Chain filing

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

CJ-7

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Apr 4, 2002
Messages
147
Reaction score
11
Location
SE Michigan
I finally had to touch up the chain on my 018. When I bought the saw I also picked up a file and a Stihl battery operated grinder. Well, I started with the file and remembered why I bought the grinder. When I tried filing, it seemed that the file would never get a bite into the tooth of the chain as though the chain was harder than the file. It would just clean out the gunk and burrs but it never felt or looked like it was actually sharpening the chain, so I used the grinder and it worked fine. What's wrong?
 
Hard chain,soft file

Just a thought,but,if you ran that chain,to the point it would not cut at all,you have heated it up,a lot.Stihl,makes some of the hardest chain[and the most costly].If you,by chance,got it real hot,you will,in fact,make it harder[properties of alloy steel].The grinder,will cut about anything,but don't over do it,and heat up even more.A good quality, file,as a general rule,is normally all you need,but you have to file,in a timely fashon.;)
 
Mike, dang, is that what the sound was while I was trying to file my chain?:blush:

I bought the file from the dealer, so I hope the file is good. Likely the problem is the hard teeth and the fact that I was holding the chain with one hand and couldn't put enough pressure on the file. Oh well, the grinder worked so well and I only use the saw infrequently, so I will probably stick with that. But easy does it!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top