Sharpening a chain. Why so difficult

[bwstout]

EDIT: I fixed the link. Lee Valley has stores in the US too. Reno, Nevada and Ogdensburg, New York.
Lee Valley Tools founder Leonard Lee treated customers as friends - The Globe and Mail

loved the story I buy a lot of tools form Lee Valley

[HolmenTree]

EDIT: I fixed the link. Lee Valley has stores in the US too. Reno, Nevada and Ogdensburg, New York.
Lee Valley Tools founder Leonard Lee treated customers as friends - The Globe and Mail

loved the story I buy a lot of tools form Lee Valley

Yes they are very unique aren't they

[John Mc]

I'm beating the PFERD dead horse so much, maybe we'll join the company in Deuchland. It's not a public one, so no stock.
Hey all, you don't need all those guides that get lost in the sawdust, or plug in a tool that can easily damage the chain. Get a tool that does it all, simply, cheaply, reliably. The electric grinders don't do the rakers with one pass. Think of the time saved, the anxiety, the stress, the convenience in the field to touch up the chains.
.....continue with the beating. ???

I've tried the Pferd/Stihl system. It does do a good job of sharpening. I've not bought one, and probably will not because it uses a constant height for the depth gauges, rather than progressive depth gauge height. This means loss of cutting efficiency as the chain is filed back. The system also requires that all cutters lengths be kept the same (as all constant depth gauge systems I've ever seen do). I like being able to remove only as much material as each tooth needs (within reason) and still have my saw cut straight.

Mostly, I just like the break that sharpening my chain involves. It forces me to slow down, hydrate, take stock of myself, and plan what I'm doing next. So a bit of extra time spent tinkering is not a big deal for me.

[HolmenTree]

Well said John, I had a veteran cut and skid foreman tell me that once when I was just a teenager tree falling for a living.
Sit down rest, file your chain and help your partner pull out the mainline on the skidder and help choke up a few trees. Then he helps me by back blading some of my limbs.
Teamwork.

[Stephen1]

I can and will file a dull chain from sawing at home or in my yard.
I really like my tried and true....take it to the shop. He charges me $8 to sharpen and my chain and it comes back like new. If it does not cut well he will resharpen. I buy all his used sharpened chains for $10, these are the ones people drop off and don't pick up in a timely fasion :D
I rarely use my saws except around the sawmill. I hit steel all the time, from metal in the logs or even touching the mill, usually before my chains get dull. I keep 3 chains for each saw, 170-026-390. When 2 are damaged in they go to the shop. I charge by the hour so the customer really does not want me sitting filling a chain. 

[Kwill]

I can and will file a dull chain from sawing at home or in my yard.
I really like my tried and true....take it to the shop. He charges me $8 to sharpen and my chain and it comes back like new. If it does not cut well he will resharpen. I buy all his used sharpened chains for $10, these are the ones people drop off and don't pick up in a timely fasion :D
I rarely use my saws except around the sawmill. I hit steel all the time, from metal in the logs or even touching the mill, usually before my chains get dull. I keep 3 chains for each saw, 170-026-390. When 2 are damaged in they go to the shop. I charge by the hour so the customer really does not want me sitting filling a chain.

I have 4 places i have took chains locally and they never come Back right. This stihl tool i bought was well worth the 39.99. Some consider it a gimmick some make fun of you for using it but as long as it sharpens my chains and im not fighting the saw then im happy.

[Old Greenhorn]

Last year when I was cutting a lot, I had (still do) a local old guy that I would take them to on rotation. He had a box I could leave them in if he was there, just a tag with my name and $5./chain. He did a good job, but it was a standard round bench grind and he took a lot off each time, chain life was short. I asked him about doing square grind and he didn't know what I was talking about. I asked him about sharpening my hand rip and crosscut saws and he said, throw them out and buy new. (My Dad bought those saws (Simonds) new for a king's ransom in 1955 and I will be dammed if I am going to throw them out!) I stopped going to him and worked on my skills. Do all my own chains now, no matter how busy I am, it's faster and better. But I am not commercial.

[Cam460]

First rule is good eyesight or you're lost without it.

