How do you sharpen your ripping chain?

[Dai Sensei]

My chain vice is a vice for sharpening (as well as jointing and cutting) the teeth on hand saws but it works well for chains as well. The vice is held vertical by a large woodworking vice on my woodworking bench. With such a long bed I only have to rotate my chain 3 times on a the chain that fits my 42" bar. The other thing is that the extra height brings sharpening up to a comfortable height - also I have crap eyesight so I wear a head mounted magnifier to sharpen

The tap handles set into the bottom of the vice provide additional leverage/force on the top clamp than is possible with the middle thru bolts.

Nice one Bob. I especially like the tap handles, you obviously have access to cheap plumbing supplies

 

[Matildasmate]

Sounds pretty good to me. Did you get this one:

That's the exact same model I bought from Northerntool , it is great , I have been using it for quite a while now . There are a million way's to sharpen your ripping chain , I do my Carlton ripping chain's at 15 deg's x 45 deg's , but I only use ripping chain above 24" , any chain 24" or less , I use normal cross cut chain now a day's , it hold's it's edge better and cut's faster , yeah sure the surface is a little rougher , but I am sure the thicknesser wont mind , any thing above the 24" chain I use ripping chain to get a smoother surface , because I will have to do all the work getting the surface smooth by hand . Cheer's MM

 

[BobL]

Dang, Bob, that's awful pretty for a chain vise. Funny what we millers will use for our "stuff". Can't really justify buying something, so we use what's at hand.

Yep - my thoughts exactly - The long piece of timber cross the top is Western Australian Jarrah and is a left over piece of skirting boards that we used in renovating our house. The verticals I think are Blue gum.

DS the tap handles are from my junk plumbing box. I have FILs collection of some 60 years and my 35 year collection of old brass and galvanized fittings - I have even used bits on my CS mill.

 

[Adkpk]

oregon 511a

I go 5% across the front at a 55% angle. I start to reduce the depth gauges after maybe 10-12 sharpenings. Slight reduction for hard woods, radical for pine and softwoods. I will often readjust the depth gauges while in the middle of a log to achieve some more bite.

Thanks for the up force in the gullet advice Oldsaw, good one.

 

[oldsaw]

I go 5% across the front at a 55% angle. I start to reduce the depth gauges after maybe 10-12 sharpenings. Slight reduction for hard woods, radical for pine and softwoods. I will often readjust the depth gauges while in the middle of a log to achieve some more bite.

Thanks for the up force in the gullet advice Oldsaw, good one.

I learned/figured out how to hand file a chain at a very tender age. Dad would pay a guy at work to do chains who charged him a buck or two each. The guy quit or got fired (probably for sharpening chains on the job), so Dad showed me as much as he knew. Since I was too young to run a saw, he would tell me when I did good. It took a few sharpenings, but I started figuring out what was going on. I tried to figure out what the guy before me had done, but found out he was sort of a hack pretty quick. Dad had one new chain, so I put the drivers in the vise, and looked at what was happening. Put the file in, and tried to memorize the angle.

I thew an old chain in the vise, and realized the "old" guy used to push the file down into the gullet and wasn't getting the corner very well. He was also hitting the rakers too hard and not very evenly. After a couple of sharpenings to even things out, I got to be a half decent chain guy at the age of 12 or 13. Dad was happy. When I moved out, he went to the nearest saw store to have them professionally done. I got to do a couple for him last summer, then tune up his "new" Dolmar 115 (?) which wasn't runnnig right. Runs like a top now.

What you need to watch for is the file making a good corner, following the top plate at the right angle, and with enough upward pressure to cut a new edge, and enough backwards pressure to cut the side plate. 30 some odd years later, I don't think about it much so it gets hard to explain unless you are doing it. I could show you in three minutes and you could "get it" in less than an hour.

Keep working on it, it will come if you watch the file.

Mark

 

[shokidq]

the quickest way to check your raker is place your file on the diagonal across a left and right cutter & judge the gap down to the raker if there is no gap then you need to file the raker at least thats the way I was taught, you can use the raker guage which over here it tends to be the .25 only which for most is not quite agressive enough in the cut but in milling it could be different.

 

[duffontap]

The more you guys talk, the more ignorant I realize that I am. That's great with me if it leads to sharper chains. I have the advantage of years of self-bowyery that have made me very comfortable and controlled with hand tools, but I don't yet understand the theory--which is where you guys are really helping me out here!

My next question is about angles. On my Carlton A3 series chain, the factory grind is a 10 degree top plate and a 75 degree side plate. Does that mean that I should cut the top plate with upward pressure at 10 degrees and then drop down and make another pass on the side plate at 75 degrees? Or, is the entire tooth sharpened on a single series of passes? So far I have only concentrated on the top plate angles.

Thanks to Everyone for the help!

J. D.

 

[oldsaw]

The more you guys talk, the more ignorant I realize that I am. That's great with me if it leads to sharper chains. I have the advantage of years of self-bowyery that have made me very comfortable and controlled with hand tools, but I don't yet understand the theory--which is where you guys are really helping me out here!

