Winchester356
ArboristSite Operative
I can get it a little sharper with the 13/64 and thats what Stihl recomends. What your preference?
13/64 file vs 7/32 file on 3/8 Stihl chain
- Thread starter Winchester356
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My preference is a sharp chain...whatever it takes.
I do it this way
switch to the 13/64 th for the last 1/4 of the tooth.
switch to the 13/64 th for the last 1/4 of the tooth.
lefturnfreek
Sharpen the chain, chuck chips ...repeat...
I like a little more hook on my chain and use 3/16ths on 3/8 chain until the last 1-2 sharpening then I grab the tiny 5/32ths and then the chain is for stumps only.
The other half of the scenario is getting the rakers rights and I leave that up to a Husky raker gauge and use the hard side only as the added hook will make you chain flat out rip big chips.
I find it sharpens up a bit quicker and flat out cuts beautifully for a long time but you can't be stuffing it in the dirt as it will ding up that fine edge really quickly.
...so ya think your saw has big power eh, take a 5/32th gauge and pop in a 3/16th file and use the soft side of a Husky gauge....and get back to me....
The other half of the scenario is getting the rakers rights and I leave that up to a Husky raker gauge and use the hard side only as the added hook will make you chain flat out rip big chips.
I find it sharpens up a bit quicker and flat out cuts beautifully for a long time but you can't be stuffing it in the dirt as it will ding up that fine edge really quickly.
...so ya think your saw has big power eh, take a 5/32th gauge and pop in a 3/16th file and use the soft side of a Husky gauge....and get back to me....
I use both, usually prefer 7/32 but depends on condition of chain. I don't see much difference, just a slightly bigger gullet if thats what its called. Seems like it cuts a bit faster when there is more room and a moderate C shape where you file.
Locust Cutter
Sawing for Sanity
X2. I tend to run my rakers down a bit more than stock, UNLESS, I'm cutting Hedge, then I run the stock raker setting as Hedge can be nasty and the more aggressive it is, the more quickly it goes dull. Especially when one finds the ubiquitous old barbed-wire nail or staple hanger...
colson04
ArboristSite Operative
So...could you elaborate on how this will affect your chain and how it cuts? I'm new to hand filing chains and have always just used the 7/32 file for 3/8 chain. I don't know much about how the diameter of the file or the hard/soft side of the husky gauge affects the chain and how it cuts.
lefturnfreek
Sharpen the chain, chuck chips ...repeat...
In a nut shell it would make it very aggressive.
All dimensions and angles have to be the same left to right and all play a part in how the chain cuts.
Heres the file above the top of the tooth and the holder style I use.
The properly used sharpener with the proper size file will keep around 20 % of the file above the top plate and this sets the proper hook to the tooth. Cuts great and good filing intervals. Using the proper size file in the proper holder and follow the top plate and raker depths and the chain will cut great, long filing intervals and give you no issues.
Using a a larger file in a smaller file holder put the file lower than the norm and will make a razor edge, very sharp and very fine but easily damaged, but it will flat out cut. Nice fun chain that will cut like crazy if you have the power to pull it but will be really aggressive, yanking the saw around and throwing wood that isn't held down.
Using a smaller file in a in a larger file holder will put the file higher than the norm and make an edge closer to a sharp ax, will cut OKish and tough to damage cause there is thicker metal to the edge. Less easily damaged and longer file intervals but won't cut as quick. A trick I use in dirty wood or small pieces as it won't throw the wood and can take a bit of a beating. I also do this to others chains that are bad at stuffing the nose of the bar in the dirt when ground cutting and limbing.
Nice close up of the hook.
Now to the rakers and using a gauge. The raker depth gauge from Husky has 2 sides to it, a hard and soft side for the basic types of wood. These are different depths to the rakers below the top of the tooth. The hard side is a higher raker for hard wood and the soft side is a lower for soft wood. The raker depth sets how deep the tooth bites into the wood, the deeper it is the more power it takes to pull the chain through, the faster it cuts, the more aggressive it is along with thrown wood to kick back and push back. The less the raker depth......
The teeth on these saw teeth are actually tapered and as you sharpen the chain the top of the tooth is lower, which makes the raker depth less so you have to file it down to an even depth and angle.
The Husky gauge is a progressive gauge that sets the raker depth to the tooth it is attached to, not an average like a Oregon gauge that is set across 2 teeth. There are other brands of progressive gauges but it's what I use.
540 × 300 - mowersatjacks.com
400 × 400 - sherrilltree.com
I can't find a decent pic of it in use.
You pick the hard or soft side according to the wood your going to cut, take the end notch and put it up to the back of the tooth in front of the raker your working on, the raker to be filed will stick out the square hole with the tick out of it. The gauge is on a proper upward slope and all you do is grab the flat file and hit it till it quits cutting, more on to the next raker. It's that quick and easy.
This is an Oregon gauge across 2 teeth and the raker winds up flat, you have to put the angle on free hand. I'm not a fan of these but they work, I guess.....
300 × 195 - extremehowto.com
Follow what the manufacturer recommend for file size, angles.... and it will work just fine for you.
So you've done one of em now, go ahead and do the other 30+ of em, all the same top plate angle, tooth length, hook angle, depth gauge depth......and go chuck some chips!!
All dimensions and angles have to be the same left to right and all play a part in how the chain cuts.
Heres the file above the top of the tooth and the holder style I use.
The properly used sharpener with the proper size file will keep around 20 % of the file above the top plate and this sets the proper hook to the tooth. Cuts great and good filing intervals. Using the proper size file in the proper holder and follow the top plate and raker depths and the chain will cut great, long filing intervals and give you no issues.
