Hand file. Time to quit

[windblown]

Have you considered the carbide chains?

Did a horrid little clearing job just off a sandy beach (staring straight into the straight of Juan De Fuca) so every tree was packed with sand, killed chains after every one I fell, so we picked up a beater saw and a handful of carbide chains, finished the job on one chain (3 days of cutting)

I've considered picking up a carbon chain loop for dirtier than normal work. Even mounting chains that are near the end of their life and therefore I don't mind tearing them up it's still a pain given the choice of constantly touching them up or run dull and work the saw excessively hard.

So carbon really lasts a good bit longer and makes the cost worthwhile eh? I might have to go shopping for one. Do folks typically just toss them when they finally go dull or is it worthwhile buying diamond sharpeners to bring them back to life?

 

[northmanlogging]

I've considered picking up a carbon chain loop for dirtier than normal work. Even mounting chains that are near the end of their life and therefore I don't mind tearing them up it's still a pain given the choice of constantly touching them up or run dull and work the saw excessively hard.

So carbon really lasts a good bit longer and makes the cost worthwhile eh? I might have to go shopping for one. Do folks typically just toss them when they finally go dull or is it worthwhile buying diamond sharpeners to bring them back to life?

never seen one need to get sharpened lol. Though you will need either a diamond stone, or a sliconcarbide grinder (green wheel) to even attempt to sharpen them, most folks send them out to be sharpened

the cheaper version, still a Stihl product seems to last and last, though as with anything carbide, they don't like rocks and sudden impacts

there is the rescue version, which is stupid expensive, and frankly... not ****ing worth the extra cost

 

[jackrabbit]

I have not tried a carbide chain either. I hadn't really even heard of them till lately. Maybe I need to find one....any tips on where to start looking or which one to buy?

 

[Valpen]

I have not tried a carbide chain either. I hadn't really even heard of them till lately. Maybe I need to find one....any tips on where to start looking or which one to buy?

Stihl has their Duro line of chains that are carbide. https://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/saw-chains/rd3/
They work great, but the teeth will chip or break if hitting any metal or stone...

 

[Cricket]

sharpen when it gets annoying, setting a schedule on when to sharpen is ******* stupid, oh its noon better sharpen my saw...

As I've stated before, I've gone days even occasionally weeks on a chain without sharpening, if its cutting good just keep cutting. Keep in mind I burn upwards of 2 gallons of saw fuel in a day.(usually less, I am a fat ass)

Now on the other hand, if it does get dull and your fighting to get through a cut, stop and sharpen, all your really doing is heating up the poor saw, burning more fuel, and just wearing **** out in general.

Was just scrolling down to say those exact words - "sharpen when it gets annoying". The schedule might be useful to remind you to check, if you're cutting up something soft and small, say, where you might not notice - but in generally, if it's annoying me, it gets touched up. Especially since a lot of my scrounge would is of dubious origin, so the fact that I just sharpened it ten minutes ago doesn't mean it's not chewed up already.

 

[LuDookie]

If I sense my chain getting dull, I stop what I’m doing and sharpen it. If it cuts great all day, I’ll still sharpen it before the next day cutting.

 

[ericm979]

So on a related note, I've read to touch up with the file before a chain gets dull. A few file strokes at the first hint that it's spitting out sawdust vs chips or at least every time you fill the gas tank. Will following that advice of constantly touching up the chain cause it to wear out any slower than a chain that cuts until it's dull and then is sharpened?

No. The wear is the same. The dull chain needs more taken off to become sharp. If you let it go dull then you're cutting with a dull chain which is slow and hard on the saw.

But even if keeping the chain sharp made its life a little shorter, it's worth it. Cutting with a dull chain sucks.

I have chains that have been sharpened many tens of times and are no where close to worn out. Probably can't get to 100 but certainly 20 or 30 should be easy. I mostly file and when I use a grinder I take care to not take more off than is needed to make the shortest tooth sharp. It takes a little more time in setup to do that but it means less grinding.

 

[JRenna]

I felled two Shagbark Hickories for a friend yesterday and that crap was rock hard. My chain dulled so flippin fast I thought something was inside the tree. What really made my day at one point was touching the dirt 30 seconds after filing late in the afternoon. Usually my chain feels like it dulls slowly over a period of time with most red oaks and such and I just touch it up with a few swipes now and then and good to go. These hickories was like cutting, cutting, cutting, chips, chips chips, then nothing....... couldn't even push it and make dust.

I later read that full chisel is not the best option for those? I guess I need to have an assortment of grinds. I think I might try some Stihl chain soon.

 

[Sierra_rider]

I've been felling a lot of fire-killed Firs at work. Even though Fir is a softwood, it's a little on the harder side of softwood and these trees take their toll on chain. I can still make it through an entire day w/o sharpening on my square file chains, but they have visibly lost their edge.

I'm used to cutting pine that is very "un-abrasive" on the chain. I can run multiple tanks of fuel through pine, check my cutters, and decide that it's not even worth pulling a file out.

 

[Huntaholic]

ok. so you carry 2 saws one dedicated to falling, and another dedicated to bucking? or do you go through the hassle of swapping chains between each operation?

Also this seems like a whole lot of wasted effort and time, if your good with a file, or have a properly set up grinder, they will cut better then factory, so to me it seems like a total waste of effort to declare a chain only fit for one operation.

its like deciding arbitrarily that a box knife can only be used on corrugated card board, and not for packing tape or card stock

On any given day there are many as 8 different saws on the jobsite, so YEAH, we carry ONE saw dedicated to felling, another to topping, another to bucking duty on the yard and backups to ALL of those, along with a couple extras thrown in for good measure. Call it what you want, but time is money and I cant afford to waste either one.

 

[sb47]

So I hand file my chain

Looking down from above, top plate starts out as a 4 sided shape with a new chain and eventually approaches a triangle as the teeth are filed back further and further.

When is it time to quit and replace? Obviously when the first top plate on a chain becomes a shrinking triangle it’s probably time to quit. But I’m wondering if one should call it quits materially sooner? Is there a rule of thumb? Are you risking breaking off teeth under normal conditions or can you go right up to the first triangle shape without danger or consequences? (None of my teeth are exactly the same so one or two will be triangles before the rest)

i.e. If you retire your chains with 25% of that 4th side of the top plates still In place are you being smart and reasonable or wasting 25% of the life of the chain?

I guess it all depends on what your cutting. Felling vs bucking. For me I just buck so I run them down till they start breaking off. I have found the shorter the tooth the better it cuts. Some of my best cutting chains were ones that were almost worn out.

 

[HumBurner]

On any given day there are many as 8 different saws on the jobsite, so YEAH, we carry ONE saw dedicated to felling, another to topping, another to bucking duty on the yard and backups to ALL of those, along with a couple extras thrown in for good measure. Call it what you want, but time is money and I cant afford to waste either one.

To this and the other poster quoted, keep in mind there's also a difference in job sites where you're near or with the rigs all day, compared to a job that may be a mile or more hike in to the site.

Those factors help determine equipment at hand.