How do you tell when the chain is beyond sharpening?

[bowlofjokes]

I bought a couple new chains yesterday after my 3 novice(ly) sharpened chains fail to cut any further. I had forgotten how nice a new chain is ;D 

I believe they have all been sharpened 4-5 times now. I've run them till they smoked the wood (hey I'm still new), hit rock, almost always dirty wood. 

So I ask: How can I tell when my old chains are no longer worth sharpening?

[scottr]

 If you lower the depth gauges as you sharpen then you can use the tooth back to a triangle shape. Do you lower the depth gauges? What chain are you running?

[Sawyerfortyish]

We sharpen by hand and a well worn chain sharpened good will cut as good as new. But it all depends what you hit and how you cut as to what life you can get out of a chain. We have had chains that we used and used and sharpened til some teeth started breaking off from being sharpened so thin.We buy chain by the 100' roll so it's not what a chain costs us it's just we get as much life out of it as we can. I've seen some new chains that gets drilled into a rock or ledge and taken off and thrown away. If you constantly hit the ground and cut dirty wood without touching it up you will never wear out a chain. You will make them useless by rounding over the cutting tip. You should never cut with a chain that is so dull it smokes it's not good for the bar the chain or saw and is dangerous to push on the saw thats how accidents happen. To answer your post it depends on what chain your useing chipper or chisel. One will be more forgiving to resharpen if you hit something whereas the other if you knock the square edge off you may as well toss it out.

[jokers]

scottr and sawyerfortyish pretty well answered you IMO, however I wouldn`t throw a chain away based on one or a few buggered teeth, just file those teeth back to where they are undamaged and eventually the other teeth will match. You will notice in the cut if you have a patch of damaged teeth in one area if you are accustomed to running a good, sharp chain but in your case it appears that you may not.  ;D No offense intended BOJ.

Learn how to avoid dirt when cutting and if you must cut something dirty, cut with a pushing chain(be wary of that reactive upper quadrant of the bar tip!!) so theoretically you are pushing the dirt out and away rather than dragging it full length through a cut. Also reduce throttle speed, or just blip the throttle when cutting near dirt or a rock to give yourself more control.

[stonebroke]

If you have a grinder It is easier to get all the life out of a chain you can. I can grind a chain done till the teeth start breaking off in the cut. You have to remember to take the rakers down and make sure you clean the gullet out.

Stonebroke

[John Bartley]

So I ask: How can I tell when my old chains are no longer worth sharpening?

Assuming that you are (as others have already said) sharpening properly by making the teeth similar sizes and lowering the rakers properly, you should be able to sharpen until the tooth left is so small that it breaks off in the wood. That's when I throw them away. I haven't yet tried to glue the teeth back on :D

cheers eh?

John

[olyman]

if you ding teeth on the chain, only take as many strokes as it takes to sharpen the other teeth--youll get back to the full tooth normally in two or three sharpen cycles--if you go a lot more strokes to sharpen that tooth--the chain will be "out of balance", and if theres a few teeth you do that to on one side of the chain--it may cut crooked. sharpening even keeps chain running straight---

[bowlofjokes]

Thank you for all the replies!

As the year has almost passed since I began using a chainsaw and collecting firewood; I find my learning curve rising fast.
I now have tried to avoid the most dirty/risky logs and have had more tips on nice green trees ready to be taken away.

(When I first inquired about dull chains I was cutting seasoned, sand cover trees in building developments  )

It sounds like I can get many more uses out of these chains I have. Being a novice, it is helpful to have a new chain to compare it to as I sharpen. I have definitely been guilty of not sharpening evenly.

Keep up all the great topics. I read them and hope to understand the language someday.  :D
plus I feel far more welcome here than extremist environmentalist tree websites.

8) 

[Al_Smith]

 If you are cutting sand infested wood  semi chisel or old fashion chipper will do a lot better than full chisel because of the rounded  tooth design . Chipper would be the best but I have no idea if a person can still buy it or not .

[mike_van]

As I always liked a good  :D joke - Where abouts in Ct. are you?  If you're near Kent, bring those chains over, I give free lessons - 

[bowlofjokes]

As I always liked a good  :D joke - Where abouts in Ct. are you?  If you're near Kent, bring those chains over, I give free lessons - 

Oxford...the southern end of Litchfield county. I love it up in Kent. Was up there hiking a month or so ago and in town drinking some coffee and eating some pricey chocolate. All good.

I'll make sure to email before I head up that way..

this year i have been lucking out. A nice birch fell right across the street from my house. Now I just got to get over there and cut some rounds off it before the town throws it further down the hill. It nice clean n green. easy on the saw 

[ladylake]

Same as most, when the teeth start breaking off, just keep the rakers the right hieght or a little and it will cut good right up to the end  Steve

[SawTroll]

if you ding teeth on the chain, only take as many strokes as it takes to sharpen the other teeth--youll get back to the full tooth normally in two or three sharpen cycles--if you go a lot more strokes to sharpen that tooth--the chain will be "out of balance", and if theres a few teeth you do that to on one side of the chain--it may cut crooked. sharpening even keeps chain running straight---

A few shorter teeth doesn't really matter, as long as you take down the rakers in front of those accordingly. It is much better than to have unsharpened teeth in the mix.  ;)

With several shorter teeth on one side, you may have to file back some on the other side as well, to keep things balanced, and the cuts streight.

The you can hope that you rock out another part of the chain next time, and not the same one again..... :D :D

[Mad Professor]

With proper filing I've used mine till the first tooth fails/breaks.

On my mill too, stihl cuts right on with a good edge.