Oregon chain filing - file "down angle"

[roberte]

Sure is, if you don't know what to do, and why!

I will respectfully disagree. No one can hold a file that steady.
However I will give you that beer. And if freehanding allows you to sleep at night go for it.
I stand by my previous comments

 

[roberte]

Does it look like this?:


F1 by zweitakt250, on Flickr




And like this?:


T1 by zweitakt250, on Flickr

View attachment 274062
yes it does.

 

[Tzed250]

View attachment 274062
yes it does.

LOL. I meant the OP's chain.

 

[RED WOOD]

View attachment 274062
yes it does.

Those are some excellent pictures, roberte! I hope thats what my cutters look like. I think I need to invest in a better light for sharpening so I can see what I am doing.


OOOPs, I didn't scroll up high enough and replied on wrong post. Nice pics Tzed 250!

 

[Trailtrimmer]

I will respectfully disagree. No one can hold a file that steady.
However I will give you that beer. And if freehanding allows you to sleep at night go for it.
I stand by my previous comments

I agree. Freehand is a quicker, but it's not as accurate nor will it be as sharp. I'll freehand in the field, but I'll always use a jig when at home or camp.

 

[craig71]

When it comes to sharpening, I think I will quote Sheryl Crow. "If it makes you happy, it can't be that baaaaaaaaaad".:msp_biggrin:

 

[TreeTangler]

I use good light to file and at this point in my life, get much better results with a set of magnifying reading glasses. In my opinion, I can get the same results using my Husqvarna file guide or freehanding, but it seems that the sharpness and "equalness" of the chain stays longer when using the file guide. I can knock out a 24" bar full comp freehand in less than five minutes in the field but get nowhere near the results that I do at my bench with 10 - 15 minutes.

 

[Philbert]

Back to the OP's Original Questions . . .

Several series of OREGON chains (LP, LPX, LGX, etc.) show the file angle to be tilted down 10 degrees in the back when sharpening. It also has an * asterisk by the little filing guide icon that says to hold at 90 degrees to the bar when using an Oregon hand filing guide. I have an Oregon chain filing guide that clamps right on the bar. My question is do I set my filing guide up to hold that 10 degree down angle or just set it up at 90 degrees to the bar?

So, there are really 2 questions here:

1) Is the 10 degree angle worth it? and,

2) What about the file guides?

1) This was addressed above. Specs typically state a 10 degree angle for full chisel chains. Some guys think that it makes a difference in cutting performance. Some guys think that it is not worth the extra steps, especially when setting up a grinder or filing jig, etc.

2) The asterisk * you mention has to do with the standard, flat style, file guides. If you use one of these (whatever brand), they are made to ride on the tops of the cutters in order to hold the file at the correct height/depth. This prevents them from being used at the 10 degree tilt.

If you use one of the bar-mounted file frames (Oregon, Granberg, etc.) that has the tilt option/adjustment built in, this is not a problem. Just an extra step when you change sides. Of course, you don't have to do this if you don't want to - back to that opinion thing in #1.

Which ever way you go, you can get very sharp, very consistent cutters with this type of guide.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Nice cutters and nice photos Tzed250! (tried to rep you but . . . . )

When it comes to sharpening, I think I will quote Sheryl Crow. "If it makes you happy, it can't be that baaaaaaaaaad".

Would it make you happy to have Sheryl Crow come over to sharpen your chains?

Philbert

 

[SawTroll]

I will respectfully disagree. No one can hold a file that steady.
However I will give you that beer. And if freehanding allows you to sleep at night go for it.
I stand by my previous comments

If a guide lets you see what you are doing, and can be adjusted accordingly, they may be useful - but any guide surely will slow the process down severely. The fastest gudes to use likely is the Husky roller guides, but those aren't perfect either...
Those bar mounted guides looks like they are just bait to draw money from easily fooled costumers to me, no more, no less.
That you have to mount them on the bar is by itself an insult, and it eats time. How are you going to feel what the file is doing, and see it, when it is locked in that contraption?

 

[cutforfun]

If a guide lets you see what you are doing, and can be adjusted accordingly, they may be useful - but any guide surely will slow the process down severely. The fastest gudes to use likely is the Husky roller guides, but those aren't perfect either...
Those bar mounted guides looks like they are just bait to draw money from easily fooled costumers to me, no more, no less.
That you have to mount them on the bar is by itself an insult, and it eats time. How are you going to feel what the file is doing, and see it, when it is locked in that contraption?

Have you used a guide/jig you can feel every stroke of the file and watch it move across the cutter.

 

[craig71]

Nice cutters and nice photos Tzed250! (tried to rep you but . . . . )



Would it make you happy to have Sheryl Crow come over to sharpen your chains?

Philbert

Sure she can, I would let her have her way with my file.

 

[roberte]

If a guide lets you see what you are doing, and can be adjusted accordingly, they may be useful - but any guide surely will slow the process down severely. The fastest gudes to use likely is the Husky roller guides, but those aren't perfect either...
Those bar mounted guides looks like they are just bait to draw money from easily fooled costumers to me, no more, no less.
That you have to mount them on the bar is by itself an insult, and it eats time. How are you going to feel what the file is doing, and see it, when it is locked in that contraption?

