Hand filing question

[Al_Smith]

Cutting a lot of downed stuff try as you might you will kiss the dirt .It's often I can't cut more than a tank full of gas before I have to file .Which again on a 20 inch loop is only about 5 minutes .Keep it sharp, less work for the saw and you as a matter of fact .

[Ianab]

Keep it sharp, less work for the saw and you as a matter of fact .

Worth repeating. That's the big advantage of the hand or guide filing systems.  They work in the field, in 5  mins while you take a break and refuel. (you and the saw)

Much respect to the guys that file freehand, it's an art. I use a guide, because it's easier and it works, The best thing about the new 2 in 1 system is that it works, even if you are an uncoordinated newbie. Follow the diagram and you will have 95% sharp chain in minutes.  Chainsaw Yoda can probably do better free hand, but I don't have years of Jedi training. 

[SwampDonkey]

I've always gotten along with a file in a cheapo file guide for years. But I like the 3 file guide mentioned, one tool and all set to go. Stump vice is mighty handy, just ordered one a couple days ago. Getting older so a pair of chaps isn't a bad idea, never wore any before. But age makes you wiser. Got them coming to.

[thecfarm]

Do whatever works for you. 
If I used a guide I would have to relearn how to sharpen a saw. 
My Father could do a great job. But he came from the era of one man cross cut saws. He was born in 1923. Either you learned how to keep the saw sharp or you worked harder.
My father could never understand how I could not sharpen a saw. He showed me enough times but could not drive it into my head.
One day I took a log and I was determined to get it!!
By the time I got done, was not much left of the log or the chain!!!
But I got it!!!!  
I can even put a saw down on the ground and do a great job on it. As I say, It draws itself into the wood so I must be doing something right. I even just guess on the rakers too. But I do use a grinder for them.
The angle of the file and those witness marks are mighty important.

[SwampDonkey]

The Husq 555 with a short bar is a bit squirrelly to file on the tail gate. Likes to squirm like a greased pig.

[Old Greenhorn]

I'm with Cfarm, do what works. Bottom line is good chips and straight cuts. If you need a guide, use it. I like simple and with xcut chain and the flat top angle, I use no guide any more. I started with the guide but pretty quickly my hands learned the way and I stopped using the guide. I saw the other day that the XCut guides are finally making it into box stores. I do use a guide on the regular LPX chains because that 10° down angle still confuses my hands over time and I can begin to fade on accuracy as I go around. A large number of folks like that all in one tool. I never tried one and not sure how it will do on the down angle variations of all these different chains. I don't really want another 'thing' to carry around. A round file fits easy in my wedge pouch, saw bag, or on the bench by the vice and I just keep files handy in all those places and change them out when they get worn.

 Filing anything on a tailgate is tough for me these days. First, the tailgate is so high that I can't see what I am doing, and second I have a plastic bed liner and everything slips and slides all over the place. I took a piece of 2x12x12" and drove a stump vice in the center of it and keep that in the truck for field work. Easy to use anywhere and puts a 3rd leg on the saw. I don't like working on my knees (ruins my pants over time) but I will do that to sharpen a chain.  Mostly I just stay ahead of it. At the end of the day I will bring whatever saws I used into the shop and do them on the bench in a vice for a fast and proper job and check the rakers and perhaps a quick cleaning to keep things flowing. Having good lighting and a solid setup gives me the best results as my eyes get older and my back gets weaker, plus, my bench is only a few feet from the woodstove, so I can stoke that up and keep an eye on it at the same time.

[Al_Smith]

Like I said everybody has a method .I usually sit on a 5 gallon bucket with a seat lid ,actually a John-Deere bucket behind the tail gate of my Ranger which has a plastic bed liner .I file right over the top left right left .I can see the angles better and don't have long cutters on one side and short on the other which many people end up with .In the woods I just find a fat log and cut a slot in it .Holds it like a stump vise .
Then comes Willard and sits the saw on his lap .I have no idea how he does that but it obviously works .
In the entire usable life of a chain you only might need to take the rakers down 4-5 times .When the point of the cutter is right ahead of the last rivet is about as fast as it ever will be .It helps every so often to take a bare file and run the gullet down to the tie strap that way it holds a bigger load of chips before it rocks out .It's not going to weaken the chain like some say unless you hit a fence post .Then all it would do at the worst is break off the cutter .Even then it will still cut although not quite as good .Use it up until it's about gone then hang it on a nail and use it for a stump cutter .

[lxskllr]

I usually sharpen with the saw in my lap, or more accurately, the bar in my lap with the bigger saws. I've thought about getting stump vises and stuff, but I don't think there's anything I'd like better. My ideal setup would be standing with the saw clamped in a vice at upper stomach level. That could be accomplished in the woods with the right sacrificial tree, but you have to find and sacrifice a tree first. Easier to just plant my butt on the ground, and file in my lap.

[Old Greenhorn]

....I usually sit on a 5 gallon bucket with a seat lid ,actually a John-Deere bucket behind the tail gate of my Ranger which has a plastic bed liner ........

If I sat on a bucket, even with a seat lid behind my tailgate I would be banging my forehead against the edge of the tail gate. It could be a JD bucket, a Husky, or a Stihl. Wouldn't matter. I think if I sat on a 30 gallon barrel it might work but I would still likely have problems seeing what I was doing and the saw would still slide whichever way I was pushing the file. Just doesn't work for me.

[SwampDonkey]

Some of us with Ford Rangers and Tacomas have the gate at waist height, not chin high, same on the SxS.

But yeah, chain filing on short bars is squirrelly free handed. Saw wants to get away.

[Tom King]

By only using the file in one hand, the other hand holds the bar, so it really can't slide around.  I don't remember at what point I changed from using two hands, but never went back to it.  It doesn't require twisting your back around, and you can see the tooth better.  It also makes it easy to use the whole length of the file.

It especially makes a difference in filing fine backsaw teeth where good vision is an absolute requirement.

When I file depth gauges, I'll use a gauge on the first two or three until I see what the right height looks like, and then count the same strokes that the gauge asked for, as well as the way it looks.

[SwampDonkey]

It definitely slides around with one hand on the bar, other on the file. It's a short bar, not a 24" one. So not much contact with the bar. Like trying to control a ball bearing. The saw will roll to. Used to always use 18" bar, this is 16". Which will drop 99% of the trees from sawing from one side that I'm thinning for firewood. Any 20" one can be cut to, just manoeuvre different. I've been cutting wood for 40 years. I can sharpen a saw, been doing that a while to. But I like guides and a vice will come in handy for steadiness.

Same on file guides for clearing saw blades, I don't need a vice for those, the saw don't roll around. Saw's always good and sharp, only way to cover the ground to make money.

[Tom King]

Other than the pole saws, this is my smallest chainsaw bar.  I think I can only hit a couple of cutters before I move the chain.  It's a handy little thing, but I think they make some smaller ones now.  It absolutely has to have a sharp chain to do anything.



 

[Al_Smith]

Years ago on the first saw I ever reworked (ported ) it had an 8" bar .It was a 40 ish cc Craftsman /Poulan .It did improve it but it certainly was not a lightning fast cookie cutter by any means .It was a freebie so if I'd have killed it I wouldn't be out much .It was a good little limber if the limb wasn't too big .Wouldn't have worked real well on a white oak .