Square filing. Who has tried, and given up?

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parrisw said:
Nice work! Here is an idea for ya. I might try one of these myself since I got one of those file guides. Where you have the set screw, use a set screw on either side then you can just adjust to center, instead of trying to find a suitable spacer. I think I may turn up some nice pieces in my lathe instead of using a piece of pipe.
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Good idea Will!
 
It's not a big deal to convert one. I'm just trying to get peoples creative juices flowing. I mean if you want to learn to square file but are having trouble figuring out all the angles, and being consistant. Well, where there's a will there's a way. Manufacturers charge a lot of money for square filing jig's, when you could invest $20 and 30 minutes of time and be on the road to learning to file. :cheers:

Andy
 
redprospector said:
That's a pretty good idea, may just have to try it. :cheers:
I know it's ugly as sin, but I was trying to make it out of stuff that about anybody has laying around, or could easily get. With a lathe you could make a really nice jig for square filing. I was just showing that it dosen't have to be pretty, or professionally built to work.

Andy
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Exactly. I wasn't hacking down your work at all. I think I'll go pick up some round stock and turn a couple out on the lathe, who knows maybe I'll make up a bunch if anybody is interested.

AUSSIE1 said:
Good idea Will!
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Thanks AL.
 
Nice bodge Andy.

I'll dig up the pics of that nicely machined conversion, a few people on this thread have lathes and mills too (Will ?)
I think they are still in the filing forum.
 
parrisw said:
Exactly. I wasn't hacking down your work at all. I think I'll go pick up some round stock and turn a couple out on the lathe, who knows maybe I'll make up a bunch if anybody is interested.



Thanks AL.
Click to expand...

Hahaha. Well, as bad as I hate to admit it this little jig could be hacked on pretty easy.
I just don't want to detur anyone without a lathe from making something like it. I've herd people say things like; Well, if I had a machine shop in my garage I might try it. Or I'll have to find someone with a lathe to turn this for me, and then never do anything. There's nothing but redneck in this one.

I would like to see some pic's of yours when you get her spun up. :cheers:

Andy
 
redprospector said:
Hahaha. Well, as bad as I hate to admit it this little jig could be hacked on pretty easy.
I just don't want to detur anyone without a lathe from making something like it. I've herd people say things like; Well, if I had a machine shop in my garage I might try it. Or I'll have to find someone with a lathe to turn this for me, and then never do anything. There's nothing but redneck in this one.

I would like to see some pic's of yours when you get her spun up. :cheers:

Andy
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ya, I'll surely post em up, I work full time, so my home projects sometimes go slow, but I don't think this will be too hard to do.
 
Here's my adaptation of the square filing jig I made back in 2008.
attachment.php


More pics here.

It works very well but I now rarely use sq ground chain.
 
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tdi-rick said:
Thanks Bob, you've found the thread Will and I were trying to find :cheers:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=69509
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Ya, that's great, I had a look. I couldn't find it.

I went through that thread, and as good as that looks, I think we can do it simpler without reworking the whole guide, would be nice to make something that anybody and just stick in their guide and their off to the races. As nice as those alu uprights are, I don't think its necessary. I'll try and get on it this week.
 
parrisw said:
Ya, that's great, I had a look. I couldn't find it.

I went through that thread, and as good as that looks, I think we can do it simpler without reworking the whole guide, would be nice to make something that anybody and just stick in their guide and their off to the races. As nice as those alu uprights are, I don't think its necessary. I'll try and get on it this week.
Click to expand...

Great pics parrisw, can the jig be tilted down for the required angle?

I gave up on the goofy filing and tried sq. again. I can't quite keep the corner in the corner and either end up with a serious side beak or create a top beak that erodes away the working corner, but man can you ever get a sharp, thin top plate.

It's almost impossible for me to sq. on the bar without a vise and even my Oregon chain vise doesn't allow me to tilt the file down low enough.

It makes me wonder sometimes why I'm wasting my time with this sq. filing when RF is so quick to do and pretty darn fast. I think it's only because it's a challenge and I don't want to be undone by a saw or it's chain. Lol
Gypo
 
I know what you mean. I don't want to let a few little pieces of metal beat me.
 
mdavlee said:
I know what you mean. I don't want to let a few little pieces of metal beat me.
Click to expand...
Before I got out of bed this morning I was visualizing SQF and envisioned that I had to hold 4 different angles, then after my first coffee I could only see three angles, lol

Regardless, it's well nigh impossible to hold 3 angles exactly all the time while appling the required pressure on those angle. I think the trick is to not be too critical of our efforts while trying to do your best at the same time. At least 10% of the cutters are perfect. How long they stay sharp is a whole different matter.
John
 
I'm always trying to talk myself out of SQF in favour of RF, which isn't hard to do.
If a perfect SQF is only 20% faster than a perfect RF and I can RF an almost perfect chain in 90 seconds and a much less perfect SQF in 15 minutes, what's the point? It's a false economy. I just like the look of a perfect SQF cutter, regardless of how slow and frustrating SQF is.
GGRRRRRR.
John
 
I know I might file some chains and make some more videos this afternoon. It's already 85 and going to 95 today with humidity up over 90% so I won't be doing much outside today.
 
An almost perfect chain in 90 secs?

I agree with that. It would only take one pass with a new file.

Round filling can be very quick to do.

My round chisel is at least as fast as say the Husky square out of the box.

I may have missed it, but how much faster are we expecting out of a properly sharpened square over a Husky square out of the box?
 

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