Should I Stop Using a File to Sharpen Chains?

[Paul Bunions]

I haven't been here for a while because I bought a sonic cleaner that solved my ethanol gas problems. Now I have another question: is there some reason why I should quit using files to sharpen chains?

I took my Echo CS-590 to a local shop, and they sharpened the chain without my permission, while charging me more than I approved and holding the saw for a solid month. Of course, they cut the chisels at a brand-new angle, so I had to do a lot of filing the next time I sharpened the chain. I suspect they did this on purpose, hoping I would start paying them for sharpening, sort of like the mechanics who overtighten oil plugs and filters to make you want to let them change your oil.

Anyway, fixing the chain was a lot of work, and it made me think about getting a little machine to do it. But it seems like sharpening a chain with a file is always a 5-minute job, except when someone else has messed with it. Is there some reason why I shouldn't be using a file? It seems incredibly fast and easy, and I can't see anything wrong with the results.

 

[KarlD]

No, stick with a file. No shop where I live can get my chain as sharp with a machine as I can with a file.
Having said that...I hate filing those bastad depth gauges

 

[KarlD]

No, stick with a file. No shop where I live can get my chain as sharp with a machine as I can with a file.
Having said that...I hate filing those bastad depth gauges

...but then the only shops I tend to go in sell food or beer

 

[MooneyPilot]

PROPERLY DONE, a file can help a chain a lot. Poorly done, it can be a waste of time.

 

[PV Hiker]

A full potential of a tool is the ability of the person behind it.

 

[PV Hiker]

sounds like you're getting results with a file, stick with it.

 

[Ronaldo]

Files work great and usually result in a sharper chain. Grinders are handy when a chain has been rocked or hit something. Fairly easy and quicker to get all the teeth back to normal.

Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk

 

[arathol]

No, stick with a file. No shop where I live can get my chain as sharp with a machine as I can with a file.
Having said that...I hate filing those bastad depth gauges

Thats the easy part...just use the proper tool and it takes about one minute to get them done....

 

[Twowithone]

Thats the easy part...just use the proper tool and it takes about one minute to get them done....

 

[Twowithone]

Keep sharpening your own. I bought the Sthil 2in1 filing system cant beat it.

 

[Paul Bunions]

I appreciate the advice. It just seemed like an awful lot of people were complaining about sharpening chains with files, and there are companies selling gadgets that seem completely unnecessary, so I wondered what I was doing wrong. I just plop the saw on a tractor tire, yank the chain through by hand, and give each chisel about 5 strokes. I see weird vises and so on for sale, and I can't see the need.

 

[Wood Doctor]

The biggest problem I see with hand sharpening using a file is that one side of the chain seems to always get sharper than the other. Eventually the cutters are not even the same size and a straight cut becomes impossible. The saw pulls either right or left. That my be OK for trimming branches off trees, but it is not OK for buck cutting big rounds from a trunk.

 

[sundance]

Thats the easy part...just use the proper tool and it takes about one minute to get them done....

@arathol Husqvarna roller guide? I need to get something better than I've been doing.

 

[46 Poulan]

Husqvarna roller guide --works good for me!!!David

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

I get alot of saws from the juck yard or abused throw aways , those are the times a grinder might be nice to get the chain straightened out.
I find hand filing relaxing and take my time with it and dont have any crooked cutting problems. I actually hear more guys having a disappointing experience with a shoo grinding their chain for them .

 

[arathol]

@arathol Husqvarna roller guide? I need to get something better than I've been doing.

Yes. Once you figure out how to use it, that guide makes things go a lot easier and quicker.

The biggest problem I see with hand sharpening using a file is that one side of the chain seems to always get sharper than the other. Eventually the cutters are not even the same size and a straight cut becomes impossible. The saw pulls either right or left. That my be OK for trimming branches off trees, but it is not OK for buck cutting big rounds from a trunk.

Only if you let it....the reason for the difference is its harder to keep the angles the same side-to-side. If you learn how to keep the filing angle the same you won't have that problem.

 

[arathol]

@arathol Husqvarna roller guide? I need to get something better than I've been doing.

Yes. Once you figure out how to use it, that guide makes things go a lot easier and quicker.

The biggest problem I see with hand sharpening using a file is that one side of the chain seems to always get sharper than the other. Eventually the cutters are not even the same size and a straight cut becomes impossible. The saw pulls either right or left. That my be OK for trimming branches off trees, but it is not OK for buck cutting big rounds from a trunk.

Only if you let it....the reason for the difference is its harder to keep the angles the same side-to-side. If you learn how to keep the filing angle the same you won't have that problem.

 

[newforest]

Practice makes perfect. Eventually, you will need to do it, out in the woods somewhere, totally free-hand - just you, and a file.

I did learn something about it while reading a book, once. It is real handy to mark the first tooth with a lumber crayon, so you don't have to squint down at them to find the start tooth again as you get back close to it. Now I never want to file a chain without one of those crayons handy.

Some sawyers say they can tell if some other sawyer is left or right handed by looking at their cuts. But the more you sharpen, the more a difference 'tween left & right will minimize for you.

 

[Philbert]

I appreciate the advice. It just seemed like an awful lot of people were complaining about sharpening chains with files, . . .

'Everyone has to find something that works for them'.

Sounds like filing works for you. Sounds like your problem was with the shop.

I can file , but I am better with a file guide, and with the bar or chain secured in a vice of some type, so that I can use 2 hands, and not chase a moving cutter. But I am often sharpening batches of chains, used by others, without having them on the saw, so I prefer to grind. And I have gotten used to it, even for one loop.

Of course, they cut the chisels at a brand-new angle, so I had to do a lot of filing the next time I sharpened the chain. I suspect they did this on purpose . . .

I doubt that. They probably just used their 'standard settings'. That's one of the big advantages of sharpening your own chains, no matter what tool you use; you get to choose your own angles, etc.

Philbert

 

[arathol]

One other thing to remember is that many chains have witness marks. These marks if you follow them will keep the filing angle correct. As long as you keep the file parallel to the mark on the cutter the angle should be the same on both sides of the chain.