https://www.arboristsite.com/posts/7668187/react?reaction_id=1
I think a little more abuse angle that we are utilizing really makes for a smoother cutting & more durable chain . I found with the more acute angles the cut was perhaps faster but much more aggressive , especially in the harder grained species , also dulled quicker in knarly woods . As for my uncle , he was a task master , you would have loved the slap in the back of the head , when ever he caught you dragging the file back across the tooth lol. I miss him dearly , I cherish his old file holders !Top plate is at about 25, couple degrees on the side plate which gives close to 45 degrees on the underside if I had to guess. It's not a real fast cut, but its durable and smooth. The smoothness is one thing that makes it safer and helps to keep it sharper longer because you can control the cut better as it's not grabby so you're not as likely to hit the ground.
The Oregon EXL is one of my favorites out of the box and its quite hard. The new husky x-cut chains are also very hard and cut nicely out of the box. Both the x-cut and the EXL are very difficult to mimic the original angles on. It can be done, but it takes a couple steps with various files/techniques. At least it sharpens well using a standard single file/technique.
That's pretty cool you had someone to teach you. I learned sharpening on the internet and personal experience, would have been a lot easier and cheaper to have had someone to teach me.
