7sleeper
Addicted to ArboristSite
@ANewSawyer
most questions have already been answered by very competent fellows here. What I would recomend is not to overthink things too much. We are NOT talking about razor sharp knives or similar, this is a chain saw, the next evolutionary step to a hammer. With a chain running ~50-60feet/second in wood, even a grain of sand has some impact on sharpness! So remember we don't want razor sharp in any way, simply not worth the hassle if you want to cut wood. If you do it for the looks then do what you think is nice.
Much more important is good cutting technique! Ground contact, even a tenth of a second, means that your chain has traveled ~5-6feet in abrasive dulling media! So back to filing is the moto! Next is your wood is dirty, use an axe to chop away the dirty bark where you want to cut. Those few moments will spare you refilling time!
The grinder I mentioned above is, in my eyes, an excelent beginners model! Why? Quite simple, first the results you can achieve are at least as good as store bought stihl chain, second there isn't a lot you can do wrong with these, the top angle is fixed to 60° and you choose whatever side angle you want(about all stihl chain is 60°/30°, so that is what I do) and third it is actually quite weak (80W engine) so there is not much to worry about burning a chian! If you press to hard the engine will stall. Then again using a grinder has more to do with "kissing" the cutter, instead of acting like you are using an angle grinder on rebar! Forth it is a very easy way to bring all cutters back to speck if you hit something "unfriendly"(rock, nail, bullet, etc.). Doing that with a file is something for very bored people.
You can see my comparison results on an el cheapo grinder here.
Good luck! and don't forget ppe (=personal protection equipment = chaps, helmet, eye & ear protection, etc.)
7
