Hand filing sucks!

[Erock]

grinders work okay but I sure do prefer to hand file. I like the 2" + long spaghetti noodles that come from a good hand file job. My guide of choice is this
View attachment 302512

One issue with hand filing is filing a brand new chain. It takes a sharpen or two to get rid of that bit of factory tooth hardness where it may take 10 or 15 strokes down to where the file will bite in good and it may only take maybe 5 strokes to get that edge back.

 

[moody]

The only time I use the wrong size file is on a 3/8 chain I use a .404 file. I get really nice results from that. A logger friend showed me how and explained that I'd ruin a chain or 6 but once I got it down I'd like it. He was right ruined some trash chain and finally noticed angle was key. I'm pretty good with a file but that took hours of practice.

 

[nstueve]

The only time I use the wrong size file is on a 3/8 chain I use a .404 file. I get really nice results from that. A logger friend showed me how and explained that I'd ruin a chain or 6 but once I got it down I'd like it. He was right ruined some trash chain and finally noticed angle was key. I'm pretty good with a file but that took hours of practice.

I've only used Stihl and husky brand files and have found them to work pretty good. I do use the "recommended" file size for the job. I've heard of using the next file size up but those husky guides (like pictures above) work really well to get the file into the top of the cutter.

As for the square grind... Just practice and you'll be doing it freehand like Matt in no time!

 

[bower4311]

I've only used Stihl and husky brand files and have found them to work pretty good. I do use the "recommended" file size for the job. I've heard of using the next file size up but those husky guides (like pictures above) work really well to get the file into the top of the cutter.

As for the square grind... Just practice and you'll be doing it freehand like Matt in no time!

I don't think husky or stihl make their own files. Usually swiss made. Vallorbe I think. At least the husky and stihl ones I've seen.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[hatchet13]

There is no match for a well filed chain .I've used chains fresh of the grinder from a shop local to me not shure wht kind of rig it is ,but it's huge size of a fridge at least all automated n stuff . When the chains came off the machine all the cutters were discolored from the heat . The cut wasn't to bad for the first few . After prolly 5 buckin cuts in clean white oak there was no edge left. Filed it back to a nice edge cut great for alitel bit then dull . Cutters lost there harden on the grinder . The man I was workin for swore up and down that the shop that did the chain was the best, and that u couldn't beat a machine grind. All his saws had the mushy burnt chains. So on my own I went n got a brand new loop of the same stilh chain that he used put it on the saw pourposluy put it in the dirt till she was makin dust , showd the boss the nice dull chain spent 5 maby 7 mins fileing then told him to run it till it was dull . He agreed to it figuring it would dull out the same as his chain off the grinder in 5 cuts or so . Two tanks of gas and an old man humbled he handed me the saw back. Seince then he hasent paid 10 bux a chain to have them ruined . Instead he has me file all of them after replacing 12 chains that were mush. I've never had a good luck with power ground chain.( granted iv olny been running saws for 10 years) . When I was first tought how to run saws I was also schooled deeply on hand fileing by a dude that was in his late 80s at the time passed on now. Miss that guy he gave me my first saw as well 028super. IMHO hand fileing is the olny way to go.

 

[jwp]

Where can I be schooled on how to use a husky filing guide?

 

[Redoakranch]

I still respect the hand filers but grinders don't have to be used incorrectly. Its really easy to use them correctly but yes any idiot working for minimum wage can ruin a chain in a hurry with a grinder.

 

[moody]

I've only used Stihl and husky brand files and have found them to work pretty good. I do use the "recommended" file size for the job. I've heard of using the next file size up but those husky guides (like pictures above) work really well to get the file into the top of the cutter.

As for the square grind... Just practice and you'll be doing it freehand like Matt in no time!

I've got a Husky guide and love it. Use it mostly for the depth gauge for my rakers.

 

[7sleeper]

I also use and like the Husqvarna file roller guide a lot. Too bad it's not available in 404. Actually I am not aware of any filling guide for 404. Because since it is a size I don't file so often that would actually be convinient to use.

7

 

[MCW]

It's pretty hard to completely wreck a tooth from overheating with a grinder. Yeah it's easy to overcook the lead cutting edge but grind it back a bit further and you'll find it will be OK. If anybody has ever managed to blue an entire cutter with a grinder then they are indeed single digit IQ type folks.
Grinders get a bad rap from some of the morons that use them, no doubt about it. It's like blaming an M4 carbine for a mass shooting, it's not the gun's fault that an idiot got hold of it...

 

[Karl Robbers]

I also use and like the Husqvarna file roller guide a lot. Too bad it's not available in 404. Actually I am not aware of any filling guide for 404. Because since it is a size I don't file so often that would actually be convinient to use.

7

It sure is available in .404. The part number is 505 69 81 15
This is just a filing guide, it does not have the depth guide setting feature unfortunately.

 

[Karl Robbers]

One aspect that has not been mentioned thus far is the fact that some people will never be able to reliably sharpen a chain with a file. As an example, I can quite competently sharpen a chain with a file, including truing it in the event of damage. My Father however, is dyslexic and no matter how hard he tries, cannot put all the required facets together in order to sharpen with a file reliably. By that I mean that he will probably get 2, maybe 3 touch ups with a file assuming no damage is done to the chain, before the angles will wander etc. The grinder option is the best for him because the machine is set to absolute values and guides etc do the work. My Father can certainly set a grinder in order to take a skim off a tooth, removing the bluing issue, (which I know well from when saw shops sharpened our chains and blued every cutter). If I sharpen other peoples chains, invariably they get ground unless I am feeling particularly charitable.
There is definitely a place for both grinding and filing and I do like filing a chain. I definitely agree that a well filed chain cuts like a hotrod.
At the end of the day, do what works for you and do it to the best of your ability.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to many people's chains cutting well is the issue of depth guide setting. I know that once I became aware of progressive depth guide setting ala Husqvarna Comb Guide and Carlton File O Plate, my productivity went up immensely.