I'm looking at this as id like a guide to help me sharpen my square chains
now the more i look at it, and watch the videos and whatnot on it, it looks to me like it does not sharpen the same as a square grind chain needs to be
it appears to me it makes its own angular square top at different angles then the original square grind
is this true? or am i looking at things all wrong?
so its not the same as a suqare
has anyone tried using the atop file with say an oregon filing guide?
I'm not sure about which Oregon guide your speaking of but, by re-reading the thread, your first post along with your last question about the Oregon guide is kinda leading me to believe that your under the impression that filing square ground is done at the same angles as you would with round ground & that the ATOP is filing in a new fashion than the norm for square ground. Just so were on the same page, the ATOP is filing in a normal manner for square ground. Or am I misunderstanding?
What W8ye was mentioned when he joined the conversation was the minuet differences in angles that contribute to how aggressive the chain will bite, like 5degrees here 5 degrees there, but still along the same general angle needed for square ground.
As far as using an Oregon guide with the ATOP file, well.. I'm pretty good at thinking outside the box but I'm not quite sure how that would be done?? I'm not being condescending by any means, but maybe your confusing Semi-Chisel with Full-Chisel, those types can be filed with with a conventional file guide but you have to use a round file.
Like I mentioned above I have some of these square ground specific files, here are some pics so ppl can see the differences. I know I had a hard time finding out the exact differences on the net so I just bought them.
Starting from right is a Vallorbe, the Vallorbe is the specific file used in the ATOP.
The middle is a "Save Edge 6 sided chisel bit file"
The far left is a "Save Edge double bevel file"
The bottom one is just a regular triangle file from home depot or wherever.. Before I had the above I managed to destroy a few chains trying to file square with it. Thus the reason I grabbed the above..
Knowing the Vallorbe was for the ATOP i just bought it for experiment.. I can see why it is marketed for the ATOP because it has a lot of bend when filing with pressure, the ATOP probably corrects that. However i did find It to produce the biggest cutter head. In other words the deepest side profile because it has a larger/wider bevel area compared to the others. I did find it extremely easy to cut into the tie strap with this one, again the ATOP probably cures that. Although you can only use one side of this file for sharpening which kinda blows, it is a four sided file so you can also use it on your rakers.
The middle Save Edge 6 sided works ok, but it also produced the smallest side cutter profile. I think I will find it to be useful as a chain wears down becoming a smaller tooth with less to work with. It also has a little flex when using complete strokes, which can throw your working corner off if not paying attention.
The Save Edge Double Bevel worked good, I liked it the most. Nice & sturdy when applying pressure with full strokes & the easiest to keep my working corner with.
One of the advantages to the Save Edge files I have here is that you get sharpening usage out of both sides, but to my knowledge aren't suitable for the ATOP.
Just for reference Ryan, here is the ATOP file in conventional file guide, is this what you were asking about? The reason It wouldn't work is because as you can see the the top edge that creates the working corner on a square ground is obstructed, plus a few other reasons as well.
Still, I would really like to hear some real world feed back on the ATOP. I think i would find that Vallorbe file to be the balls in it! Has nobody around here bought into this $200+ special?? Com'on now I don't want to be the guinea pig!!
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