Bernt
New Member
I'm about a decade late on getting into this discussion - I found it on a Google search for cleaning chainsaw files.
I'm in Australia and I've been cutting fallen trees for over 20 years - mostly jarrah, marri and wandoo that have gone over from fire or age. It's hardwood and often with some termite damage up the core. Nevertheless, as dark hardwood it's still full of resin and pretty tough on chains. I cut about 8-10 tonnes of firewood out of my 40 acre bush block (about 120kms NE of Perth) every year and I use about 5 - 7 chains on a regular cutting trip. I've always used a Stihl chainsaw (on my second now) and Stihl chains and files (.325 mostly).
For the past 10 years I've bought about a dozen files a season (winter - April to October, too hot in summer) to sharpen my chains. I've collected up a few dozen that were discarded because they weren't filing the cutters, but I've thought for sometime that they haven't lost their tooth. Instead, I suspected that they've just become clogged with the resin, bar oil and crud left on a used chain. So this spring I tried out a few methods to see if the files could be rejuvenated. Stihl files spiral the file teeth along the length of the file - they are designed to sharpen pushing in one direction - so you can't clean them as you would a flat file.
What worked for me is the following:
1. Soak the files in double strength household vinegar overnight (12 - 16 hours).
2. Pull them out and wash in warm soapy water brushing them clean with an old toothbrush. Set out to dry off for an hour or so.
3. Soak all the cleaned files in a jug of kerosene for a couple of hours - then take them out to dry.
4. Spray each file liberally with WD40 a few times.
For me this did the trick - my rejuvenated files are good to go. Do they sharpen as good as a new one? To be honest, pretty much. Sure, nothing like a new chain and a new file - but tossing a few dozen good files seems like an awful waste and these seem to be doing the job perfectly.
Just my experience - I hope it helps out some of you on this forum.
I'm in Australia and I've been cutting fallen trees for over 20 years - mostly jarrah, marri and wandoo that have gone over from fire or age. It's hardwood and often with some termite damage up the core. Nevertheless, as dark hardwood it's still full of resin and pretty tough on chains. I cut about 8-10 tonnes of firewood out of my 40 acre bush block (about 120kms NE of Perth) every year and I use about 5 - 7 chains on a regular cutting trip. I've always used a Stihl chainsaw (on my second now) and Stihl chains and files (.325 mostly).
For the past 10 years I've bought about a dozen files a season (winter - April to October, too hot in summer) to sharpen my chains. I've collected up a few dozen that were discarded because they weren't filing the cutters, but I've thought for sometime that they haven't lost their tooth. Instead, I suspected that they've just become clogged with the resin, bar oil and crud left on a used chain. So this spring I tried out a few methods to see if the files could be rejuvenated. Stihl files spiral the file teeth along the length of the file - they are designed to sharpen pushing in one direction - so you can't clean them as you would a flat file.
What worked for me is the following:
1. Soak the files in double strength household vinegar overnight (12 - 16 hours).
2. Pull them out and wash in warm soapy water brushing them clean with an old toothbrush. Set out to dry off for an hour or so.
3. Soak all the cleaned files in a jug of kerosene for a couple of hours - then take them out to dry.
4. Spray each file liberally with WD40 a few times.
For me this did the trick - my rejuvenated files are good to go. Do they sharpen as good as a new one? To be honest, pretty much. Sure, nothing like a new chain and a new file - but tossing a few dozen good files seems like an awful waste and these seem to be doing the job perfectly.
Just my experience - I hope it helps out some of you on this forum.
