New chain vs sharpened.

[user 122190]

I would like to know the different ways to sharpen for a soft vs hard wood .


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Angles is about the only variable to play with. Every so often someone gets the idea to deviate from the factory and any improvement in cutting speed is offset in edge duration, or visa versa. In the end the tinkerer goes back to the factory settings.

 

[jchipps]

Nope,
Besides varying the cutter angle depending on whether you’re cutting mostly Hard wood or Soft wood, your Raker depth can also be tuned accordingly.
ie:
Soft wood = rakers filed more agressive
Hard wood = rakers filed less aggressive

The factory angles and depths are a decent all around setting.

But by no means ‘Optimal’ and no better in durability.

 

[Husky Man]

Haven't done too much sharpening on my own, but out of the box, or back from the shop, my chains are sharp enough to cut me without even knowing it, if I'm not careful changing chains, especially those damn .404's Bigger cutters and heavier chain, they will Bite, if I'm not paying as much attention as I should be


Doug

 

[user 122190]

I have 2 raker gauges, 0.025 and 0.030, and only have soft woods to cut. My 290 gets the 0.025, and the 461 gets the 0.030, because it has the power to pull the deeper cuts. But honestly, sometimes I just use whatever is first seen.

The only real effective difference in cutting performance is in sharpening the chain. Nothing beats a freshly sharpened chain, but a brand new chain. It has been a good while since I have put a new chain on, but neighbors put new chains on all the time, and only then can they really cut wood. I do sharpen their chains, but they are usually so bad it is not worth it to try and fully repair them. I can improve them, but for free I won't go much further. I did fully resurrect one once, to see what was involved, and when I saw the chain hit dirt soon after, I said not again.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Amen brother!
Couldn’t have said it any better myself!

Those who tout ‘their new chains’ and ‘their machine ground chains’ as precision works of art and superior to a properly hand filed chain, simply never learned to file .... and don’t know what they’re missing.

My advice to anyone starting out:
Don’t be afraid to free yourself from those gadgets and machines.
Grab a good file and go to work. Practice makes perfect.

The thing is it takes experimentation, lots of time cutting different wood species under differing conditions to begin to understand what works better. I started filing chains when I was 9 years old on big saws like the Pioneer 600, Homelite 70 series and McCulloch 70 -80 cc saws that run mostly .404 chain, it was what was being used at that time. As the years passed smaller. lighter higher revving chainsaws came along and we learned how to sharpen them for better performance, it mattered when the goal each day was to get as much wood down and into the pile. We could file our chains each night and try them the next day, experiment with every imaginable component and physically feel the difference. We cut year round through all types of conditions except during a hurricane, waited til the blow was over and cut for weeks straight out,sometimes around the clock afterward. Thinning out cutters under the top plate and even the side plate, filing them back to center them over the rivet below, taking some material off the heel of the cutter and even removing some off the chassis rivet heads was all tried to see what improvement it made. For general cutting as long as the top plate and side plate have the right angles and shape along with the depth gauges set at the right height so the chain self feeds then that is a starting point.

 

[user 122190]

It is if you are happy with 90% of the speed of a factory grind.

Others do better.

I have seen videos of guys sharpening their axes to a sharpness where they supposedly can shave with them. I did that once, with a jig and a progression of finer and finer stones, and I achieved a very very nice edge after an hour of work. I split a few logs and the edge was gone. 90% is a conservative number, but if you got the time/money and feel another percent or two makes you more manly, then continue on with the ceramic round stones, muffler mods, removing the limiter caps, experimenting with gas/oil ratios, porting, timing advances, buying your 37th saw, checking the metering set levels ( @cuinrearview ), etc.

Me I cut about 10 cords of wood with two stock saws, to heat my home in the winter time. I got game.

 

[Philbert]

(We might have scared away another new guy. Sorry Doug.)

Philbert

 

[NSEric]

When I first started using my saw a lot clearing atv trail I'd just buy extra chains and toss the rocked ones, I'd only sharpen the slightly dull ones. On saws that take 3/8lp chain its about 10 bucks a chain for a new chain so sharpening one after you hit a rock is kind of a waste of time. I was bored and went through my pile of rocked chains last weekend and sharpened 6 up so I could use em again, this took over an hour lol.
Now I have bigger saws with .325 chain which is 20 bucks a chain so I sharpen the rocked ones now, they're a little too expensive to replace all the time.
Clearing atv tail kills chains, the trees are sprayed with mud and small rocks close to the mud holes.
If I can get my sharpened chains to cut like new im happy, once they're worn 1/2 out they're a hair faster than new if I get them just right sharpening them tho.

 

[HarleyT]

I have fought with guys that like a chain with scary angles and hooks, they love the fast cutting, and don't mind touching up the chain every 10 minutes.

No use fighting windmills....

Just sell them files....

 

[NvrDwn]

I use the system stihl has to sharpen their chains. It does every thing at once. It wont sharpen as well as what some of these guys can do but it puts a better edge on it than when I take my chain to be sharpened. Plus I'm done in about 5-8 minutes if im careful about it.

 

[HarleyT]

I still have not met anyone stubborn/silly enough to "sharpen" a new chain out of the box!!!!

 

[HarleyT]

But, "By God",
I am sure that we have several here!!!!

 

[dmb2613]

OP, get you a Stihl 2 in 1 file and cut wood

 

[HarleyT]

After cutting a bunch with the new chain out of the box!!!!

 

[user 122190]

Of course "they" (the guys that know what they are doing) do. It is done in between the muffler mod and removing the limiter caps from the Carb. And of course getting rid of the very restrictive spark arrester?

I still have not met anyone stubborn/silly enough to "sharpen" a new chain out of the box!!!!

 

[HarleyT]

Of course "they" (the guys that know what they are doing) do. It is done in between the muffler mod and removing the limiter caps from the Carb. And of course getting rid of the very restrictive spark arrester?

These guys also ask for permission to go to the Minit Mart for beer!!!

 

[Skeans]

I still have not met anyone stubborn/silly enough to "sharpen" a new chain out of the box!!!!

Of course "they" (the guys that know what they are doing) do. It is done in between the muffler mod and removing the limiter caps from the Carb. And of course getting rid of the very restrictive spark arrester?

I guess I’m the silly one being a faller it’s not uncommon to throw a brand new chain on the grinder get it dead on like all the others, but hey what do I know just a silly old cutter.


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[HarleyT]

I guess I’m the silly one being a faller it’s not uncommon to throw a brand new chain on the grinder get it dead on like all the others, but hey what do I know just a silly old cutter.


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Come on guys!!! Come out of the closet!!!!

 

[Philbert]

I still have not met anyone stubborn/silly enough to "sharpen" a new chain out of the box!!!!

Not me. But not unreasonable if you want different angles, more aggressive depth gauges, or to put a 'final' edge on.

Personally, I am more interested in meeting the guys who discard their chains after a single use - send me a PM!

Philbert

 

[HarleyT]

Not me. But not unreasonable if you want different angles, more aggressive depth gauges, or to put a 'final' edge on.

Personally, I am more interested in meeting the guys who discard their chains after a single use - send me a PM!

Philbert

I once had a friend that did that with women.....