What raker gauges do y'all use?

[teakwood]

Since i use the 2in1 chainsaw sharpener i don't fiddle around with depth rackers anymore, also i don't loose time sharpening anymore. less than 2min for a 20" chain and off i go cutting again.

Yeah i know the depth is set for the recommended manufacturers measurements , but that works perfect for my application and probably for 95% of all chainsaw users 

  https://www.amazon.com/PFERD-17304-Chain-Sharpener-CS-X/dp/B0046VN5Z6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2WE609A93PV8H&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.L3zaDIs2qzc6cgippzKeZVz81aWmbzahFSza7Fn4LaTS0-bPThJCOiFBMcZSgqxx4qrg2RnRDPdppa21tA92yyr5TSqGAxOslmuWvGKS0QKhBuprDnuQcqeY7F83y4uzvXWePCAc0vQKWIMsUXwtLDoJ6V9mzx42nyMiZad918QQ5r6LcvIa5a3xERFCkJKRiWbW-xJsMWtXqNbo3tXT_FYj_ipiAm1JwP_4sW57fsE.z76OGY4x15Oj8YMmtTg_hrZI40NWD68T0ZHdXp-bHRY&dib_tag=se&keywords=pferd%2Bchainsaw%2Bsharpening%2B2in1&qid=1742469286&sprefix=pferd%2Bchainsaw%2Bsharpening%2B2in1%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-3&th=1

[doc henderson]

The rakers wear and shorten naturally in use.  if you damage a chain or dull it often and file or grind the chain, the rakers may not keep up.  I have only had to grind the rakers a few times.  If a chain does not move itself into the wood with even just the weight of the saw, and it is sharp, then I check the rackers.  I have overdone it in the past and it made a very grabby chain.  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".  by every farmer I have ever known.

[barbender]

The 2 in 1 guides work well, although I look like a monkey using one and trying to figure out which side is up etc.

Otherwise, I just hit the rakers every 3rd or 4th sharpening with a flat file. Whenever the saw feels like it isn't biting into the wood.
I just use a flat file and count strokes. Usually 3 is about right.

[beenthere]

Agree with others that the rakers do wear down on their own so often do not need filing, or just a bit of filing.
I like to use the Husqvarna flat guide on the roller guide as it protects the file from hitting the sharpened cutter edge.

[Big_eddy]

I too use the Husky roller guide and gauge. Every couple of times I sharpen, I check one or two rakers. If they are proud of the gauge, then every tooth gets two swipes with the raker file. First swipe  flat, and the second rolled forward to round the corner.  A safe edge raker file all but eliminates the risk of dulling the freshly sharpened teeth. 

[aigheadish]

I don't cut a lot like most of you guys but I don't find my saw to be particularly aggressive on the stuff I'm cutting. Mostly, random hardwoods, recently mulbrerry, but often ash, or some big variety of cherry. I've attempted to use the Husqvarna roller guide but I don't think I'm sitting it properly on the chain to see what I should be filing on the rakers. I guess a-video-hunting-I-must go! This video is simple, and no, I'm sure I wasn't positioning it properly.

I'm also inexperienced enough to not know if I'd doing a good job of sharpening. I tend to compare what I think I remember a new chain to feel like on a finger tip to my sharpening job but I imagine I'm a hacker at it.

[Old Greenhorn]

Austin, first thing you need to know is what chain are your using and does the guide match the chain? Used to be that the guides were just for different pitches (,325,.375, ect.) but now there is the X-cut Husky chain out there which is different.  As far as I can tell an X-cut roller guide does not indicate it is for X-cut, it just has the pitch on it like the others. All X-cut guides I have seen all have orange rollers. For rakers, I don't believe there is any difference, but for teeth sharpening, there is.
 Each time you buy a decent chain, the sharpening angles should be shown on the box, as well as the proper file size. I always cut them out and staple to the shop wall for reference. It matters.
 There are two angles you have to concern yourself with on the teeth: The angle across the face which is what you see if your look straight down on the file, and the drop angle of the file, which is what you would see if you looked straight at the bar tip back toward the saw head. Face angles are generally 30° and drop angles are usually around 7-10°. So start out by finding out which chain you have and using the correct angles. There are many over lapping compatible chains and guides. For instance Oregon LPX chain sharpens up great with the standard Husky roller guide as do many many other chains.
 Also frequently overlooked by a newer chainsaw user is that the side plate of the tooth has to be just as sharp as the top, as well as that all important corner. The top of the tooth lifts the chip and the side plate cuts it free. I recently rocked a chain and have no problem getting the top plates sharp again and most of the corners, but the side plates took a lot of damage from the rock. I will have to take the teeth halfway back before that cleans up, so I am saving that chain for machine sharpening.

