hand filing

[Tree Machine]

I have to be completely honest. I remove the burr on the top plate using the file itself. Mind you, it is a very light touch. For you to mess up the angle to any degree, you would have to use enough pressure to actually remove some filings, and you're just not going to do this because it would seem obvious you'd be messing up your freshly filed tooth. Just a little pressure from the top plate, forward toward the bar tip, and slightly down will get it to fall off.

The chrome coating on the tooth is very thin, very brittle and takes the lightest touch to remove it. I've always done this as part of the 'routine' but I can't say I understand really how important it is.

And thanks, Bermie, for bringing up the burr issue. May I ask how your students sharpen and 8" piece of chain? Don't tell me 'with a file', I know that. How is the chain held captive and immobile?

 

[Wales]

When I did my NPTC test my instructor would measure everything to make sure it was all up to scratch. From that experience I now carry around a fencing staple that he taught us to bend / close to the length of the cutters.It makes for a quick tool for checking the cutter length. It may seem over the top , but it reduces vibration which in turn reduces operator fatigue.

 

[Tree Machine]

That's a good one. The right side teeth often take more abuse, especially if you cut your stumps low to the ground. More wear = more sharpening = shorter teeth = cutting curves.

 

[Gypo Logger]

You guys sound like a bunch of monkeys trying to file with a rock!
Just kidding.
Proper filing isn't really that hard to learn, but learning to stay away from abrasive material is.
The duller the chain the harder the operator pushes, causing everything to wear out. Making the chain almost impossible to reserect. Plus the bar is so worn in tolerance by now that it leans over at 45 degrees making straight cuts impossible.
Oh forget it!! You treeclimbers are just a bunch of rock mechanics. LOL
Just kidding.
John

 

[CNYCountry]

I have to be completely honest. I remove the burr on the top plate using the file itself. Mind you, it is a very light touch. For you to mess up the angle to any degree, you would have to use enough pressure to actually remove some filings, and you're just not going to do this because it would seem obvious you'd be messing up your freshly filed tooth. Just a little pressure from the top plate, forward toward the bar tip, and slightly down will get it to fall off.

The chrome coating on the tooth is very thin, very brittle and takes the lightest touch to remove it. I've always done this as part of the 'routine' but I can't say I understand really how important it is.

I have done what you're talking about with the flat file, but just barely touching it, a tiny tiny light stroke toward the front of the cutter. This is more just touching it, knocking off the "foil" looking burr with a file tooth or two. Other times I have just put it in wood and the burrs seem to come off perfectly by themselves leaving a razor sharp edge, sharp enough to give deep cuts in the fingers if mishandled.. Maybe I could have sharper if I deburred by hand? This is Stihl RS chain that I'm using.

Is it true that the chrome is what actually forms the sharpest part of the cutting edge?

 

[CNYCountry]

When I did my NPTC test my instructor would measure everything to make sure it was all up to scratch. From that experience I now carry around a fencing staple that he taught us to bend / close to the length of the cutters.It makes for a quick tool for checking the cutter length. It may seem over the top , but it reduces vibration which in turn reduces operator fatigue.

This is a really good idea.

 

[CNYCountry]

cutting curves . would come from worn bar. as for cutters being the same size it does not matter . as long as you are. taking your riders down evenly it will work just fine CMF

Cutting curves as I understand it INITIALLY comes from rocking out a chain, which usually causes damage to one side's complement of the cutters (left OR right cutters). The chain is then sharpened and the damaged side is left with shorter cutters, possibly even with rakers that have not been accordingly adjusted. Then the chain cuts in a curve and wears the bar more on one side than the other. The incorrectly worn bar is the result of cutting bananas and then contributes to it, but is not the original cause.

 

[Tree Machine]

Hey CMF, welcome to the site. Always good to lead with a joke. If it hadn't been for the smiley, I'd have thought you were serious. This is what we call a troll. What's a 'rider'? A regional or personal term for a 'raker'?

Gypo's nailed the doggie on the noodle. If your chain is kept perpetually sharp, it's amazing how long you can keep the inner top bar rail are from wearing and splaying outward. CNY covered this. Also, I would agree that if the burr was to be left on that it would likely be off in seconds once sunk into the wood. Bernie mentions that it might 'peel' back. Possible, but I don't think likely. Chrome it soo brittle.

As far as chrome being the cuttingest part of the cutting edge, I think it's more for rust prevention, but I honestly really don't know for certain.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I'm going to make an analogy if I may.
Chain filing is not too far removed from brushing your teeth. We have some that do and we have some that don't.
To be a good filer, you don't simply want to chip off the plaque, you want to floss your teeth.
That's right, floss those teeth just as Chickopski would play his stratovarious, or a surgeon doing micro surgery. Take an interest in it. Become obsessed.
But what's the point of it all if your just and occasional user or one step above Harry the Homeowner?
Don't waste your time, go out and buy a Poulan Wild Thing!
John

 

[Tree Machine]

I may have to dig out some pictures. I used to have one chain I'd keep whose left side teeth were higher and longer than the right. I would use it to rip short logs and cut banana cradles. I''d sprinkle mushroom spawn in between the halves and drop the top convex onto the bottom concave half. I learned not to use a new bar for this as it wore the inner rail on one side.

