Chain Sharpening,why is my dealer no good?

[skipster]

I'm fairly new to chain sharpening,and am not at all confident in my skills with a standard hand file.
so ive been dropping off my saw on a regular basis to the stihl dealer in town to have the chain sharpened(costs around $10)
Every time i've got it back,the chain feels worse than when it went in!
They use a special grinder,and theyre very confident, but i'm starting to feel a complete idiot,and wondering what they are doing wrong.
went to the Husky dealer,and had similar results.
Its seems they take your money,then get the apprentice to ruin your chain.
I know I have to learn how to sharpen properly(I need a teacher!) , or maybe i need to buy one of those fancy sharpening tools, any suggestions?

 

[blades]

I can almost guaranty that your problem with either dealer lies in the depth gauges - and most likely you are correct in assuming that the low employee on the pole gets the job. In which case mostly haven't the faintest idea of what it's all about. Plenty on here are advocates of hand filing - I am not particularly one of them as I am a professional shop, I do not have time for hand filing 30 or more chains a week . There is a fair learning curve to developing a good hand file technique. I can and do hand file but only in the field. Bit of a learning curve with a grinder as well although much shorter. A ton of threads on sharpening chains so I will not repeat.

 

[Marine5068]

Back to the old saying...
"If you want something done right, better do it yourself"

 

[Oldman47]

Get yourself one of those fancy sharpening tools. I like the Granberg File-N-Joint. It will hold a nice consistent grind from tooth to tooth using a hand file. For what you are paying, you could have one for the price of 3 or 4 sharpenings. It takes about 10 minutes the first time you use it and 5 minutes each time after you catch on to the adjustments.

 

[Trx250r180]

With pic's of the cutters ,may be able to help correct what is wrong .

 

[flashhole]

I see you're down under. I do both hand filing and grinding. Both have a learning curve. Equally important to sharpening the cutters and making sure the rakers are the correct height is proper dressing of the bar. Here in the States I picked up a grinder from Northern Tool. It is a knock-off of the Oregon grinder but a not at all cheaply made. Works great for me and if you don't count the time removing the chain from the saw it is faster and more uniform.

 

[GoRving]

Very few dealers or shops are good at putting a good edge on a chain. Your older guys that have done it for many years tend to do a better job, but hand-filing is the best, in my opinion.

 

[CR888]

Depth Gauges. They are grinding the cutters and not adjusting the depth gages thats why it seems to cut worse after each time they resharpen. For about a $100-150 you can get a good Oregon 511 knock off that will grind many hundreds of chains. Easy to use and easy to get good results.

 

[bikemike]

I think its the person operating the grinder. He or she probably doesnt care or pays no attention to detail while sharpening a chain. I crappy grinder can do a nice job if set up good. And some of the new auto feed can be very quick at it too.but if a chain is beat up and they didnt inspect the chain to set it up to dress the worst links so all the others match. And raker depth is also a big thing to be concerned about. To tall they wont chip or let the cutter chisle out the wood and too low it could catch or chatter from being over loaded. My suggestion would be to purchase a clamp on file guide and set ur pitch and depth and work with that for a while and eventually things will fall into place youl learn from trail n error and a file sharp is the best sharp you can put on a chain light touch ups take less time than running it till its not worth cutting

 

[Jed1124]

Watch a few videos on you tube and learn to sharpen yourself. I think a lot of guys on here make it into rocket science. Use a round file guide so you don't get to deep into the cutter and get the right edge on the top plate. Keep the rakers 25 thousands or so below the height of cutter. We run our chains until the cutters start breaking off. If you figure the price of a loop of stihl chain plus 5 sharpening at the shop you can be over 100 dollars a loop!

 

[Chainsaw_Maniac]

If you are bringing it in for "professional" sharpening, there is not harm in practicing on the chain. In my mind, having a chain filed in a shop is a way to correct unevenness that comes from the saw owners hand-filing (across maybe 6-10 hand files).

I used to bring half a dozen chains at a time to the shop for grinding once I could no longer get them to cut straight myself. (I've gotten better now, so I'll actually hand file them down to a sliver until the tooth is basically gone).

 

[ATH]

Keep practicing. I admittedly stink at hand sharpening, so I broke down and bought a bench grinder. However, that doesn't excuse me from learning. Yesterday I touched up one by hand on the job and I think it is the sharpest I have ever had it...pretty cool. Not saying every one in the future will be just like that, but hey it is progress One key is to touch it up often (no more than 2 tanks, in my opinion...but, again, I am not the guy you want to coach you on hand sharpening!). The longer you let it go, the more difficult it is to maintain a good edge.

 

[JB Weld]

I used to have a "set" of chains that I ran on my one saw (before I got a bad case of CAD), and I would cut with them until they were dull. Then I would take them in to have them sharpened. I think that as posted above, your rakers are probably too tall. I always had to knock them down myself when I was taking it in to the shop.

I think there is a time and place for hand files and grinders, but when you are out in the field and can dress up your cutters with a hand file and get back in the wood with your chain throwing nice chips....it is the cats meow. One thing I have learned on this forum is that it is best to touch up your chain before it actually gets dull. It took me some practice to learn how to use a file, but it was time well spent. I would encourage you to learn how to use a file. I also like to use the Dremel Chain sharpening system. That has worked well for me too.

 

[ropensaddle]

I bought a grinder for production and if you have a good eye it will do great. Keep wheel dressed and get depth right better low than high on cutters oposite rakers cause you can trim if too high but cant add if too low! The biggest mistake I see in grinding is not taking enough material off to clean the edge. By that I mean they leave rounded edge instead of grinding it all back to new material. Same on hand file if the edge is not renewed it is not sharp. Once I have renewed edge then I use gauge for drags and my saws will cut like butter being cut with a hot knife. I can hand file and get even sharper but as long as it eats I'm fine with my grinder.

 

[ropensaddle]

On hand filing the file should lay down into tooth a bit if too high you wont have hook too low it will cut just dull faster takes practice but worth time learning as then grinding will be easier too you!

 

[cus_deluxe]

i had a nice 511a given to me and i tested it to make sure all was well and then i sold it. Im not a pro logger or anything so i dont have to worry about sharpening 30 or more chains a week. I just cut a lot of firewood spring and fall and work as a groundie for a friend of mine who climbs and i find that two or three sharp chains is more than enough to fill my truck and trailer. I keep 5 or 6 loops ready to go just in case something crazy happens. I only hand file, i think its sort of relaxing after cutting or actually fun on a rainy day to sit in the shop for a couple hours with tunes and file some chains. Anyone who owns less than 20 chain loops has no need for a grinder, and IMO hand filing should be taught right at the same time a person learns to use a saw, maybe even before.