not sharpened correctly, outta the box?

[Mad Professor]

I'm sick of this whining $#!t!!!

I grew using a file, the end jabbed into a a stick. That is a file/handle.

I learned that gloves were good when the file slipped.

I learned how to hand file without any nit whit device.

I can take a 7/32 file, put it in a 1 1/2" wood , for handle, and make a 3/8 chain sharp

If you can't make a chain sharp,you are dumb/not learned.

Give me a bare file, and I can make a chain "sharp"

 

[Philbert]

Lots of issues here:

'Correctly' = what? To the angles that you prefer? To a super fine edge?

Cutter angles can be optimized for different species of wood, different power saws, speed vs. longevity, etc. Manufacturers have to 'guess' who is going to use the chain, so they default to general purpose angles, like 30°/60°/0°. Might not be what you want. Might have to change the angles to your preference

If they make the edges 'too sharp', they will be fragile and might get damaged while bouncing around in shipping: same reason many woodworking tools are shipped without the 'final honing'. Your chain might need a 'touch-up'.

Inconsistent cutters I have no justification for. That is part of quality control, and why folks buy STIHL and Oregon chain over other brands. Should be consistent metallurgy; consistent edges; consistent quality overall. Each cutter should be the same, and they should be consistent loop-to-loop.

Out-of-the-box ('OOB') performance is a term I hear a lot lately, and is pretty funny, unless you throw chains away like razor blades. If I can't duplicate a factory cutter profile with my tools (files, grinder, etc.) it is of limited value. Most folks get 3, 6, 12 sharpenings out of a chain (depending on how they use it, how they sharpen, and what they count as a 'sharpening), so my ability to maintain an edge is more important to me than OOB, but I do expect consistency.

Philbert

 

[HarleyT]

If they make the edges 'too sharp', they will be fragile and might get damaged while bouncing around in shipping: same reason many woodworking tools are shipped without the 'final honing'. Your chain might need a 'touch-up

Do you mean a more sharp angle, or not a sharp edge?

 

[HarleyT]

If the latter, how could one do that?

 

[Philbert]

If they make the edges 'too sharp', they will be fragile and might get damaged while bouncing around in shipping: same reason many woodworking tools are shipped without the 'final honing'. Your chain might need a 'touch-up
Do you mean a more sharp angle, or not a sharp edge?

If the latter, how could one do that?

If the bevel angle is too fine / acute (e.g. like a razor blade), or polished to a very fine edge, there is little metal left and it is easily damaged.
If the angle is wider / more obtuse, the edge will not be as easily damaged. A pass or 2 with a sharp file will let the user put final bevels on each cutter edge.

Philbert

 

[HarleyT]

So you would gring it with a steeper hook then?

 

[HarleyT]

I understand the principal, but does any chain maker do that?

 

[HarleyT]

Like in this graphic, next to last drawing, you would make it say %80?

 

[HarleyT]

I though that you were somehow going to make the top edge not as sharp/dull with a machine somehow.

 

[HarleyT]

I just noticed the crescent etched in the side for a guide. Never noticed it before..

 

[Westboastfaller]

'

View attachment 759087

Like in this graphic, next to last drawing, you would make it say %80?

"Correctly" = manufacturers specs.
That's training wheels.

If In slashing or falling softwoods then I want approx 80% of the file under the top plate.
I wouldn't file up 10° either. It's aggressive on the Western Hemlock but you learn tricks around it. That's what the Red Cedar likes. If I'm not limbing, brushing or cutting Cedar but mainly just felling with the dogs then I'll tillt it up in the corner.
It's nice and smooth and you are no longer chomping through any wood.
Like Philbert said, it's power as well. It's all different when you are doing angled felling cuts with the dogs. That's where that 10° up really helps.
I use 3/8 7/32 file Oregon chain mostly
and use 3/16, 13/16, & 1/4 files with it as well. I use the 1/4" file on a new chain when I was on sites with all Maple & cottonwood and had a excavator raking the ground for me and pushing trees.
No limbing or bucking. That's when I get to spoil myself for a short while and file the best for felling with the dogs with nothing else in mind.
Other than that you have to file for the majority (loosely speaking) it's really has to work for everything.
I have pointed people out for cookie cutting and chomping through their wood but 80% of my time then I've had to do that. There is only one difference. I know the difference. It's not about ripping your arm of all day and heel pounding your bar rails and throwing big chips free hand and ultimately destroying you hands.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Once I have this round stuff down, I am going to move it up a notch to the SQUARE stuff. It is all in the quest for knowledge and experience

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but going from round to square isn't moving up "a notch". It's more like moving up seven notches and doing it backwards to boot. Not saying you shouldn't try it, or that you won't get some good results (someday), just that getting good at round filing is much more useful.

 

[old guy]

My square files are all just raker files now, my simington showed me how bad my square fileing was.