I think I finally got the hang of it.

[Dave Shepard]

Filing Stihl RSLK that is. 8) I rocked the chain this afternoon and was able to bring it back into shape fairly well. I played around with it years ago, but could never get the hang of field filing, always had to take it back to have them done on a Silvey. I've been playing with it again on my 036 PRO doing some pine work. It'll keep up with my Husky 66 now, but much lighter and better suspension, justs needs a dual port now.

Anyone have any tips for hand filing the RSLK?


Dave

[Rocky_J]

I like the square ground, it cuts like a razor straight off the roll. But I've never been able to justify the time required for square filing so I end up using a round file on it. My round filing will almost keep up with the factory square ground, so I'm not losing a heck of a lot of cutting speed. And I can hand file a chain pretty quickly in the field or in the shop. No machine grinder here.

[Dave Shepard]

So you enjoy the speed while it lasts and then go back to the round profile?

I should have mentioned that I think the dealer may not have been showing me how to do it right back then. He had me coming into the tooth in what I feel is the wrong direction. I'm filing in the same direction as for round filing, just adjust the angles for the proper profile. I found it didn't take any longer to file square as it normally does round, aside from the extra strokes because of the rock hit. Thanks.


Dave

[Rocky_J]

Well to be fair, I never spent much time trying to square file. Got my first roll of square ground chain last December and tried 3-4 times filing it before going back to the round file. I also was instructed to file it pushing in against the cutting edge, opposite from how I normally file. I may try your suggestion and attempt it again, filing in the direction I'm comfortable with. And obviously adjusting the angles (up, out, twist).

[Dave Shepard]

I was told to file into the cutting edge too, which wasn't very natural for me. I can't see getting through the chrome that way either, especially if you've really ground it up. :D I had to play around a little to get the file to line up right on all the cutting edges, but I think it will become second nature like round filing after a while. Right now I'm only running square on the felling and bucking saw, and round on the other saw, which sees some rocks, tramp metal etc. around the mill.


Dave

[thedeeredude]

I think that sharpening into the tooth is advised because the small burr will not form on the edge then. 

[Dave Shepard]

I haven't noticed any burring, I think the chrome is too hard to burr, and just chips off. My current method seems to be working so far.


Dave


edit: I don't know why I said soft, chrome is DanG hard.

[bandmiller2]

Dave its a rare bird that can hand file a square chain right,good light ,sharp file,magnifing gogles that said I pooped out and sprung for a silvey,its grinder done right.As Rocky says theirs not much differance between a chisel chain round filed right and a square  grind.Frank C.

[Rocky_J]

Russ (Jokers) mentioned it in another thread, but getting the corner perfect is the secret to good square filing and that is much easier when facing into the cutting edge. Yesterday I spent a little bit of time filing some dull square ground chain and I thought I was doing pretty good until I got out the spotlight and took a closer look. Most of the teeth looked ok but then I turned the saw around in the vise and went at it again from a head-on perspective. It was much easier to line up the corner of the file with the tooth corner.

I'll give square filing a go for a few sharpenings on this saw but if it isn't substantially faster then I'm going back to just round filing. With a round file I can fix a dull saw in a few short minutes out in the field. Square filing seems to require some time on a bench vise at the correct height and good lighting.

[Dave Shepard]

I disagree that a sharp round chain is anywhere near as fast as a square chain. Yeah, a fouled up square chain sucks, but when they are sharp, there is no contest. I have been using the saw with square chain for my clean cutting applications, and also have the 66 with round chain as backup. The 036 will keep up with the Husky 66 running square chain. Now if I run square on the 66.... ;D  The difference seems to really become apparent on higher powered saws. My 394xp was so much faster with square it was amazing. I did look at the corner on the teeth, and I seem to be getting a good crisp corner. Maybe not as perfect as new, but ten times better than the last time I tried filing square. I know that in the right hands the Silvey is great, but I have a bunch of square chains here that went to the Silvey, and didn't come back very well sharpened. I know it is an ongoing debate between field sharpening and swapping out chians. For me, there is no way I'm going to ever let any of my round chains near a bench grinder. I can file a round chain with no problems, and I'm not going to carry extra chains around with me in the woods, or make trips to the dealer and pay for sharpening. At this point, with the results I'm getting, I'll keep hand filing the square too. That said, this is only my take on my situation, may not be for everyone. I don't do a lot of work with long bars. If I had a rocked out 42" chain, I'd probably swap out a spare. ;)


Dave

[bandmiller2]

Dave, even with the Silvey square chain is not easy unless you really keep your adjustments right ,very easy to grind a beak that will dull quickly.Chains seem to last a long time if not rocked, you just kiss the edge without even changing the machine setting.Changing chains in the field is a pain in the butt but the advantage is cleaning the saw and bar groove.I've always wondered how many steel filings drop in the chain when you sharpen on the saw?? Frank C.

[oldsaw]

So you enjoy the speed while it lasts and then go back to the round profile?

I should have mentioned that I think the dealer may not have been showing me how to do it right back then. He had me coming into the tooth in what I feel is the wrong direction. I'm filing in the same direction as for round filing, just adjust the angles for the proper profile. I found it didn't take any longer to file square as it normally does round, aside from the extra strokes because of the rock hit. Thanks.


Dave

I don't have a dealer around who knows what square ground is.  I showed them off of their Stihl chain display and had them order it.

[Rocky_J]

HAH! Not only does my Stihl dealer not know what square ground is, he didn't know the difference between full comp, half skip or full skip. Like you, I had to pick out what I wanted from his book and confirm that he had the right number so he could order it. But he was willing to learn and seemed to be interested when I showed him the differences.