bar and chain mounted on a hydraulic drive motor and down pressure was hydraulic and programmed.

The wood samples were all straight grain, no knots, round pieces chucked in a fixture

There were recordable meter readings all over. All with the goal to isolate cutting angle, in this case, as the ONE variable.

Like I said, in these pristine conditions the difference in energy input with more power or more down pressure didn't change the cut rate to any appreciable difference.

This engineer put to rest a LOT of myths about chain sharpening that are still repeated. This was one of the most educational chainsaw classes I ever attended.
Click to expand...

I'd love to see a video of that testing and results, most chain testing videos online have way too many human variables to be truly scientific. That said, we all know what a sharp and not so sharp (or dull) chain feels like and preforms like, so at the end of the day the 'in the hand feel' is what matters.

I hand file, round, do 30*, .025 rakers, aim for good consistent tooth profile across the chain and just keep it sharp. Nothing fancy. Like you are pointing to, staying on top of the sharpening in general is far more important than the minor details of what makes up that sharp tooth. (although some things make a big difference, such as too low rakers making a grabby chain)
 
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