Chainsaw Hand Filing Stand

Turbocaster · Jan 30, 2007

The stand is made from a reject highway truck rim, with a brake rotor and a pipe welded onto the rim. The vise is bolted to a steel plate which was welded to the upright pipe. All parts, except the vise, were obtained for free.

The chainsaw bar is 58 inches above the floor. If you are wondering if I am uncommonly tall, that’s not the case. While I sacrifice some in filing ability, I really gain in “Seeing” ability. Anyone over 40 probably knows what I mean. My vise was previously mounted on a work bench which was too low for me to really see the teeth well. The new stand also allows me to move around the saw easily and freely. The stand is pretty heavy and very solid for filing. It is big enough that I can step onto the rim if I want to get closer and higher.

If I’m not actually working on the chainsaw and it is left in the stand, I put my leg chaps over the bar and chain as a safety precaution.

The chainsaw is a Stihl 026 with a 24” bar and skip tooth chain. Most of what I cut is in the 3 to 16 inch diameter range and the 026 can easily deal with that size wood.

turnkey4099 · Jan 31, 2007

I like it. Yep, us old(er) guys need every aid we can get. At near 72 I have a real problem doing a decent hand file job. Bought one of those HF cheap grinders last year. Not too enamored of the results yet but I am learning a few tricks with it and results are improving.

Harry K

blis · Jan 31, 2007

Reminds me of my dad who tried to survive with eyeglasses and he actually managed to keep it up for few years (he got glasses when he was 49 or so) and he had the same problem, he could see the teeth and therefore couldnt file properly.... Nowadays he has glasses thou and he can file chain pretty well long as theres enough light around...

TOOTHHUNTER · Jan 31, 2007

Cool!

Love fixtures. Best part of that one is you can move it outside to natural light as well as turn it to get away from shadows.

PWB · Jan 31, 2007

That's pretty much what I did with my oregon grinder. Height is about the same to get a really good look at what I'm doing. Didn't need as big a wheel because the grinder with chain weighs a lot less than a saw with a bar on it.
Mounted a light on one of those spring loaded arms on it too.

Going to make (when and if I ever get around to it!) a vice mounted on a piece of square tubing that I can stick into the reciever for the trailer hitch on the back of my pickup. same idea, a little more portable. Probably aim for about 3 1/2 or 4 feet high for that one, I like the file at about elbow height when I sharpen by hand. the one on the work bench at work is just about right.

Turbocaster · Jan 31, 2007

PWB said:
Going to make (when and if I ever get around to it!) a vice mounted on a piece of square tubing that I can stick into the reciever for the trailer hitch on the back of my pickup. same idea, a little more portable.

Wow, what a great idea! I have another small vise that I can mount into a receiver. I may have to buy a couple more chainsaws to make sure I have enough for my filing stands!

XJWoody · Jan 31, 2007

Cool setup.

I had something like that in mind for a 'third hand':

Same basic base setup as that, but have a slightly smaller OD upper tube that 'nests' down into the base tube to allow height adjustment (with a pin & clip)

One top setup would be a vise platform like Turbo's, another with a roller, and a third dedicated for a tubing bender.

I've seen 2" receiver hitch-mount vises (and bender stands) folks have cooked up. It's all up to the imagination and ones stock of 'junk' on hand.

chowdozer · Feb 2, 2007

Take that!

Turbocaster said:
The stand is made from a reject highway truck rim, with a brake rotor and a pipe welded onto the rim. The vise is bolted to a steel plate which was welded to the upright pipe. All parts, except the vise, were obtained for free.

The chainsaw bar is 58 inches above the floor. If you are wondering if I am uncommonly tall, that’s not the case. While I sacrifice some in filing ability, I really gain in “Seeing” ability. Anyone over 40 probably knows what I mean. My vise was previously mounted on a work bench which was too low for me to really see the teeth well. The new stand also allows me to move around the saw easily and freely. The stand is pretty heavy and very solid for filing. It is big enough that I can step onto the rim if I want to get closer and higher.

If I’m not actually working on the chainsaw and it is left in the stand, I put my leg chaps over the bar and chain as a safety precaution.

The chainsaw is a Stihl 026 with a 24” bar and skip tooth chain. Most of what I cut is in the 3 to 16 inch diameter range and the 026 can easily deal with that size wood.

I've been sick a few days so I couldn't get out to take a picture as soons as I wanted. I see alot of similiarities.

