chain filing setup

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Crofter

Crofter

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
4,915
Location
Northern Ontario
springs hold the chain as plate is designed for filing round. holds fairly well but I'll be on adding a way to lock tooth down.

Yes, for square filing you use a lot of up pressure into the corner of the cutter especially when converting a round filed chisel chain to square filed. Also when filing from outside in there is a tendency to chatter if each tooth is not dead solid.
 
820wards

820wards

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
1,115
Location
California
Hello,
This post is very interesting for me. This site has great information. jerry- Would you could put more pictures for me to try to create an equal?

Great job you all :clap:

:greenchainsaw:

Greenchainsaw,

I've attached additional pictures of the mandrel, sorry but I don't have any drawings of the piece. The plainer blade pieces are 7" wide. They work great because the spring back when I release the T-bolt.

jerry-
 
820wards

820wards

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
1,115
Location
California
Jerry,

Does it clamp all the teeth in the mandrel or just the ones over the T bolt.

Thanks!

It will clamp the with of the plainer blades. The end pieces I made with a wider gap using spacers. It makes it easier when you are rotating the chain. If you use mild or cold rolled steel I don't think you will be able to pinch all the way across. You could make the mandrel narrower which would pinch your chain on more teeth. I measured my plainer blades and they are 8". Making your pinch with at 5" would definitely pinch all chain teeth. I like my mandrel because when I clamp down on the chain, it doesn't move. It's pretty simple to build if you take your time.


If you do use plainer blades, be sure to weld mild steel pieces on each side because you are NOT going drill any holes in those blades.

Tip: clamp the blade and mild steel to a flat surface before welding. It will keep the pieces from warping.

After welding on the mild steel to the plainer blades, tack weld the mild steel pieces together and mark and drill your holes for the bolts. It will keep both blades perfectly aligned when you drill the holes, then just grind the tack weld off and both of your blades are in perfect alignment. I tig welded my mandrel, but if you are an accomplished mig welder you can easily make this chain sharpening mandrel.

Let me know if you have more questions.
jerry-
 
parrisw

parrisw

Tree Freak
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
13,786
Location
British Columbia, Canada
So Crofter are you saying you can make square chisel out of round chisel chain ?

No you cant, he's saying he can square file a square chisel chain, you can sharpen square chisel with a round file, thats how most do it. Most all my chain is square chisel chain, which I sharpen with a round file. Do you have square chisel chain?? I bet you may have at some point. You should download the oregon chain guide, lots of good info there and chain types.
 
redprospector

redprospector

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jan 22, 2005
Messages
5,107
Location
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
It dosen't matter if it's round ground, round filed, square ground, square filed, factory round, etc. etc. etc., as long as it's chisel chain it can be square ground, or filed.
I don't think you'd have much luck with semi-chisel, or the old chipper chain though.

Andy
 
parrisw

parrisw

Tree Freak
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
13,786
Location
British Columbia, Canada
It dosen't matter if it's round ground, round filed, square ground, square filed, factory round, etc. etc. etc., as long as it's chisel chain it can be square ground, or filed.
I don't think you'd have much luck with semi-chisel, or the old chipper chain though.

Andy

It has to be full chisel though?? Right. not the round corner semi-chisel chain.???
 
parrisw

parrisw

Tree Freak
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
13,786
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Yeah, that's what I was saying. I guess I'm a little old fashioned, but chisel chain is always square cornered. Otherwise it's semi-chisel, or used to be chipper.
We never called it "full chisel". It's either chisel, or it ain't.

Andy

Right that's what I meant in my first post as well. Most people file square chisel with round file or round ground. The semi chisel, round corner, used to be called chipper.
 
Crofter

Crofter

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
4,915
Location
Northern Ontario
So Crofter are you saying you can make square chisel out of round chisel chain ?

Yes, absolutely! I think we are all saying the same thing except parrisw is caught up in using some different terminology. The term full chisel is a corruption and I even see it in some sales brochure. Redprospector is correct. Chisel chain means only one thing; from a front view a cutter that has a sharp corner. It has nothing to do with how it has or can be sharpened Semi chisel has a somewhat rounded or bevelled corner and the now obsolete Chipper had a side to top transition that was actually circular or even more exaggerated than semi chisel. A lot of places semi chisel is incorrectly called chipper though.

Chisel chain can be filed or ground, round or square and converted either way from one to the other. Semi chisel can only be round filed or ground. The old chipper chain also could only be round filed or ground. The term full chisel should die but likely will be around adding confusion for years
 
heimannm
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
12,956
Location
Dike, Iowa
Saw vise

Off the saw I use an old "saw vise" made for holding circular saw blades when sharpening them with a file. With this vise I can sharpen three teeth on a 3/8 or .404 chain, 4 teeth on a .325 chain and the over center clamp is pretty fast to open and close. Works well for me. On the saw I just tighten the chain a bit to keep it from rocking.

Mark
 

Latest posts

Top