Raker depth for milling

Going by rule #4

BobL said:

4) start with a freshly sharpened chain with rakers set correctly and don't let the chain go blunt. Stop and sharpen or change chains often.

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And further enhanced here:

BobL said:

With that combo and milling green wood you should get a lot of chips and very little dust. If you are getting a lot of dust I would check your raker heights, they should be ~1/10 of your gullet width and not a constant value eg 0.025"

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Assisted by pics like here:

BobL said:

If you can post a close up of your chain like this

I can assess if your raker depths are well set up to give chips

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Unfortunately I don't have anything that takes pictures that close.

I checked my rakers on my Woodland Pro .375 30RP (ripping chain).
On the box it says to set them to 0.022, sawing was getting slow. So I bumped them up (or down) to 0.028. MUCH better.

The FOP (progressive) doesn't exist for that chain, but should I basically try to strike a line from the top of 1 cutting edge to the base of the one in front?

What are you guys doing for hand filing rakers?

/edit - I'm using a straightedge (actually a FOP), a sparkplug feeler gauge, and a handfile for my rakers. If I need to take them down several thousands again I'll probably use my grinder

gemniii said:

What are you guys doing for hand filing rakers?

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I can answer that one. I use a Dremel. I just spent two days adjusting all the rakers on all my chains. Wife actually let me use the kitchen table as it was cold and raining outside. I've got about 25 chains ranging from 15", 18", 20", 32", and up to 60".

I've used an actual file but it seems to take too long to me.

I use the little Husqvarna raker guide to adjust mine. I've never seen the File-o-plate but I think the Husky tool is similar. Found it at Lowes.

I'm using a stihl filing gauge-whatever that takes it to. I should pay attention more and maybe experiment a little to see what works best for the wood types I'm milling. I'm happy with my cutting speeds though and production at the end of the day. Besides, we've got BobL and others here to compare to like Mtngun, Oldsaw,(insert name here there are quite a few). Having said that, I'm going to go throw a ruler on and use feeler gauges to assess exactly what I have so I'll know for future. I need to get all my chains touched up any way for spring so I'll be ready to hit the hills. Too bad it's a few months away yet. I suspect optimum raker height depends on the wood type as well which would explain some of the variations/preferences you see here from time to time-good post!

gr8scott72 said:

I use the little Husqvarna raker guide to adjust mine. I've never seen the File-o-plate but I think the Husky tool is similar. Found it at Lowes.

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Is that a "progressive" tool and suited for ripping chain?

gemniii said:

Is that a "progressive" tool and suited for ripping chain?

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Yes and yes.

My Raker Tools

gr8scott72 said:

Yes and yes.

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Here is what I made to hold my chains to sharpen and adjust my rakers.


This is the mandrel for holding the chain.


These two pieces are for checking the raker height. The bar with the allen head screw sits on top of the teeth in front and in back of the raker. I adjust the screw down onto the raker until it just touches. I then use the piece with the dial indicator adjusted to zero. When I put the dial indicator on the screw holding the bar and the dial indicator flush to each other, it tells me exactly what that raker depth is.


A view from the side



Close up view.

820wards, nice chain vise and raker thingy. You are giving BobL some stiff competition in the hi-tech doodad category.

gemnii, the standard 3/8 FOP fits Baileys 3/8 ripping chain, even though Carlton may not advertise that fact.

However, be aware that the FOP results in a more aggressive chain that may be more prone to bog down. Speaking of which, you REALLY need to give that poor CS62 a break and get a real milling saw. As a CS62 lover, it breaks my heart to see your CS62 milling with a 28" bar. That's cruel !

This may seem very unconventional to some of you guys, but I have been doing it for some time now and is seems to be working fine. I have a chaingrinder (Speed Sharp from Baileys) and after I have sharpened all my chains, I use it to grind the rakers and use feeler guages to get the correct raker height. I set the angle of the chain holder to zero and move it forward 5º which puts it bottom dead center on the chain under the grinding wheel. I then adjust the grinder to 90º (straight up). Then I adjust the depth the grinding wheel will go to so that I take a hair off the raker as I slide it under the spinning wheel. I keep doing this until I have the correct amount removed for proper raker height. I adjust the chain clamp so that I can just barely slide the chain under the spinning wheel, raise the wheel up a bit to clear the tooth, then down for the next raker. Once set up it goes very fast. The setup can be a bit tedius to get just the right amount off but beats filing in my way of thinking.

820 WARDS--I like your method and will set up to do likewise--THANKS!

This is my new method. I ignore the actual value of the raker depth completely, file the raker till I get to the cutting angle I desire. I measure the angle with using Digital Angle FInder (DAF). This creates a progressive raker depth without every needing to measure the raker depths and irrespective of cutter or gullet lengths .

1) Put short bar in vice and zero DAF on bar rails, and mark that position as the 0º position on bar.


2) Put chain on bar and move a raker above zero position marked on bar and read DAF


3) File raker in a rounded fashion until you get about 6º


4) Move next raker to position and repeat 1 - 3 above

Way easier than fiddling with micrometers and feeler gauges and I don't have to calculate a different raker height for every gullet width. To go a little more aggressive I make the angle 6.5 or 7 or whatever. To make the chain less aggressive I take a bit off the cutter.

A grimy detailed discussion of the constant cutting angle or progressive raker depth method is here.