How often do you file (sharpen) a chain

[sean donato]

I've only seen 0.025 gages - for the Oregon 72 chains I've been using. What does the lighter bite get you - faster chain speed?

I found my Oregon sharpener (w/ factory wheel) can overheat the chain's cutting edge leading to a chain that dulls more quickly than a factory sharp new chain that is touched up w/ a file. I've tried spraying w/ WD40 to cool the tooth before grinding and also after, it doesn't seem to make much difference. In another post, I asked if others have seen the same effect (from machine grinding) and got a chorus of 'file it by hand' or 'learn to sharpen it w/ a file'. I usually machine sharpen after half to a dozen file sharpenings (depends if I'm doing a lot of sawing).

You're taking too much off too quickly if you're burning cutters.

 

[Sidecarflip]

You're taking too much off too quickly if you're burning cutters.

Conversely, if the wheel is loaded with material from grinding, it will not grind efficiently and will cause the cutters to get hot to the point of actually getting too hard and brittle as they cool off. That especially holds true for vitreous wheels. Much like you have to do with a bench grinder. You have to dress the bench grinder wheels or they burn whatever you are attempting to grind.

Same applies to a surface grinder. In fact mine (surface grinder) has a built into the wheel head, a diamond sliding dresser I use to dress the wheels when I use it. If the wheel (vitreous) isn't kept clear of buildup from whatever I'm grinding, it too will overheat and discolor the workpiece and possibly alter the chemical makeup of that being dimensionally ground.

Of course it has flood coolant unlike a cutter grinder for saw chain.

Most people think that if you overheat a cutter on a chain loop, it becomes soft. The truth of the matter is it becomes harder, not softer as the teeth are high carbon steel and when you heat high carbon steel to the point of dull red, it becomes hardened and loses it's temper (becomes brittle) at the same time