Uneven cutters, if not too uneven, can be compensated for by pressuring the saw the other way during the cut. Small diameter wood, you may not even note a difference, but plow through big diameter wood, it will be most noticable.

 

[Marky Mark]

Here ya go.

If you can get the hang of the file it will feel like it's part of your hand.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I remember that. That's Rotax Robert at Doug Babcocks place doing the 90 second 'tickle' on my 066 Arctic.
John

 

[Tree Machine]

If you clamp your bar in a vise, you should be able to have both hands on the files and use SIX at once. You're a hoot Joisey Boy.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I got a new song for you newbie chain filers, it goes like this:
" I've been working on the chain mang, all the live long day."
" I've been working on the chain mang, cause I rocked it out all day."
" Can't you see the sparks a flyin', Momma where's that stone?"

Now somebody else has to do the next stanza. LOL
I gotta get me a life!
John

 

[Tree Machine]

"Can't figger out a better way of filing?
Newbie go on home."

Man, Gypo, get a life, Man! We're trying to get everyone up to speed, cutting sharp, straight and fast. That did not even resemble a contribution.

Sorry about the newbie go on home comment. That sounded condescending and I'm a big supporter of newbs. Unlike some of the old timers who might be stuck in their ways, the newbs are like pliable lumps of clay. To them, almost everything is new. They're open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. I think newbs are the tomorrow of Arboriculture. I have a song....

Everybody Newbies are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they posess inside
Give them a sense of pride
To make it easier
Let the Noobie's laughter remind us how it used to be...

AUGGGHHHH! I can't believe I'm slaughtering this perfectly good thread! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Bad Tree Machine, Bad!

I'm going to try to make it up to you by actually contributing something of value that has to do with the topic of this thread, which is 'Hand Filing'. I need to go out to my truck and take a couple pictures, so you sit right there, OK?

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

I have to be completely honest. I remove the burr on the top plate using the file itself. Mind you, it is a very light touch. For you to mess up the angle to any degree, you would have to use enough pressure to actually remove some filings, and you're just not going to do this because it would seem obvious you'd be messing up your freshly filed tooth. Just a little pressure from the top plate, forward toward the bar tip, and slightly down will get it to fall off.

Same here.

And I'm not a pro, I'm just a guy that works with a gypo logger (not THE Gypo Logger) buddy of mine off and on, so there's no certification for me. Heck, there's not even any insurance for me!

Jeff

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Tree Machine, I hope your injury is coming along well and that your back in the saddle soon.

Being a newbie is actually the best part of any experience, but what is the definition of a newbie?
I guess that would be when we feel like an instructer as opposed to the pupil.
Which means that even the newbies here already know 10x what most of their friends and peers know.
When I am watching Fales , Cahoon, Ed or Art Martin then I am definately the pupil.
So I guess it comes down to knowing our place and when to be the puplil and when to be the teacher.
Isn't there a famous saying about being somewhere for the first time?
John

 

[Tree Machine]

Hey FishHunt, I would think being able to sharpen a chain would be a major asset to a Gypo.

As far as THE Gypo, hey thanks for the concern. I'm not walking yet, which is why I'm on the computer here at AS all day....which makes me wonder why the heck are YOU not out in the woods? OK, I'm not here to hassle anyone, I promised a contribution.

As far as noobs and pupils and puplils and teachers (just hasslin ya, Gypo), I believe I stated somewhere in the last 13 pages that I thought EVERYONE could become an expert hand sharpener in a short time. As you said earlier, there's very little to it, just paying attention to detail and using proper technique.

We've gone over proper technique, but I still have to hold firm that one of the most important things to do is to first keep the saw held firm. For me, that usually looks like this:

 

[Tree Machine]

This allows the chainsaw to not move. You can engage the chainbrake to keep the chain from moving left/right, so all that can possibly move it the tooth itself, a minor amount due to a bit of wobble of the drive link down in the guide rail. You can keep BOTH hands on the file, one on the handle, one on the file tip. This gives you precision control and you can work on finessing your technique.

This next pic, we've all seen these:

 

[Tree Machine]

Suh-weet CMF.

I added a handle on that one for better crankability. These are useful for when you happen to have a stump around. I decided I needed on right on my truck where I work on my saws. I drilled a couple pilot holes in my wood benchtop, whacked it in, clamped my saw into it and the first filing the stump vise popped tight out of the holes. It was seemingly really convenient, except it didn't work. I had to try something else.

These pics are of a crude first-try prototype, so they're ugly. However, the idea works remarkably well. The angle iron is welded to the stump vise.

I would really like to bring this idea to the manufacturer, but I don't speak Italian. Why wasn't this idea drummed up long ago, a benchtop version of the stump vise?