The Power of A New Chain

[Dixiebonsai]

 Anyone else love that feeling showing up to to a cutting sight with the lapping done, just big logs and a BRAND NEW CHAIN!
Man, I bought a fixer upper MS361 on eBay cheap , spent $50 dollars on parts but tried to make do with old chain.It was making me work too hard.Finally broke down and bought a new chain , my first yellow ansi chain at that.I was cuttin like an angry beaver today, flat buzzing through some wood.Half the effort of that old chain and three times the output.Did notice my Stihl tried to jump and kick back a little more. but a fair trade.Treating it like a loaded gun.I did get the semi-chisel because I'm cuttin bulldozed wood that has some dirt on it. Been thinking about adding a stiff brush to my bag of tricks to help get rid of some dirt.I wonder how much better my 361 would cut with full chisel and clean wood?

[beenthere]

I find a new chain cuts the best after it has been hand filed at least once. And the rakers evened out with flat file. Can't raise the low rakers, but can file down the high ones to make more even cutting.

But as you found out, a sharp chain is a joy to run.
Amazing how often someone makes the comment about how much better my saw cuts wood. It's all in the chain being filed right, IMO.

[Ianab]

Once you get the hang of sharpening you should be able to get an  old chain to cut "good as new" until the cutters are pretty much worn back to nothing. Keeping the actual cutter profile correct, and the rakers at the correct height etc.

Someone that's an expert at sharpening will be able to get a chain cutting BETTER then new. I'm not that good, yet  ;)  :D

If you are noticing the new chain is more "grabby" than your old one, check the raker height. If they are too high the cutters don't dig in at enough angle, and just skims off slivers of wood instead of digging out decent size chips like it should.

But I know what you mean about the joy of having a good sharp chain. We went and sawed up a decent size cypress for my BIL. Had to limb and buck the log before we could even think about moving it with a tractor, and it was sitting in a awkward spot. After some considering I decided to bore cut to buck it, leaving a piece at the top to cut last. So I fire up the Dolmar and basically just bore into the log. BIL come up to me later and says "Wow that saw cuts, you just stuck it into that log like a knife into butter"

As it should be  ;D

[snowshoveler]

When your old chain is getting filed back close to the witness mark on the back of the tooth its at its best. There is a place for the chip to ride until it can be ejected when out of the cut.
Chris

[ladylake]

 
Any chain will cut like new or better when properly sharpened and the rakers taken down as needed, if you have a safety chain those bumper links need to be taken down also to cut good.   Steve

[CTYank]

It's not about getting a chain sharp. It's about keeping it sharp.

The way it normally works for me: every other fill-up, each cutter gets a couple file strokes with help of Granberg file guide. That guide has a reserved spot in my basic tool-bag. It's also the only (except for rocked chains) means I use for sharpening saw chain. People I've demoed it too, got one and love it.

Not at all hard to figure out how to get best results, but included directions kinda suck.

Dull chains beat up on bars and engines, even on stihls. (Yeah, there are others.)

[John Mc]

It's not about getting a chain sharp. It's about keeping it sharp.

Amen!

Dull chains beat up on bars and engines, even on stihls. (Yeah, there are others.)

Not to mention they beat up on the operator as well. Why make yourself and your equipment work harder than it has too?