I built this about 20 years ago. I primarily use it for my welding vise. It's a semi truck brake drum full of concrete and weighs about 350 pounds or so. :cheers:

I put gussets on mine and they're a handy place to store Vise-Grips. I also have a brake drum under my drill press, grinder and metal chopsaw. It's nice to be able to take the mess makers outside.

kam · Feb 2, 2007

Here's my set up...portable....relatively small and light ( uses the vehicle weight for rigidity )...height is adjustable ....also rotates and locks....

Turbocaster · Feb 2, 2007

Kam and Chowdozer,

Great ideas for filing stands. I am buying a used MIG welder tonight. Tomorrow, I'll be welding a filing stand for my Toyota 4runner receiver.

Thanks for the suggestions.

chowdozer · Feb 2, 2007

kam said:
Here's my set up...portable....relatively small and light ( uses the vehicle weight for rigidity )...height is adjustable ....also rotates and locks....

I have had the intention of doing the same thing for about 15 years. This this thing called time...

How sturdy is your lock?

kam · Feb 3, 2007

How sturdy is your lock?[/QUOTE said:
The vertical part is two telescopic pipes (if I remember correctly 1" and 1 1/4"
black pipe)...weld 2 nuts (3/8 NC) on the outer pipe...drill and tap through...make up 2 set screws 3/8 X 1" NC.....sometimes I weld a "T" handle on the bolt...sometimes I leave it plain and use a wrench. This holds well enough to file.

I have a collar on the small pipe to maintain the height adjustment while swiveling.....a nice refinement but not absolutely necessary.

grandpatractor · Feb 3, 2007

I made one and brought it with on a mission trip to Caruthersville MO to help with tornado cleanup last summer. It wasn't always clean and nice cutting and It came in handy. Not many people had good sized saws and they were real happy to see the 2171 with a 28" bar. Many trees were topped and they just needed the big stuff chunked up so they could handle it.Got quite a work out with 3 long days of cutting and pretty warm weather.There sure was alot of nice folks around there.They fed up real well:hmm3grin2orange:

mkwish · Jul 20, 2007

Help with telescopic stands

Much interest from me in Australia ( Queensland, alongside the Great Barrier Reef ).

I would add a suggestion for you all.
When making a telescopic stand from box section and you need to add some welded nuts with bolts to jamb the two so that they dont slide, try welding the nut to the outer piece in the corner of the box, rather than the face of a side, pointing in a diagonal direction. That way the inner piece gets jambed into the opposite corner kinda like a wedge and it tightens firmly against the two sides opposite the bolt, rather than just one. Also the corner of the inner piece ( where the bolt tightens on to it) is much, much stronger than the flat of a piece of box.

Good luck, and keep up the good ideas. Simple tools make for happy work.

spacemule · Jul 20, 2007

24" on an 026? Wow, that seems retarded. :hmm3grin2orange:

Turbocaster · Jul 20, 2007

The 24 inch bar saves my back as I don't have to bend over as much. I use skip tooth chain, so the 026 can pull it quite well.

GASoline71 · Jul 20, 2007

Turbocaster said:
The 24 inch bar saves my back as I don't have to bend over as much. I use skip tooth chain, so the 026 can pull it quite well.

Ignore the East side guys... they will never get it dude... :rock:

Especially ignore Rexy... he's just a **** stirrer anyways...

opcorn:

Gary

sILlogger · Jul 20, 2007

Turbocaster said:
good concept, be a bit to heavy and cumbersome for me to carry around in the woods to sharpen my saws every day

pbuehning · Jul 20, 2007

mkwish said:
Much interest from me in Australia ( Queensland, alongside the Great Barrier Reef ).

I would add a suggestion for you all.
When making a telescopic stand from box section and you need to add some welded nuts with bolts to jamb the two so that they dont slide, try welding the nut to the outer piece in the corner of the box, rather than the face of a side, pointing in a diagonal direction. That way the inner piece gets jambed into the opposite corner kinda like a wedge and it tightens firmly against the two sides opposite the bolt, rather than just one. Also the corner of the inner piece ( where the bolt tightens on to it) is much, much stronger than the flat of a piece of box.

Good luck, and keep up the good ideas. Simple tools make for happy work.

Super idea-thanks for sharing it. As the son of an engineer, I love simple, sound improvements. Rep points for you!!! :clap:

GASoline71 · Jul 20, 2007

sILlogger said:
good concept, be a bit to heavy and cumbersome for me to carry around in the woods to sharpen my saws every day

You're just packin' it into the woods... not like you are goin' up and down any foot hills... LOL :laugh:

Gary

Chainsaw Hand Filing Stand

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