Well it all depends on ones view of the process. I am not insulted by using a bar mount guide and I don't look at as a chore either. I don't and won't file in the field, it all comes back to the shop for filing with the guide in a vise. I was taught long ago that filing was a part of the deal. Plus with the guide I can feel each cutter and I know my strokes are even.
30 & 10.

 

[cobey]

im just learning to sharpen my chains with great results!! I was running a couple of cheap chains
and did a weeks worth of cutting with the two old beater chains. every four hours I would touch then up,
on the third stroke the tooth was ushally smooth/sharp. always were a couple of stubburn teeth. useing a guide
every other time.

 

[SawTroll]

Well it all depends on ones view of the process. I am not insulted by using a bar mount guide and I don't look at as a chore either. I don't and won't file in the field, it all comes back to the shop for filing with the guide in a vise. I was taught long ago that filing was a part of the deal. Plus with the guide I can feel each cutter and I know my strokes are even.
30 & 10.

If I needed to, I would have no problem filing in the woods, but the state of the wood I cut doesn't dull the chains much (clean and green birch mostly). Also, I bring extra chain in case of a mishap with inbedded wire or something like that - but it very seldom happens.

 

[Incomplete]

Sharpening is an art. Jigs and stump vises/bench clamps and computer guided robots take the feel out of it; not to mention rotary grinders and their high speed temper strippers. It's like dragging your fine kitchen cutlery through one of those edge rapers in the drawer or worse, on the counter top.

And guys who don't sharpen in the field? Try driving an hour back to the shop when you're three days behind schedule and you just rocked you chain. You sit on the stump, put the saw between your feet, grasp the blade with you free hand, pull the appropriate file from your rule pocket, and start polishing that tooth right there in your face. 10-20 minutes later, you've had a good little break and you're ready to letter 'er rip. "Put your extra loop on," I hear some say. Why? It needed to be sharpened, and I needed a break.

The best part about being able to put a shaving edge on your teeth by hand, is that when that day comes that you don't have all the gizmos, you still can.

 

[heartwoodaus]

Sharpening is an art. Jigs and stump vises/bench clamps and computer guided robots take the feel out of it; not to mention rotary grinders and their high speed temper strippers. It's like dragging your fine kitchen cutlery through one of those edge rapers in the drawer or worse, on the counter top.

And guys who don't sharpen in the field? Try driving an hour back to the shop when you're three days behind schedule and you just rocked you chain. You sit on the stump, put the saw between your feet, grasp the blade with you free hand, pull the appropriate file from your rule pocket, and start polishing that tooth right there in your face. 10-20 minutes later, you've had a good little break and you're ready to letter 'er rip. "Put your extra loop on," I hear some say. Why? It needed to be sharpened, and I needed a break.

The best part about being able to put a shaving edge on your teeth by hand, is that when that day comes that you don't have all the gizmos, you still can.

Well put mate.

 

[SawTroll]

Sharpening is an art. Jigs and stump vises/bench clamps and computer guided robots take the feel out of it; not to mention rotary grinders and their high speed temper strippers. It's like dragging your fine kitchen cutlery through one of those edge rapers in the drawer or worse, on the counter top.

And guys who don't sharpen in the field? Try driving an hour back to the shop when you're three days behind schedule and you just rocked you chain. You sit on the stump, put the saw between your feet, grasp the blade with you free hand, pull the appropriate file from your rule pocket, and start polishing that tooth right there in your face. 10-20 minutes later, you've had a good little break and you're ready to letter 'er rip. "Put your extra loop on," I hear some say. Why? It needed to be sharpened, and I needed a break.

The best part about being able to put a shaving edge on your teeth by hand, is that when that day comes that you don't have all the gizmos, you still can.

It doesn't take 10-20 minutes to touch up a chain, if you know what you are doing, and have the right file ready (of course you do).

 

[MarcS]

I experimented with this as well and 5 degrees works good for me. About halfway back on the cutter (3/8") I switch to 13/64". Freehand or jig...I have and use both. Sometimes it's good to sit at the bench and bring everything back with a jig, and a good time to have a couple beers and play some Waylon. Three/four beers and the angles get tricky...

 

[Tzed250]

Sharpening is an art. Jigs and stump vises/bench clamps and computer guided robots take the feel out of it; not to mention rotary grinders and their high speed temper strippers. It's like dragging your fine kitchen cutlery through one of those edge rapers in the drawer or worse, on the counter top.

Man developed machine tools to take the feel out.

And guys who don't sharpen in the field? Try driving an hour back to the shop when you're three days behind schedule and you just rocked you chain. You sit on the stump, put the saw between your feet, grasp the blade with you free hand, pull the appropriate file from your rule pocket, and start polishing that tooth right there in your face. 10-20 minutes later, you've had a good little break and you're ready to letter 'er rip. "Put your extra loop on," I hear some say. Why? It needed to be sharpened, and I needed a break.

Blade???

The best part about being able to put a shaving edge on your teeth by hand, is that when that day comes that you don't have all the gizmos, you still can.

The edge is important, but so are the angles and lengths. No hand filing will ever be as precise or accurate as using a jig.