 The chain needs all those things working properly together: top plate, corner, and side plates all sharp, as well as the proper raker height. It's pretty tough to tell by finger until you know exactly what you are feeling and can be self-critical. Using a loop or magnifier to examine each of those features will help you tech your self what is correct. My first couple of years trying to get good at sharpening were very frustrating, I was lucky to get some hands on coaching that got me over the hump. The way I improved best was to take a nice pleasant day and sharpen the chain then try it in the woodpile, finding an issue, carefully examining the chain looking for the cause, then resharpening to fix it and try again. It was tedious and took several sessions before I could 'really feel' what was going on. It took another 1-2 years until I got 'good enough' at it to feel confident. It take patience and persistence.

 The next time we cross paths, one of us will have to bring a saw and we can spend time on it together. I am reminded of a little rhyme that a mentor told me when I was about 15, I never forgot it:

Patience is a virtue,
Keep it if you can,
It's found seldom in a woman,
And never in a man.

[aigheadish]

Good notes and lesson Tom, thank you! 

I've never heard the rest of "Patience is a virtue" I think I heard it about the same age but from a photography teacher. Good stuff!

[beenthere]

That was a good video of using the Husqvarna roller and raker gauge to sharpen. What I do and like for easy sharpening, except I don't set the brake between each tooth. Do several (3-5) at a time before advancing the chain. 

[aigheadish]

My method too.

[thecfarm]

Tom, I did the same thing with a chain and a log.
When I got done there was not much left of either.
And I had a Father that grew up with a buck saw. If it was not sharp, you worked that much harder.
he tried to teach me and I just could not get head wrapped around it and I watch him sharpen many chains growing up.

[barbender]

I think in some ways sharpening may be like musical ability etc. Some folks will have some musical gifting, others don't😊

I was taught how to file when I was about 19, by an ornery half crazy Swede. "It's still white!" he'd bellar at me and my coworkers, expecting us to know what he meant. But he knew what he was talking about. A sharp tooth has no reflecting light between the two faces of the tooth. A dull one will. 

This is definitely one of those things that is easier to show someone in person.

[Old Greenhorn]

Ray, I am with you. Same deal here. We think when we watch somebody do a thing , we get it and say "OK, that's what I have to do". What we don't get right away is what they are looking at and seeing that guides HOW they do it. That takes a while to grasp and even longer to master.

BB, I nearly spit beer through my nose when I read your reply. As someone who has tried over and over for more than 4 decades to learn to make music and had some great teachers along the way your thought just struck me hard. Have you ever tried to teach a proficient musician to sharpen a chain? I have, and it wasn't pretty. Monkeys and footballs come to mind if you get my drift.  He got really frustrated because he couldn't get it and said I made it look too easy. Which ironically the same thing I said to him in the past about his playing.
 I spent decades studying cutting tool failures on the job. I looked at thousands of cutting edges under microscopes to analyze failure causes and coming up with corrections. Granted it was mostly in carbide and ceramics, but the concepts are the same and cutting tooth geometry always matters. So for me to understand what a chainsaw tooth was pretty easy, but it took me a while to make it actually happen on the tooth. It jut takes practice and patience.

[barbender]

OG, I always consider it an honor when I can make someone spit their drink out of their nose😂 Actually, probably the pinnacle is the few times I've caused a somewhat reserved, beautiful woman to laugh so hard they either snort or spit their drink out their nose. It ain't easy😂

And yes, I've also seen folks that are imminently lifted in one area, and completely inept in others😊

My musical abilities...like many things I put my hand to, I know enough to be dangerous😁

Below, I have a picture of a harvester chain from my firewood processor. Slightly dull for the processor, probably very dull for a chainsaw. But I just noticed the gleam reflecting off the dull edge when I went to sharpen it, and I thought it would make a good illustration.