Alternative to sharpening your chain

[edisto]

My net Chain cost for 3 cord of wood? $5.50 This comes to $1.83 per cord of firewood.

Let's say you only sharpen after every 3rd cord. Do that 5 times, and your cost drops to 6 cents per chord. Do it 10 times, and you are under 2 tenths of a cent per cord.

There are more then 10 sharpenings in a chain.

I have a very busy life, so hand filing cannot be scheduled into my schedule as cool as it might be. :msp_rolleyes:

Have you added up the time it takes to write an ad, talk to, and meet with (or mail to) buyers? I'd rather be filing...

 

[Chris-PA]

I have a very busy life, so hand filing cannot be scheduled into my schedule as cool as it might be. :msp_rolleyes:

I'll call BS on the busy life excuse. You claimed to be cutting your firewood, which is what I do. I know how much work it is and how much time it takes, and I'm busy too. Running the saw is maybe 10% of the time involved in gathering firewood, and the time to dress a chain with a hand file would be a small fraction of that (some of which you'd get back in faster cutting). It is not possible to have time to gather several cords of firewood but not have time to file a chain.

 

[Hedgerow]

What are you hauling 3 cords out of the woods with??? That's what I need clarified...

 

[Trx250r180]

We can start here:



Sounds silly, but there is a lot of good info on bar and chain maintenance to be learned from "Fast-File Freddie".

HERE is a link to a thread I started on Freddie, and the offer in the last post still stands.

i looked through random posts ,havent really seen anyones work to compare to ,any shortcuts ? mostly reading text and angles picture really help when learning like this View attachment 267279 not a very good image but an example

 

[Hedgerow]

i looked through random posts ,havent really seen anyones work to compare to ,any shortcuts ? mostly reading text and angles picture really help when learning like this View attachment 267278 not a very good image but an example

I have no idea what yer chain looks like, but your saw is in magnificent focus...:msp_biggrin:
Wrong color...
But great focus...

 

[Trx250r180]

I have no idea what yer chain looks like, but your saw is in magnificent focus...:msp_biggrin:
Wrong color...
But great focus...

sorry i grabbed wrong picture ,i added a clearer one to my post

 

[KodiakII]

I know if I were too busy and my time too valuable I would be heating with anything other than wood.:msp_wink:

 

[Fish]

What angles are your grinder set at?

That damage in the center of the crescent of the gullet, I would take that on out, the side plate angle looks a tad steep, but it is hard to tell
with the chrome peel in the pic as well.

 

[Fish]

I know if I were too busy and my time too valuable I would be heating with anything other than wood.:msp_wink:

That was what I was thinking as well......

 

[farmerdoug]

3 cords

The trailer is 6x12 with 3' sides. The rounds are stacked 3 high on end which is 16" X 3 = 48" 4' high X 6' X 12' = 288 cubic feet

128 cubic feet in a cord.

288/128 = 2.25 cord of wood

3/4 of a cord goes in the truck.

The trailer is rated at 14,000 lbs and the truck is a 3/4 ton diesel.

I agree that I may be a little shy of 3 cord as I don't always get 3/4 cord in the truck. The trailer is pretty straight forward though.

You all need to agree that time is worth something. $8/hr should not be unreasonable. Sharpening takes time. My cost is not all that much per cord.

If you want to counter me, then you can post a video of doing a pre cut on a band new chain. Then cut 20 cord on your 72 link chain which includes sharpening multiple times and do another final cut.

What did you prove? Your chain is good for 20 cord and my chain is good for 3 cord. You spent time and money on the difference in cost. I would have purchased 7 chains X $6 a chain = $42 total cost. You would have spent $25 on the same chain since you probably purchased it at your local saw shop.

This entire thread is talking about the difference of $17 per 20 cords of wood in chain cost.

How many of us cut 20 cords of wood a year? Is it worth a $2,000 Silvey to cover this $17 cost?

You throw in the hobby factor and the fact that you enjoy sharpening chain, then you just trumped my argument and you win. If you just like cutting wood, then this thread is worth your time.

 

[Trx250r180]

What angles are your grinder set at?

That damage in the center of the crescent of the gullet, I would take that on out, the side plate angle looks a tad steep, but it is hard to tell
with the chrome peel in the pic as well.

i need get some better pics ,thats not damage ,its dirt grime off my white ox gloves i wear while sharpening ,im not sure how to tell the angles ,i just use the ones that came with the grinder ,about every 3rd sharpen i cut the gullets with the round grinder

 

[edisto]

You all need to agree that time is worth something. $8/hr should not be unreasonable. Sharpening takes time. My cost is not all that much per cord.

If your time was worth $8 an hour, you would break even (ignoring the time spent on selling the chains) spending 45 minutes on one sharpening. It doesn't take that long.

Look at it another way. You are spending $6 to avoid, at the most, 20 minutes of work. That's like paying someone $18 an hour.

The cost argument makes no sense.

Don't like sharpening? Cool. Glad you can afford not to do it.

Any other justification is simply ridiculous.

 

[Metals406]

Hey Nate, if you need a few nicely dulled chains to prove these fools wrong, please allow me to supply you with a couple.

Should we video it too??

Maybe do three chains? One goofy, 1 square and 1 round? All if which would cut better after a filing than out'a the box.

 

[farmerdoug]

How many cord does your 72 link chain last??

If your time was worth $8 an hour, you would break even (ignoring the time spent on selling the chains) spending 45 minutes on one sharpening. It doesn't take that long.

Look at it another way. You are spending $6 to avoid, at the most, 20 minutes of work. That's like paying someone $18 an hour.

The cost argument makes no sense.

Don't like sharpening? Cool. Glad you can afford not to do it.

Any other justification is simply ridiculous.

How many cord will your chain cut with you sharpening it?

 

[Joe Kidd]

:computer2: opcorn:

 

[edisto]

How many cord will your chain cut with you sharpening it?

Hard to say. I don't cut a high volume of wood at the present time.

Back when I was cutting holes in the forest to land Bell 205s in, I don't recall wearing out any chains.

I did wear out a few files though...

 

[mdavlee]

Here's some videos in this thread with ground chain, filed chain, and brand new chain. There's also a picture of the square ground chain that was used for the video. Hedgerow ended up with that exact chain later on and used it in concrete er hedge. :msp_razz:

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/199630.htm

Another picture

 

[Fish]

its dirt grime off my white ox gloves i wear while sharpening

Wow!!!!!

You need to wear gloves?

Even worse, you need to wear "White OX gloves"?????

Just askin'....

 

[Trx250r180]

its dirt grime off my white ox gloves i wear while sharpening

Wow!!!!!

You need to wear gloves?

Even worse, you need to wear "White OX gloves"?????

Just askin'....

yup ,dont want to cut my mits with my razur sharp chain :msp_wink:, lets me work faster with gloves on ,im usually doing 5-6 32 inch chains at a time ,try to keep em down to under 5 min each

 

[sunfish]

Owning and using a chainsaw and never sharpening a chain just ain't right!

Maybe I'm gettin old, or been filling chain too long. But it just ain't right...