My next question is about angles. On my Carlton A3 series chain, the factory grind is a 10 degree top plate and a 75 degree side plate. Does that mean that I should cut the top plate with upward pressure at 10 degrees and then drop down and make another pass on the side plate at 75 degrees? Or, is the entire tooth sharpened on a single series of passes? So far I have only concentrated on the top plate angles.

Thanks to Everyone for the help!

J. D.

That's going to depend on the age of the chain in some cases. Your first order of business is the cutting corner and the top plate. Next is the side plate. You should be able to get them in one motion, two passes if you are just dressing a chain up. It's still a bit hard for me in rip chain because it isn't "natural" with a 5-10 degree top plate. My hand wants a 30 degree, but that passes quickly.

You don't need a ton of upward pressure, just enough to keep the file on the underside of the top plate cutting edge and corner. Otherwise you will booger the corner or the edge on the top plate. Also, don't try to make really long strokes on the file, since you will have a tendency to run your elbow out of linear motion and start to make a loop with it, which pulls the file out of the corner and puts too much cut on the far side of the top plate.

It will all make sense with a file in your hand and a chain in front of you. A bit hard to explain with neither.

Mark

 

[duffontap]

That's going to depend on the age of the chain in some cases. Your first order of business is the cutting corner and the top plate. Next is the side plate. You should be able to get them in one motion, two passes if you are just dressing a chain up. It's still a bit hard for me in rip chain because it isn't "natural" with a 5-10 degree top plate. My hand wants a 30 degree, but that passes quickly.

You don't need a ton of upward pressure, just enough to keep the file on the underside of the top plate cutting edge and corner. Otherwise you will booger the corner or the edge on the top plate. Also, don't try to make really long strokes on the file, since you will have a tendency to run your elbow out of linear motion and start to make a loop with it, which pulls the file out of the corner and puts too much cut on the far side of the top plate.

It will all make sense with a file in your hand and a chain in front of you. A bit hard to explain with neither.

Mark

Ok, so both the side plate and top plate are cut in a single pass. That's what I needed to know. I have a fresh ripping chain so I'll go study it with file in hand.

J. D.

 

[dustytools]

I started out sharpening my chains using a bar mounted jig similar to the one that Granberg sells. After using it for a month or so I started freehanding them with pretty good luck. It may sound kinda odd but the jig was kinda like a set of training wheels for me.

 

[Mad Professor]

For my ripping chains I use a Pferd file holder that takes down the rakers as you sharpen the cutters. It holds two files the round one for the cutters and a flat one for the rakers.

 

[duffontap]

I took everyone's advice to heart and sharpened the chain currently on my bar this morning before church. It looks very sharp. I'm hoping to cut up a 20" x 8' Hemlock log tomorrow so I'll get to see how sharp it is in action.

J. D. Duff

 

[lmbeachy]

Don't know if this is the approved method to check a chain to see if it is sharp, or if any one else does this, but this is the way I check it. After sharpening the chain I lightly drag my thumb nail across the front edge of the chain. If it is sharp it will begin to scrap or cut a fine edge from your thumbnail. Then it is sharp. Works for me.

 

[oldsaw]

Don't know if this is the approved method to check a chain to see if it is sharp, or if any one else does this, but this is the way I check it. After sharpening the chain I lightly drag my thumb nail across the front edge of the chain. If it is sharp it will begin to scrap or cut a fine edge from your thumbnail. Then it is sharp. Works for me.

I usually notice that I took a slice out of one of my fingers somehow.

To each their own, I guess.

Mark

 

[parrisw]

The Husky combi gauge works very well, does the cutters and rakers. I also have a oregon raker gauge as well.

 

[Matildasmate]

I use one of those Carlton file-o-plate's to do my depth gage's , it work's great , I generally file the first depth gage by hand , then I set the grinder up at that and do the rest that way . Cheer's MM

 

[duffontap]

I use one of those Carlton file-o-plate's to do my depth gage's , it work's great , I generally file the first depth gage by hand , then I set the grinder up at that and do the rest that way . Cheer's MM

Does Carlton make a plate for their ripping chains? I was looking on Bailey's but I didn't see one that fit my chain. I guess the depth gauge part of the plate would still work though?

J. D.

 

[parrisw]

This is the combi gauge, works great, it holds you at the 10deg tilt, and the right depth. You just need to know your angles.

 

[Matildasmate]

Does Carlton make a plate for their ripping chains? I was looking on Bailey's but I didn't see one that fit my chain. I guess the depth gauge part of the plate would still work though?
J. D.

Not that I know of , I just use the same one I use for my crosscut chain's , work's great very accurate and simple to use , been using it for some time now , I am very happy with it . Cheer's MM

 

[duffontap]

OK, I got out and milled for a couple hours this morning. I am pretty happy with the improvements in my hand sharpening. Yesterday morning I carefully filed my newest Carlton A3 loop keeping a close eye on the factory grind. I also made one pass on each raker even though it was only my second sharpening because I was suspicious that the depth gauges were set a little bit on the conservative side.

I definitely made an improvement in speed. I was cutting Hemlock 1 x 11"s 8' long in just over 2 1/2 minutes a pass. That was after a couple passes through dirty bark to get it to cant form. I'm using a 281xp so I'm not powering my way through but I'm currently happy with the speed I'm getting.

Thanks for the help and advice from everyone.

J. D. Duff