hand filing

[SteveBullman]

its all about experience. in 5 years time you'll realize that 5 years ago you couldnt sharpen as well as you thought. in another 5 years you'll again realize the same thing
and so on. so based on that, assume you're crap and you'll have more inspiration to better yourself

 

[Tree Machine]

I'm anything but the world's best. Funny you should mention that, Stephen. I do assume I am crap at most anything. It allows a sense of 'no direction except improvement' and gives your life a sense of humbleness and continual betterment.

I give myself credit, as we all do, when I am really good at something. Sharpening chain is one of those things I do well, though I still continually explore better ways of doing that. My intent is to share what I know and to learn more.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I give myself credit, as we all do, when I am really good at something. Sharpening chain is one of those things I do well, though I still continually explore better ways of doing that.

I don't know. That post about taking off your rakers with an angle gringer and without any accurate measurements had me squirming in my seat a little. It'd be interesting to see what those rakers look like under the scrutiny of a raker gage.

 

[John Ellison]

A cutting torch might work pretty good for that too.

John

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Or you could just set it on some hard ground and hit them with a hammer.

 

[Lumberjack]

I still have much to learn, but I can chain to the same, or slighty faster than a new chain.

Since the corner does the hardest cutting (severs the fibers from my understanding) it should be the main focus of a noobs sharpening. I think stumper also told me that the 10* angle helps hit the corner, thanks for that again. Sometimes I manage to let the file sink too low and hit the strap of the cutter, but so far no chains have broke from that.

The top and side plates should be sharp enough to trim your fingernails with, however there is a point of diminishing returns where the chains cutting edge is so sharp it is fragile and breaks easily.



The corner (IMO from my limited knowledge) should be sharp enough to cut rather deeply you should you simply bump it. I bumped my thumb on the corner (saw not running, i was sharpening it) two or three weeks ago, and it is just finished healing.

 

[Tree Machine]

Don't use a cutting torch. I know you're just joking. I wouldn't use a hammer either. I'd assume you're joking also, Mike, but sometimes I'm not so sure where you're coming from.

I don't believe I suggested that anyone should do their rakers with an angle grinder, but rather that, under the pretenses of using personal safety gear, and as long as I'm out there sharpening the chipper knives, that I will do it that way. I didn't even suggest that it was a better way to do it, just that it was faster, and even then, only with the larger 24 and 36" chains.

Did I mention 'light touch'? That keeps the wheel from taking off too much, and keeps the wheel from leaving cross-marks across the top of the raker. The top of the raker should be rather smooth when you're finished.

I've never measured how much I take off from a vertical perspective. I do it visually, gauging it horizontally. Since the raker starts out dome-shaped, by touching it with the grinding wheel you can estimate by looking at the newly exposed metal, left-to-right. The deeper you go, the wider the new shine. Just take off a little, and do every one of the rest the same.

The result is essentially the same as doing it with a hand file. If you're grinding wheel is out of round, you will know it by the chatter and this is definitely unsafe.

Under the scrutiny of a raker gauge, I imagine they'd all be fairly close to one another. Since I'm only taking off a fraction, any differences between heights would have to be a fraction of a fraction.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

TM, I was just giving you a hard time, but to be honest you, can't do a great job with an angle grinder, although I'm sure you can get it pretty good. The smallest fration of an inch difference changes things, and don't forget, the raker height should not be the same as the last raker, but proportionitly shorter than its' cutter.

 

[Stumper]

GICON, This is old but there are some pictures that might help.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5068&highlight=The+best+sharpening

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Ok I'm going to share some important stuff, at least it helped me as I plugged along.
Firt thing is you need to know how wood grows, in tube like structures, sort of like a bundle of tubes. This is the grain you know about.
When you take a chisle and try to cut into wood, you'll see its very hard to cut across the grain, typically you use a hammer to tap it in across the grain, like this:

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Once that is done, you can quite easily push the chisle down the grain by hand and remove the chip. No hammer required.
That's because the grain seperates much easier than it is too cut:

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

When a cutter crosscuts through a log, the side plate is what does the cutting of the fiber, the top plate seperates the grain and does very little cutting. This is very important in the sceme of things.
Lumberjack said the corner does the cutting, but really it's the top of the side plate.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Here's a cutter:

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

What is interesting is when a cutter hits wood, the whole cutter tips back on its heel and the cutter porposes up into the wood, taking a chip of wood out of the log, then it rides back down and does it again and again until it exits the other side of the log.
How far up intot he wood it chips, is determined by the difference in height between the raker and the cutter.
So when it starts this cycle the front foot of the cutter leaves the bar, then as it peaks the whole cutter is off the bar, then the front foot comes back down to the bar, and finally the rear foot hits.
One cycle, cuts one of those chips you see fly out the back of your saw.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

By the top of ther side plate, I mean the part above the red line (see attachment).
As you see, if you file the cutter back and don't lower the raker, the cutter won't hit the wood anymore. Each time you file back the tooth, the raker needs to be cut down the same amount the cutter is lowered.
A light touch up on the cutter won't lower it much, so the average guy might only do his rakers when he feels a lack of performance. But we're not looking for average, are we?

 

[Ekka]

Hey, I found this, might back up what you said ... you know how if you tell some-one something they doubt it, until they see it elsewhere.

http://ilvirtualforest.nres.uiuc.edu/harvest/timstips/sawtooth.htm

Raker depth is critical.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

When you file the cutter, the main goal, and most difficult, is to keep that hook angle consistent. This requires you pay attention to the side plate as you file. Most beginners look down at the top of the cutter at the top plate and think they really know how to sharpen, but it's the side plate that matters.
If you want the same performance of a new chain, copy that angle. When your done filing look closely at the side plates of all the cutters, from the outside in (the same perspective as the above pictures). This is called the outside side plate angle.
Because round filed chain has a curved sideplate angle, you need to look at the average of the top approximately 1/16" of the sideplate.
If you filed totally free hand (no guide at all) you should be able to see slight differences in the cutters. If you can't see differences, you need to hone your observational skills or get glasses. A chain sharpened by hand will have perceivable differences from one tooth to the next, which is why using a file guide is better.

 

[topnotchtree]

I file all freehand. Mosly because Asplundh is too darned cheap to supply us with file guides.LOL. Honestly though, I do feel I am pretty good at getting a chain to cut good. I have been told that by a few. I also believe a good sharpening has to do with the half moon shape you see in the tooth when you look at it from the side.

 

[clearance]

Topnotch-Was thinking about going to work for Asplundh Canada myself. In utility work we hit all kinds of stuff with our chains. Even if you don't hit nails or old barbed wire embedded in the tree, all the sand and grit from the road that gets in the trees will make your chain dull. I'm with you on the side hook or half moon, in a workers comp. book it says not to do this cause "it will make the chain dangerously aggressive", sounds good to me.

 

[Stumper]

Deep hooks aren't good but some hook is natural with round ground/filed chain. Square filed cuts smoothest and best and has no hook or beak when properly done. The tools used make a huge difference in what is easy or even possible.