Fish
Tree Freak
Yes, the wrong camera distance makes for poor sharpening.fishhuntcutwood said:
Saw chains won't stay sharp
- Thread starter DanManofStihl
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
skwerl
Will Climb for food
the picture titled 40161 is the only one that actually shows the teeth in focus. Looks like you've been trenching in concrete with that saw. Sorry, gotta go with 'operator error'.
Saw Monkey
ArboristSite Lurker
Dan,
Your camera seems to take nice pictures (powerhead is clear and crisp) but you might need to put it in "Macro" mode in order to get the chain up close. Check out the owners manual and see if there's a menu sequence to go through in order to turn on Macro mode for close up pictures.
Your camera seems to take nice pictures (powerhead is clear and crisp) but you might need to put it in "Macro" mode in order to get the chain up close. Check out the owners manual and see if there's a menu sequence to go through in order to turn on Macro mode for close up pictures.
kf_tree
Addicted to ArboristSite
it looks like the grinder is too low and your not hitting the top of the cutter correctly.
DanManofStihl
ArboristSite Guru
I think I got it this time
I went to northern tool and bought some 7/32 grinding stones and sharpened them up some it seems to cut alot better. Yeah the problem with the wood I am cutting is we got it from a land develpoer who negleted to mention that the trees were coming out of a neighborhood till we had already got in 8 dump truck loads with 4 cords on each load. I so far have hit a piece of 5 32 cable and a piece of steel 1 inch long and 1/2 inch thick. That is why the chains look like ass for the most part. The steel is the one that really messed it up since I couldnt see it because it was in the log. THe cable was on the underside so I couldn't see it till it about snatched the saw from my hands/
I went to northern tool and bought some 7/32 grinding stones and sharpened them up some it seems to cut alot better. Yeah the problem with the wood I am cutting is we got it from a land develpoer who negleted to mention that the trees were coming out of a neighborhood till we had already got in 8 dump truck loads with 4 cords on each load. I so far have hit a piece of 5 32 cable and a piece of steel 1 inch long and 1/2 inch thick. That is why the chains look like ass for the most part. The steel is the one that really messed it up since I couldnt see it because it was in the log. THe cable was on the underside so I couldn't see it till it about snatched the saw from my hands/
chainsawworld
ArboristSite Guru
it is hard to see the ture problems in the pics. they are a little blurry. some show "beak" or an overhook on the side plate. the biggest thing i see wrong is their is re-directed light at the point. this means that the chain has been in dirt or rocks or other saw dulling items. if it is difficult to keep the chain out of the dirt you may want to try this attachment......
DanManofStihl
ArboristSite Guru
pic
Ha ha
Ha ha
CNYCountry
ArboristSite Operative
I know you're using a grinder but wanted to mention something that really aggravated me when I was learning to file. I realized I had too much hook on some of the cutters and tried to correct it by pulling up on the file slightly as I ran it through. Well I am apparently clumsy, because a number of times the file would come up OUT of the cutter as I was pulling it across and do a number on the chisel cutter edge. I would have to swear a whole bunch and file it back quite a bit to put a sharp edge on that cutter again.
The other thing I noticed is if you have a chain that has equal length cutters but some with more hook than others, and if you do the pull up on the file method to correct the hook, it quickly shortens those cutters and you have a chain with wildly different cutter lengths. Me being the way I am I went through and filed them all the same length, with the right amount of hook. Quite a bit of time to correct the messed up chain I had filed before I learned to check the hook angle.
Just something to be careful of.
The other thing I noticed is if you have a chain that has equal length cutters but some with more hook than others, and if you do the pull up on the file method to correct the hook, it quickly shortens those cutters and you have a chain with wildly different cutter lengths. Me being the way I am I went through and filed them all the same length, with the right amount of hook. Quite a bit of time to correct the messed up chain I had filed before I learned to check the hook angle.
Just something to be careful of.
Dadatwins
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have never liked those hand held grinders, they cut to fast and to easy to mess up a chain, They can also heat up the chain and take the temper out quickly. I prefer hand sharpening unless the chain is rocked out then a grinder OK. From the pics I can see looks like wrong file size, which you say you have corrected, chain is also loose in a few of the focused pics, it should not be away from the bar. I would check the bar also, looks like is has been burned on the bottom from running the chain loose and hot, do you have the oiler turned all the way up on that saw?, chain looks like it got real hot and dry. I would also check the raker depth, after you correct the angle on the cutter, you will need to lower the raker to compensate. Stay away from the dirt and steel cables and you will be fine. 
Al Smith
Addicted to ArboristSite
In my opinion those little "Dremel" type grinders are ok for salvaging a damaged chain but not much account for normal sharpening.I have one,but only use it for the afore mentioned usage.
I,like a lot of folks,prefer the tried and true method of hand filing,with a real file.It's not hard to do,perhaps some of the "tricks" take a bit of learning but the basics are easy.It just takes a bit of practice.
Some prefer machine grinding,then again,that is a personal preference.
I,like a lot of folks,prefer the tried and true method of hand filing,with a real file.It's not hard to do,perhaps some of the "tricks" take a bit of learning but the basics are easy.It just takes a bit of practice.
Some prefer machine grinding,then again,that is a personal preference.