This is very true, a lot of people don't watch close enough. I like to watch closely to make sure my file is at the right angle. Just make sure you wear safety glasses your eyes don't like those shavings, learned that one the hard way. 😂

[Pulphook]

A stump vise is the other "can't do without" tool. Small enough to fit, easy to use, portable to touch up while cutting in the woodlot.
John is correct about raker height. Long time ago I took the advice of a so-called 'experienced' logger who said that he files his rakers down to nothing. The saw near fell out of my hands without set rakers and bounced. Not too safe or bright. Advice from the pros not always on target. :-[

[upnut]

John is correct about raker height. Long time ago I took the advice of a so-called 'experienced' logger who said that he files his rakers down to nothing. The saw near fell out of my hands without set rakers and bounced. Not too safe or bright. Advice from the pros not always on target. :-[

Once again proving the axiom that "experience" is simply a series of non-fatal mistakes... :D
   Mentioned earlier that I hit a steel broadhead embedded in a dead elm, damaged only one side of a nearly new chain. Will be a challenge to get sharpened correctly, especially raker height, since constant height measurement is all we've ever done. Thanks for the tutoring!
Scott B.

[hedgerow]

My problem with hand sharpening is I don't seem to have enough patience. Years ago when my FIL was still alive that guy could file a chain free hand like none other. I bought a  PFERD when they first came out and it worked well for me. About five years ago a good friend bought a acreage so I gave him a couple saws and the PFERD that I had. Had a older gentleman in town that did chains for three bucks for something to do. He did a good job sharpening. He pass on last fall so it will be time to figure out my next plan. I have two main saws we clean pastures with and buck firewood and I run a 20 inch 3/8 on them so I have around thirty chains I would rotate and usually take 20 at a time to him to sharpen. I do have a couple Foley Belsaw 308 sharpeners that a buddy found on a garage sale years ago for twenty bucks. I should get them out and see what I have maybe can get them up and running and use one for the angle and one for rakers. 

[MNBobcat]

I had an education this year.  For the last 8 years all I have ran is Oregon chain.  Mostly semi-chisel but I did try full chisel several times.  

I have a grinder with a CBN wheel.  

Like you, no matter what I did I could not get the chain to cut very well.  I have no desire to hand file as I find it slow and tedious and not any better than sharpening with a good quality wheel and a light touch.  Regardless of HOW I filed or ground the chain it didn't cut great and had to be sharpened often.

This year I went to Stihl brand full-chisel and OMG what a difference!`  It seems like I can cut forever between sharpening.  When I do sharpen with the grinder, it cuts like new and pulls itself into the cut.  Night and day difference.  I will never, ever, run Oregon chain again.

I've read that the chrome is harder on the stihl chain but whatever it is, it is far superior to Oregon chain.  I'm enjoying cutting now where I didn't in the past.

I liked the chain so well I bought 5 loops.  I set the grinder angle and sharpen all 5 loops only every other tooth.  Then I switch the angle and sharpen all 5 loops on the opposite tooth.  Saves having to adjust the grinder too often.  Those 5 loops last me a long time.  I merely switch chains when it's time.

[lxskllr]

I have 4 places i have took chains locally and they never come Back right. This stihl tool i bought was well worth the 39.99. Some consider it a gimmick some make fun of you for using it but as long as it sharpens my chains and im not fighting the saw then im happy.

Don't hold on to the file too long and try to save money or anything. When it gets dull get rid of it. I don't always follow my own advice cause I'm a little stupid. I was toting an old file with me today to cut vines. Figured that crappy chain didn't deserve a good file. Got back to the truck tired, and was gonna get everything setup for next time; dragged my old file across the teeth, and said "screw this", and got a new one. Such a nice difference. A light stroke makes a shower of fines, and it sharpens like it should. I was only punishing myself taking that lame file with me.
Don't be stupid like me. A new Stihl file is a bargain at twice the price  ;^)

[thecfarm]

I buy files by the box,so when one is bad,I throw it away. I feel it can affect my filing. I have a small saw and a big saw,so I have 2 diffeant size files,and a box of each.
Sometimes I will slip when I am filing. I wear all leather gloves when I am filing. The gloves I wear when I am working has the cloth over the knuckles. Only took me a couple times of drawing blooding to wear all leather gloves to protect my knuckles. I keep a pair on the tractor and a pair in the garage.

