How do you file your chains........

[weenieroaster]

I file inside out, outside in, pull the file backwards.....it all depends on how I'm feeling that day. I s'pose if one were cutting absolutely clean wood, like processed lumber, how you file as it relates to edge holding quality, might be important related, but unless you strip away the bark first, I haven't found too many trees that don't have some degree of grit in them, along with sometimes the hard knots at the upper portions when limbing, that also help due a number on the cutter edge. I think that edge holding strength worth considering as a result of the direction of the file, is all pretty much secondary to whether the wood you're cutting is clean or not, and there isn't a lot of clean wood out there in the wild....jmo.

I use a bit of carbide chain now and again. Even when freshly sharpened with a diamond wheel, it won't cut as fast as standard chain.