Hand filing seems like alot of work and time with varied results to me. most people "average people"who dont have a grinder take their chains to a shop to have them ground. If you get your own grinder you save time, money, and your chains will last longer once your good at it. and you wont run a dull chain ever.
Can you use only a hand file the whole life of the chain? I think you need a fresh start once in awhile, and touch up with a file. And most aint running their saw in a hot saw comp. a grinder makes em good and sharp. I think you could master a grinder before you could master hand fileing. and the files cost money....... I love my grinder!!!
I think you're the only one who understand what I'm trying to say.
I didn't mean to discredit hand filing.
I'm just trying to point out that the averager guys get more consistent sharp chains using a grinder than hand filing.
It just all depends on the person.
Anybody can use a grinder, know the settings, and get the chains sharp.
But not anybody can pick up a file and consistently make all the tooth sharp.
My dad for example, he is a natural born sharpener.
We often go steelhead fishing together. While wading in the river he would just reach down and pick up any rock from the river and hone his damaged hook tip to factory sharpness.
I have a specialized diamond file that I used to carry which was made specially for filing fishing hooks but I couldn't get my damaged hooks nearly as sharp as his caveman style. It's a reality so dealt with it and I just carry extra leader and replaced my hooks instead of resharpen them.
Then the knifes. He just use a simple water stone and gets all of our knifes sharp as razors.
My mom's friends refuse to pick up a knife when they come over. Because they never had such sharp knifes and they easily cut themselves so much the point that they refuse to help out with the cutting part of cooking.
His filet knifes are ridiculously sharp. I swear they're sharp as razors because he always sharpens them and test the sharpness on his arm hair. Piss me off everytime I use it because I would go right through the salmon backbone and not even know it.
Me, my brother, my friends, and almost everybody I know just can't get any metal blades sharp like my dad's.
My dad's friend had to go out and purchased a $300 electric knife sharpener inorder to compete with my dad's hand technique.