[moodnacreek]

Files must be protected from touching any metal. Buy them by the box and always have a new one. File ALL THE TIME , don't let your teeth ever get dull. If you grind, keep grinding as the teeth will not file right after being glazed by the stone. A sharp file and only one or two strokes lets you concentrate .

[TACOMATODD]

This may not be your cup of tea, but, I made an adjustable for height slide in piece with a smallish vise mounted to, so that it slides in your truck frame mounted reciever hitch, that I can grab hold of my bar with. Besides sharpening, it is also great for having a free hand for doing any type of tuning that I see fit. Not to mention, it is good for whatever else I deem necessary to give me that elusive third hand!

[moodnacreek]

This may not be your cup of tea, but, I made an adjustable for height slide in piece with a smallish vise mounted to, so that it slides in your truck frame mounted reciever hitch, that I can grab hold of my bar with. Besides sharpening, it is also great for having a free hand for doing any type of tuning that I see fit. Not to mention, it is good for whatever else I deem necessary to give me that elusive third hand!
A tree guy I worked for as a kid had that on the front bumber of a '49 dodge.

[Stephen1]

This may not be your cup of tea, but, I made an adjustable for height slide in piece with a smallish vise mounted to, so that it slides in your truck frame mounted reciever hitch, that I can grab hold of my bar with. Besides sharpening, it is also great for having a free hand for doing any type of tuning that I see fit. Not to mention, it is good for whatever else I deem necessary to give me that elusive third hand!

I would like to see a picture of that for sure. 

[moodnacreek]

This may not be your cup of tea, but, I made an adjustable for height slide in piece with a smallish vise mounted to, so that it slides in your truck frame mounted reciever hitch, that I can grab hold of my bar with. Besides sharpening, it is also great for having a free hand for doing any type of tuning that I see fit. Not to mention, it is good for whatever else I deem necessary to give me that elusive third hand!

I would like to see a picture of that for sure.
That was about 1960, he kept the vise when I bought the truck that I junked about 12 years ago.

[hedgerow]

Years ago when I used to do a lot of custom round baling of hay I had a vise mount on the front of a JD 4240 tractor so I could cut and spice the belts out in the field. Having a vise around can be very handy. 

[teakwood]

I free handfiled for about 15years and i consider myself good at it. i can get a chain cut maybe a little bit better than new or at least as good as new. 
since one year i use the 2in1 file and it's hand down the best filling tool there is, period. I can file a 18" long B/C in 90 seconds and the chain cuts like crazy, i do need a vise though. I have one on my quad which is always with me when i'm falling. 
 

we work 6 hours falling a day (85F heat and up) and i file my saw 5-6 times and the 2 saws of my helpers also every day so i can not take 5min per filing. I also bet that i'm faster sharpening with the 2in1 than a guy taking a dull chain off and putting a new one on. I consider even 1 dollar to much to pay for another person filing my chains.

i guess that just 3-5% of all chainsaw users will file a chain sharper than me with the 2in1. 
and whats the point of having the sharpest chain (unless your in a competition)? I work in teak and the initial freshly sharpened edge is gone after 10min. 

[lxskllr]

What chain do you use for cutting teak; RS?

[teakwood]

No, normal RM. the RS won't hold an edge for 5min and then dull they are way slow and nerve wrecking. Teak is very abrasive because of the oil it has and i cut pretty low, so the RM is way more forgiving. 

[Kwill]

Well i highly reccomend the 2in1 stihl tool for anyone who has struggled like me to keep a sharp chain. My saw is cutting better now than is has in a long time. Almost like putting a new chain on. 

[breederman]

Ill start by saying that I have always sucked at sharpining my saws. I heat 100 % with wood . Several years ago through a disscusion on here i discovered the husky roller guides and that made a huge difference in my filing consistency, but they still never stayed sharp as long as they should. To make a short story long , I needed a box of files today but instead bought the 2 in one system. Without a doubt 40 bucks well spent ! I touched up my old chain and had at it. Did I say I suck at sharpening  ?  It was immediately apparent! I burned up more than a tank of gas on my pile of dirty frozen logs and i bet it was still cutting better than when i started with the roller. Im sold.