OLD CHIPMONK
ArboristSite Guru
I got one of those log-vises from Baileys ! Just drive it in a log, sit down & clamp your bar & file your chain ! A great little, inexpensive tool !
Filing question
- Thread starter Stihl Alive
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Stihl Alive
ArboristSite Operative
I do pretty well with the 13/64 and a file guide, either stump or bench vise. But like I said I sometimes just pop one off and put sharp one on to save time. What about the bench mount version of that filing guide at bailey's?
Stihl Alive
ArboristSite Operative
I think you need an angled file for that. But I don't have any square chains.
treeslayer
Addicted to ArboristSite
the side of a square file. If you use a round one, be prepared to work for the edge. you're going to have to cut a lot of metal.
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I think that it is a good idea to carry a few extra sharp chains so that you can swap them out and keep on cutting if you hit a rock or something. Also lets you wear out a few chains together so that you can replace the sprocket and the chains around the same time, like the manufacturers recommend.
I used the Oregon version of the Grandberg for a while. Took an odd bar off of a junked saw and drove the rivets out of the nose sprocket so that it can be used with any pitch chain - just have to match the gauge. Mounts in the vice on my workbench and worked fine with the filing device.
Filing the chains on the 'bench bar' (as others have called it) also means that I keep the filings out of my working bar, and I don't have gas and oil from the powerhead dripping in my shop.
Philbert
You need to be a little more precise with your question.
Many people refer to chisel-tooth chain as "square chain", but it can be sharpened either "square ground" or "round ground". Unless I am mistaken, only chisel tooth chain is routinely sharpened "square ground".
It might help you to understand that there are other shapes of cutters commonly used: semi-chisel, chipper, chamfer chisel, micro-chisel, etc.; each with their own advantages.
Here are some references to hand filing:
Square filing instructions: http://www.oregonchain.com/tech/ms_manual/ms_06.pdf
Round filing specifications for different chains: http://www.oregonchain.com/tech/ms_manual/ms_04.pdf
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I was inquiring about sharpening a square / full chisel chain. I know how to make it a round cutter but I don't understand fully how to sharpen it to keep it as a square tooth.
Ax-man
Addicted to ArboristSite
Agreed 100% Frank, Excellent post
I think this using an old bar in a vise is defeating the purpose of off bar sharpening.
An old cast off bar is usually worn out. The rails are thin, spread and uneven. This is not good for sharpening a chain as the cutter will rock to one side or another. How can a good job be done with something like this. The only way I know of is to use your thumb or fingers to provide an opposing force to keep the tooth from moving around. If this done then the other hand has to have a good steady file stroke with authority to shape and cut a new face on the cutter tooth. Not easy but can be done.
With a vise like you have both hands are free for the file and the cutter tooth is not moving around in the rails of an old bar. Even with a good bar there is some side movement in the rails but not all that much.
Your on the right track with your chain vise. I can do a better job on the saw sharpening than I ever could with a bar in a vise and the chain off the saw. One of these years I am going to have a set-up like yours. Hopefully
Larry
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Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
Here's a trick I learned from an old timer... Get a small 'pocket' adjustable wrench... Set it to the shortest tooth filed, and use it to gauge the rest of the teeth. It works really good.
Ole Smokey
New Member
Where did you buy the set-up to sharpen with the square file?
Here's a trick I learned from an old timer... Get a small 'pocket' adjustable wrench... Set it to the shortest tooth filed, and use it to gauge the rest of the teeth. It works really good.
Great idea. I have been using the heads of my screwdrivers picking the 1 with blade width closest to cutter length I aim for. I think I'll like the wrench better.
As far as a new chain being faster then a sharpened 1 that happens because not everyone sharpens equally well and most often when you pay for a sharpening they don't put the time in it to do as well as it could be sharpened. Some just don't know how to get the best edge. If it cuts and makes some chips that seems good enough for many average chainsaw users.
Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
Sometimes I think I spend a little too much time sharpening my chains... The same with my knives... He11, with anything I own that has an edge!! My wife says it's a sickness.
jomoco
Tree Freak
I'm a commercial climber, but have had the opportunity to work with some west coast pro loggers over the years, and learned a great deal from them.
West coast loggers work primarily in soft wood conifers, therefore they primarily run square cut skip chisel chain, no other chain goes through soft conifer wood faster. Most loggers running long bars don't fool around hand sharpening chains in the field, they carry chain loops that have been sharpened on their Silvey square cut chain grinders, very expensive quality chain sharpeners, none better that I know of.
I was fascinated one day in the field watching a 3rd generation pro logger sharpen his 88. Pro loggers run scarily loose chains on their saws for some reason, and this guy was no exception. He just sat on the ground under his next tree, grabbed one of his wedges out of his pouch and stuffed it between his chain and lower bar rail, tight. Then he grabbed a triangular flat file, gave each right cutter 3 swipes with his left hand, then each left cutter 3 swipes with his right hand before pulling out the wedge and advancing the chain and stuffing it back in again. It took this guy less than 5 minutes, and he was running a 3 foot bar!
I've never seen saws fly through wood as fast as these pro loggers and their square cut skip chisel saws do. The logging world is entirely different than the commercial tree care world, and both can learn alot from each other.
jomoco
West coast loggers work primarily in soft wood conifers, therefore they primarily run square cut skip chisel chain, no other chain goes through soft conifer wood faster. Most loggers running long bars don't fool around hand sharpening chains in the field, they carry chain loops that have been sharpened on their Silvey square cut chain grinders, very expensive quality chain sharpeners, none better that I know of.
I was fascinated one day in the field watching a 3rd generation pro logger sharpen his 88. Pro loggers run scarily loose chains on their saws for some reason, and this guy was no exception. He just sat on the ground under his next tree, grabbed one of his wedges out of his pouch and stuffed it between his chain and lower bar rail, tight. Then he grabbed a triangular flat file, gave each right cutter 3 swipes with his left hand, then each left cutter 3 swipes with his right hand before pulling out the wedge and advancing the chain and stuffing it back in again. It took this guy less than 5 minutes, and he was running a 3 foot bar!
I've never seen saws fly through wood as fast as these pro loggers and their square cut skip chisel saws do. The logging world is entirely different than the commercial tree care world, and both can learn alot from each other.
jomoco
Sometimes I think I spend a little too much time sharpening my chains... The same with my knives... He11, with anything I own that has an edge!! My wife says it's a sickness.
Naw, sharp tools work so much better and faster, easiar ...
Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
Naw, sharp tools work so much better and faster, easiar ...
I agree 100%... If it's meant to have a sharp edge... Keep it sharp. My dad taught me that a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one... And I've seen that proven more than once.
Maybe I have SS (Sharpening Syndrome) as well as CAD?
Slvrmple72
Addicted to ArboristSite
I use the sure sharp inserts in my dremel with a flex shaft. I have a bar mounted to the front of my work bench. The larger chain I just sharpen on the saw. I can file the rakers and cutters with this setup just using an oregon depth gauge and disc shaped file for the rakers after I have sharpened the cutters. I use round chisel chain since I can sharpen it up quick out on the job when I need to. I freehand each chain in about 5 to 10 minutes depending on how rough it is. I usually hit the rakers every third sharpening. I have a bucket of oil from the drippings of oil qrts after each oil change. I upend the qrts over a large funnel and they drip into the bucket. I dunk each chain I have sharpened into the bucket and then hang it to drip dry. Wrap them in a shop cloth so I don't mix em up with the dull ones out on the job. The sharper the better, throwing big chips and not eatin dust!
