Am I sharpening right?

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Jose Hernandez

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Hey there everyone I’m new to sharpening for the most part and only really been doing it for a couple weeks with someone giving me the right sized file and telling me the angle to sharpen at while out at work. Back home my dad had someone sharpen the chain on one of his saws with an electric sharpener but I don’t think the guy knew what he was doing cause it went dull pretty quick. I bought a Granberg jig cause I’d used one before and liked how accurately they sharpen and so I used it to try and get a good edge on the chain for him and get some more practice. Does this look right? I feel like there should be more of a “C” but less of a hook on the top. If this is the case, why might that be? Different file? Different angle?

25” Bar
3/8 pitch
Using a 5/32 round file at 35° with 0 tilt

Attached are one tooth before and after.
FDDD7830-7BBA-4269-83CE-7154D64D9A9C.jpeg 0EE94E44-3B4B-453D-9920-97216210AD7D.jpegA67FBD93-BB50-4922-862A-FB4687CF2E35.jpeg A79D38EA-A7B7-40B1-BFD5-31CAD00B8FB6.jpeg 378CAB9A-5CB2-4259-8F25-0BD5600DA381.jpeg
 
There are a few issues going on there, but that's OK, that's why your here. In suggest you look at a new cutter either off new chain you have or from a pic online. You need too know what the 'end result' should look like. As it sits, that chain is not sharp & has a bad side plate. You may benefit from some kind of jig too assist holding the file at the right height.
 
Looks like the wrong file size - for 3/8" chain it should be 7/32" file. The second to last photo, the cutter is not sharp yet - the front edge is curved over.
Oh alright thanks a lot man! I felt like it was too small but I saw 13/64 was what was recommended but I couldn’t find it and didn’t know if 7/32 was too big, guess I goofed:rare2:. I’ll definitely make sure I have a good reference too.
 
With a new chain, I use 7/32". When the cutters are more than 1/2 gone, you can go to 13/64".
Here is what the cutter should look like. The red arrow shows what to measure and divide by 2 to determine the chain pitch. A 3/8 chain will actually measure about .367". In front of the cutter is the depth gauge. It limits how deep the cutter will cut, typically about .025". As the cutter wears, the gauge will also need to be filed down. There are several tools that will set the depth correctly.
cutter.png
 
The corner where the side plate and top plate of the cutter meet is what does most of the work, it needs to be sharp and pointy with the whole width of the top plate sharp like a chisel. Get the correct file and try to put a little less hook on the cutter and make sure you take enough off to restore the corner, yours is still a little rolled over.
 
There’s some great input here and that’s what makes a good forum, people trying to help each other out. I’m terrible at sharpening by hand with a file and it annoys me but after seeing these pics and explanations I’m thinking it’s time that I need to try hand sharpening again. Well done guys [emoji1303]
 
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