Sharpening, necessary or just picky?

[Lightning Performance]

View attachment 1120686
recently, i sharpened chain on one of my saws... and quickly took a 'b4' pix to mark the event. posted it and got a few encouraging comments!

That's not any cutter. That's an old shovel

 

[Lightning Performance]

I can tell you it sure wasnt an enjoyable experience and made me question my decision to stop paying someone else to do it for me. I had 3 chains left for my 440 and did them going the right direction last night. It went much better. I guess we all have that dumb ass moment sooner or later.

Do square. Your were headed in the right direction for that

 

[Okie]

I hand sharpen and use them type chains.
I mostly use them type chains for clearing fence rows and cutting close to the ground suing a Poulan, instead of my good saws..
No great loss when you ruin one that is on it's last leg and mostly already worn out.

 

[Fireman Bill]

I learn something everyday and Ive Been cutting for 40 years. One thing I do know is I’ll keep each tooth about the same length because its harder on the bar if you don’t. A sharp file, good light and touch the chain up every tank of gas. A couple strokes every tank will be easier on your saw and takes less time. Pay attention to the very top of the cutter when the file is in it. Th file needs o sharpen all the way to the top. That’s one of the most common problems I see.

 

[fields_mj]

Hand filed today. Doubt it was ever on my grinder. Nothing is even and it cuts straight.View attachment 1121095

That's pretty impressive. Some cutters have half their life left, and others are almost at the end of theirs. I'm sure there's a reason behind it. I just haven't seen a chain with that much variation in the cutters before.

 

[Lightning Performance]

That's pretty impressive. Some cutters have half their life left, and others are almost at the end of theirs. I'm sure there's a reason behind it. I just haven't seen a chain with that much variation in the cutters before.

Wire fence will do that and stones in the bark. The 72dl loops could care less when bucking.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

THIS!!!!

When you're doing your depth gauges (aka drag links/rakers), use a gauge to check after every stroke. It won't take long before you develop a feel for how many strokes to take. Most gages are made so that you can put them on the link, and then file it flush. Personally, I hate doing that. It seems like the gage is always either in my way, or falling off. On that note, once you develop a feel for how many strokes to take, and how much pressure to use, you'll do one entire side of the chain and then go back and check it.

If you're running a smaller saw, it's better to err on the side of caution with your depth gages. A 50cc saw will pull an 18" bar with the depth gages at 0.020" just fine. It won't pull into the wood as much, and might feel a little slow, but it will still cut fine. If you go the other direction and have them at 0.030" you might find that the saw is a real pain in the rear to run. It will run okay with the bar buried, but when the bar is only into 6" to 8" of wood (and under) it might seem like it wants to grab as soon as the first tooth makes contact. If that happens to you, find a 7 tooth drive rim and run that until the chain has been sharpened enough to resolve the issue.

Conversely, if you're running the same bar and chain on a 60cc or 70cc saw, you can drop those depth gages to 0.035"-0.040" and the saw will still pull it regardless. The saw will pull HARD into the wood, throw big chips, and cut FAST. The problem here can be cutting little stuff (limbing). The chain can be so grabby that it's easy for the saw to throw the chain on little stuff. I run my 036 saws this way with 18" bars. I use them mainly for bucking firewood, and its a great setup. I use an 024 or 026 with the same bar and chain for limbing, but I set everything to the mfg recommendations.

good advice!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I learn something everyday and Ive Been cutting for 40 years. One thing I do know is I’ll keep each tooth about the same length because its harder on the bar if you don’t. A sharp file, good light and touch the chain up every tank of gas. A couple strokes every tank will be easier on your saw and takes less time. Pay attention to the very top of the cutter when the file is in it. Th file needs o sharpen all the way to the top. That’s one of the most common problems I see.

.

 

[Jakoball]

I got this chain on a used saw recently. The thing never saw a round file. Can't say if the guy was filing the top of the tooth with a flat file or he was cutting stone with this

 

[scottr]

I got this chain on a used saw recently. The thing never saw a round file. Can't say if the guy was filing the top of the tooth with a flat file or he was cutting stone with this

I would guess that chain was sharpened on one of the oregon attachments that sharpen their specialty chain . The name might be power sharp .

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Agreed, it could be that someone used an Oregon PowerSharp on a standard chain, not understanding the side cutters on normal chain also need sharpening and PowerSharp doesn't do that. As suggested it could also be flat-filing the tops, I've heard of doing that to save pennies at the expense of dollars.

PowerSharp chain is very different from standard chain so that it can be sharpened via the system, and chains also costs about 2x the normal chain price.

 

[rtrsam]

Agreed, it could be that someone used an Oregon PowerSharp on a standard chain, not understanding the side cutters on normal chain also need sharpening and PowerSharp doesn't do that. As suggested it could also be flat-filing the tops, I've heard of doing that to save pennies at the expense of dollars.

PowerSharp chain is very different from standard chain so that it can be sharpened via the system, and chains also costs about 2x the normal chain price.
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Many years ago (1970's) Sears Craftsman saws had what they called "barracuda" chain, a top sharp system like that. Had a little retractable curved stone built into the clutch cover. Idea was, you'd rev the saw, twist the stone into the cutters a little, throw some sparks, and go back to work with a sharp chain, It sort of worked, kind of, not real well. As stated, it did nothing to the side cutters. Later I started using a clamp on file guide, and learned what a truly sharp chain could do. I learned, the best way to learn how to sharpen a chain saw is to use a dull one for awhile, then go to a sharp chain.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

I've been teaching myself how to hand file and made a couple mistakes. Suffice to say the chain is grabby now and obviously needs to be corrected.

I've been using a different chain now and through touch ups I can see an improvement so now I want to fix the other one

The teeth need go be equalized, im not saying I don't want to sit here for hours with a micrometer and a 5x glass trying to get everything perfect, im just asking what my tolerance is.

Can't find this information anywhere. Same with tge drags, 0.025. Ok ±what though?

Does everyone just use a guide? Do you only balance pairs instead of the whole chain and if so what s the threshold for that?

Attached pica for reference, it's not fubar'd, just has an inconsistent jerky pull to it

Thanks in advance

For most people, a simple guide will give much better, quicker and more consistent results, especially when you’re fatigued from cutting or you just want to get the job done and maintain a set angle without much thought.

 

[serdie]

For most people, a simple guide will give much better, quicker and more consistent results, especially when you’re fatigued from cutting or you just want to get the job done and maintain a set angle without much thought.

I actually have one of those saws in running condition. The sharpener is junk. I put a new chipper chain on it and it cuts pretty good for a throw away saw.