how man here free hand sharpen theyre chains

[Evan]

i see many post and threads and questions on chain grinders fileing angles and so on. i have never fed into this. ive takn my own road.

i seem to have the touch with a hand a file or dremel both free hand. my chains are always super sharp cut straight and throw big chips, they also stay sharp for along time if i keep them out of the dirt.

maybe im seeing good results because im cutting strickly soft woods?

so am i missing on the benifits of chain grinder. they are exspensive 300 plus for a good one. the way i see it 300 is another 70cc project saw from start to finish with a few bars thrown in to reach the 300 dollar price.

it just doesnt seem worth it. are the grinders very fast. maybe if i were a tree bizz with fleet of saws and i had 30 chains to sharpen on the weekend to get ready for mondays tree schedule? but i bet the grinders are much slowere than free hand sharpening.

one benifet ive seen is they can grind square ground. but i havent seen the benifit of running square ground. i realy dont think a new out of box square ground will out cut my round ground chains i even think they might cut faster after being round ground.

so what am i missing?

do you free hand your chains?

thanks
Evan

 

[Stihl Hyde]

I've always free handed my chains, seems to work for me. By the way dont knock a square grind till you try it :drool:

 

[Evan]

ive ran square ground on the 084 32" oregon 59 full skip.

stihl rslk classic full skip 28"
stihl rslk classic full skip 25"

the 28" is now round ground and cuts very fast the oregon 59 is now also round ground and cuts great to.

i bucked alot of wood with the 28" being square ground then bucked alot of wood after grinding it round and i dont miss the square ground. just last night i ground the 25" round so i can touch up on the mtn if need be. i didnt hardly run this chain as square ground but it did cut 30" wood very well when strung on the 359 bar

 

[BarkBuster20]

i do my own sharpening by hand with round files full chisel. i will sometimes take it in to get it sharpened after 5-10 sharpenings to get the angles perfect

 

[stihl sawing]

I sharpen all mine by hand, Most of the stuff i cut is hardwood. If your cutting strickly soft woods then the chain will last longer.

 

[Evan]

yup good clean wood keep the tip outa the dirt and i can buck all day long without feeln the need to sharpn.

im becomeing fond of the oregon lgx chain thats on the 026, i think i may use this chain to replace the stihl rsc lgx is very good cutting chain is easy to sharpen and cost alot less then the rsc.

i think ill pick up a 91 and 84 drive link chains to go along with the rsc and rslk's that i have and see wich is best. i do like sharpening full skip it goes alot faster . i think thats the only benifit of full skip. at least for me and my saws

 

[olyeller]

I'm still very new to sharpening. I thought about getting various bolt-up jigs, grinders or other gadgets, but I decided to just try the basic guide and round hand files first. After my dealer showed me the basics the whole procedure just clicked in my brain and the mystery vanished. Now I'm just filing my chains freehand, and it seems like it's working out fine. I read a good post in another thread when I was searching this topic, and the gist of it was, "If you can sharpen a knife, you can sharpen a saw chain." I now believe that's true--but it does help greatly to have someone experienced show you the ropes the first time!

 

[Evan]

oleyeller

thats great to hear i belive true as well. i dont have any file guids or radar angle detectors. but i will say i seriusly fubared a few chains when startn out

 

[GASoline71]

Been freehandin' chains since 1980...

Gary

 

[tree md]

I think I may have used a guide once or twice to sharpen one in the field before I did this stuff professionally. I was taught by an old sawhand/groundman how to file a chain back when I first started. It's quicker than using a guide. I will typically take my time and put a good edge on my saws before I do a job. I'll fall with a fresh chain then buck with that same chain. I will usually touch it up before I stump and after, Then on to the next tree. I touch mine up several times a day if I'm using them heavy. Not rocket science, you just need to follow the preexisting angle of the tooth. If you have a hard tme with that there are marks on the Stihl chain to show you what angle to file. I had been taking them to be ground after they had been rocked or had been used for several cuttings but where I have been taking them is grinding the **** out of them and burning them up. I plan to get my own grinder eventually but until then I think I will get a guide to try and use to fix my rocked or well used chains. I need one for my square ground chain as well.

 

[oldirty]

i dont think you can consider yourself a proficient sawyer if you cant file by hand.

in fact i'll go a step further and say if you cant sharpen a saw freehand you shouldnt be running one.

 

[Stihl Hyde]

i dont think you can consider yourself a proficient sawyer if you cant file by hand.

in fact i'll go a step further and say if you cant sharpen a saw freehand you shouldnt be running one.

:agree2:

 

[Evan]

get a dremel and and use sharpening stone to fix rocked or severly damaged cutting teeth. keep the dremel speed to moderate to avoid get the cutter to hot.

dremel much cheaper than the chain grinders and then after you fix your rocked teeth with your dremel you get a few carbide bures and do the intake and exhaust ports

 

[damifino]

I thought I was old school useing a Carlton File-O-Plate. I will have to try it free hand.

 

[Metals406]

The new ATOP square filing guide will be offered from Bailey's and another site sponsor(?) soon... Pricing has to be worked out.

I can tell you that the guide is very professionally made, and makes a really sharp chain.

 

[wigglesworth]

Freehand here too. I did however ruin a couple of chains before I got the hang of it. My chains never see a grinder.

 

[BobL]

I first sharpened my Dad's chains freehand in 1964? or thereabouts. Now I touch up by hand the full comp 3/8 chains on my 42 and 60" bars on my milling saws sometimes after every slab. It's the quite time part of milling. 20 minutes of noise and sawdust while the slab is being cut, followed by 10 minutes of quiet time with just the crisp bite of the file to break the silence.

 

[dave k]

By hand although, I bought a automatic sharpener a while ago and now use it just to go over any badly damaged chains, still can't beat a good file which leads me to ask has anyone used Save edge files ?

 

[RRSsawshop]

I freehand also!!! I hate to carry to much to the woods like guides and such.

 

[wigglesworth]

By hand although, I bought a automatic sharpener a while ago and now use it just to go over any badly damaged chains, still can't beat a good file which leads me to ask has anyone used Save edge files ?

I havent tried save edge. All I use is oregon or stihl. Im interested in feedback on the save edge too.