Using a a larger file in a smaller file holder put the file lower than the norm and will make a razor edge, very sharp and very fine but easily damaged, but it will flat out cut. Nice fun chain that will cut like crazy if you have the power to pull it but will be really aggressive, yanking the saw around and throwing wood that isn't held down.
Using a smaller file in a in a larger file holder will put the file higher than the norm and make an edge closer to a sharp ax, will cut OKish and tough to damage cause there is thicker metal to the edge. Less easily damaged and longer file intervals but won't cut as quick. A trick I use in dirty wood or small pieces as it won't throw the wood and can take a bit of a beating. I also do this to others chains that are bad at stuffing the nose of the bar in the dirt when ground cutting and limbing.
Nice close up of the hook.
Now to the rakers and using a gauge. The raker depth gauge from Husky has 2 sides to it, a hard and soft side for the basic types of wood. These are different depths to the rakers below the top of the tooth. The hard side is a higher raker for hard wood and the soft side is a lower for soft wood. The raker depth sets how deep the tooth bites into the wood, the deeper it is the more power it takes to pull the chain through, the faster it cuts, the more aggressive it is along with thrown wood to kick back and push back. The less the raker depth......
The teeth on these saw teeth are actually tapered and as you sharpen the chain the top of the tooth is lower, which makes the raker depth less so you have to file it down to an even depth and angle.
The Husky gauge is a progressive gauge that sets the raker depth to the tooth it is attached to, not an average like a Oregon gauge that is set across 2 teeth. There are other brands of progressive gauges but it's what I use.
540 × 300 - mowersatjacks.com
400 × 400 - sherrilltree.com
I can't find a decent pic of it in use.
You pick the hard or soft side according to the wood your going to cut, take the end notch and put it up to the back of the tooth in front of the raker your working on, the raker to be filed will stick out the square hole with the tick out of it. The gauge is on a proper upward slope and all you do is grab the flat file and hit it till it quits cutting, more on to the next raker. It's that quick and easy.
This is an Oregon gauge across 2 teeth and the raker winds up flat, you have to put the angle on free hand. I'm not a fan of these but they work, I guess.....
300 × 195 - extremehowto.com
Follow what the manufacturer recommend for file size, angles.... and it will work just fine for you.
So you've done one of em now, go ahead and do the other 30+ of em, all the same top plate angle, tooth length, hook angle, depth gauge depth......and go chuck some chips!!
lefturnfreek
Sharpen the chain, chuck chips ...repeat...
Then we could delve into top plate angles to square filing, flat file vs round filing.....but some one else can do that....I hope......
colson04
ArboristSite Operative
Wow. Fantastic write up and great information. I really appreciate you taking the time to put that together for us here.
I now have to go buy a depth gauge and a good file holder and sit down at my bench for a couple hours when I get home and practice.
I now have to go buy a depth gauge and a good file holder and sit down at my bench for a couple hours when I get home and practice.
Locust Cutter
Sawing for Sanity
I would still like to learn how to use a goofy file...
The Goofy file makes a tooth that looks a lot like a tooth filed with a round file from a little ways away for on the vertical outside, it is concave round.
But the chain will cut more like it is a square one.
The sharpening action with the file and the inside angles of the tooth are the same as with a square bevel edge file.
But the chain will cut more like it is a square one.
The sharpening action with the file and the inside angles of the tooth are the same as with a square bevel edge file.
lefturnfreek
Sharpen the chain, chuck chips ...repeat...
And here a Husky depth gauge in use. I used it once and fell in love with em.
The plate is a progressive depth gauge as the tooth gets shorter the raker is correspondingly lowered. The file is just there to steady the gauge in the proper location.
The plate is a progressive depth gauge as the tooth gets shorter the raker is correspondingly lowered. The file is just there to steady the gauge in the proper location.
Thomas Lilli
ArboristSite Member
So, speaking in /64ths, if we file 13 vs 14 64ths, we will get a slightly sharper hook and slightly shallower gullet (due to 1/64th in smaller diameter file) which stihl recommends on 3/8 chain. And you guys say you notice it!
lefturnfreek
Sharpen the chain, chuck chips ...repeat...
If you sharpened 2 chains, 1 13/64 and 1 7/32 in the proper file holders, same way, same raker depth and used in the same log you might see a few seconds difference but I doubt you'd even notice at all ... if the logs are dirty or you strike the ground, the 7/32 will take a lil more of a beating before it dulls cause it has a lil thicker edge which over a couple hrs cutting you will notice cause it's still cutting, not making dust.
This gets worse the more you run the file down the tooth making a sharper hook, it'll cut harder but is more easily damaged.
Stockish saw, green or softer wood, 25 deg and 3/16 for 3/8th, 5/32 for .325. Dry/hard or frozen wood, 30 deg and for any reason it slows cutting, pulls to one side .... see my avatar sig line ....
This gets worse the more you run the file down the tooth making a sharper hook, it'll cut harder but is more easily damaged.
Stockish saw, green or softer wood, 25 deg and 3/16 for 3/8th, 5/32 for .325. Dry/hard or frozen wood, 30 deg and for any reason it slows cutting, pulls to one side .... see my avatar sig line ....
Huskybill
Addicted to ArboristSite
I use a 7/32” file. Once the chain has been filed the gap between the raker and tooth open up I hog out with the 7/32 file free hand below the cutting edge to make room for the chips to curl and get out of there. Then I put a 1/4”’ file in a file guide to sharpen the upper edge. The chain cuts quicker with less pressure on the saw.
25 deg is less aggressive than 30 deg
lefturnfreek
Sharpen the chain, chuck chips ...repeat...
Yes, 30 grabs harder but is also more easily damaged, the flatter the angle the less it's sensitive to dirt and debris and in soft wood where you don't want too much bite.
