How often do you file (sharpen) a chain

[Chainsaw Pete]

Yeah, I know, "When it gets dull". But how long does that take? We had a 75' pin oak*, it was about 5'- 6' in diameter at ground level, with two trunks forking about 5 - 6' above the ground. Each trunk was 14 - 16" in diameter at the fork. A microburst knocked one of the trunks down, and a pro crew cut it up and took down the remaining trunk. I never saw any of the guys touch up their saws. I've also watched other tree services saw down trees, buck them into shorter pieces and again, never file their saws.

If you are using your saw all day long, how often do you file the teeth? Figure clean wood, oak, maple, hickory for hardness. How many times a day do you file the teeth?


*The crew's 85' boom lift was extended vertically all the way up, and just cleared the top of the standing trunk.

 

[hotshot]

Every tank refill of fuel/bar oil it gets checked, sometimes it gets the file, sometimes it doesn’t need it.

The pro crews you saw were cutting live green wood, expect they sharpened only a couple of times all day.

IF it’s dead dirty oak coated in Texas dust, you can bet it gets sharpened often…maybe a 8-10 times for an all day tree that 75’ size.

 

[cookies]

About once a hour or up to a hour and a half if I never touch the ground or never hit trash/water/dirt filled wood, every 4 times the bar gets flipped and sprocket inspected

 

[Jusgunn3]

I bought a property that was pretty over grown and I have lots of old trees on the ground that fell over and a bunch with old fencing in them. I seem to have to sharpen all the time, every fill up I touch up the teeth with a few strokes. I use both semi chisel and chisel chains depending on the saw.

 

[muddy42]

It really depends. I get better results when sharpening in my workshop so that's the main focus. Whilst working I sharpen every two tanks or every tank if Im cutting dirty wood.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

I use semi-chisel or chipper chains for cutting dirty wood, with less on the angles than standard, and although it cuts 35% slower (50% slower for chipper chains), where a normal semi-chisel will dull in 7 cuts a chain with less angle is good for around 30, chipper is well over 50 to the point of it's so many I don't even know.

I'd think if I select sharpening angles for job speed (vs 1-cut speed) the pros do the same even though they're cutting green wood which doesn't dull the chain nearly as fast.

 

[sean donato]

Kinda loaded question. When it's dull, but dull to me may mean sharp to others. Gone all day and touched up a chain once or twice and had days where it was every tank. Doesn't take long to rip a file across a chain if you don't wait till it's throwing dust, even on a full comp 36". More often is better, but if it's cutting fine and throwing good chips there's no reason to waste cutter material. After a while you should be able to tell pretty quickly while you're running the saw. Even just lightly hitting dirt you'll notice. Only time I really deviate from that is if it's something sketchy. I'll touch up before hand and pray I don't hit something in the stick.

 

[fields_mj]

Crews like that are NOT a good example of how to maintain your saw, or even how to do the work they do. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some that were good, but the overwhelming majority of the one's I've seen are made up of people I wouldn't hire to mow my yard let alone cut down a tree.

As far as how often I sharpen, it depends on exactly what I'm doing. Generally its every 1 or 2 tanks of fuel. If I'm doing a lot of limbing work where the saw is idling a lot, and then running WOT while cutting a bunch of stuff that's under 4", I MIGHT go as many as 3 tanks just because I'm burning a lot of fuel and not actually cutting a lot of wood. If I'm bucking firewood, I start to notice a difference about half way through the 2nd tank.

 

[lone wolf]

As soon as I see and feel it cuts a bit slower .

 

[holeycow]

Pretty much every tank. I like the way a sharp chain cuts.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Pin Oak is the hardest Oak I've ever worked with. I usually touch up every tank full or when I put the saw away after a job. You don't realize it's getting dull until you get it real sharp again.

 

[NSEric]

It totally depends on what im cutting, I dont like slow saws or dull chains so I touch the chain up or swap it once it's dull.
When bucking up the log pile for fire wood I sharpen every tank or 2.
Cutting stud wood I go 4-5 tanks and it's still sharp. That type of cutting is mostly limbing in nice clean wood.

 

[flxblx]

Mostly every time I fuel up.

 

[David Ellis]

For me, I agree with the sentiment Hotshot expressed above:

The pro crews you saw were cutting live green wood, expect they sharpened only a couple of times all day.

IF it’s dead dirty oak coated in Texas dust, you can bet it gets sharpened often…maybe a 8-10 times for an all day tree that 75’ size.

The difference in chain dulling between green and dead trees (especially oak) is quite amazing. I feel the NEED to sharpen my chain after about 2 tanks of fuel on my Husqvarna 372 on fallen oak (white and red). However, the chain on our Stihl pole saw rarely gets dull because it's always cutting live green wood. On my limbing saws for live tree branches, the chain will remain sharp for maybe 4-6 tanks of fuel.

I really do enjoy a sharp chain.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Interesting post. I never file my chains. I always machine sharpen them and I always have a spare sharp loop to install when the teeth start building pitch on the topside of the teeth or the cutting action degrades to where I feel it's not cutting satisfactorily and of course I keep my depth gages set at 020 below the leading edge of the cutter teeth. Some like more, some like less, I like 020.

 

[Chainsaw Pete]

I always machine sharpen them.... I keep my depth gages set at 020 below the leading edge of the cutter teeth. Some like more, some like less, I like 020.

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).

 

[Sidecarflip]

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).

I don't use the vitrified wheels that come with the machines, I use CBN Cubic Boron Nitride wheels. The never need dressed because the boron grit is plasma imparted to the aluminum wheels that run perfectly true. All I do is clean them with a soft (white) stone regularly. I run chains for my arborist customers (I sharpen commercial chipper knives) as well. I've put at least 750 loops through the wheels now and they are just like new. I grind my rakers with a CBN wheel as well, but instead of it being a radius wheel, it's a flat wheel. I grind chains on one machine and cut the rakers on another machine.

I do pre clean ALL the chains in a heated ultrasonic cleaner with a Lye and water solution prior to grinding and after grinding, they go in a bucket of cheap motor oil for a soak and drain.

If you are heating the teeth with a vitrified wheel, you are either trying to remove too much material at one time or you are bearing down too hard, or the wheels are loaded up with swarf from dirty chains.

CBN wheels don't heat the cutters like vitrified wheels do either.

There is a caveat to it however and that is CBN wheels aren't cheap but the far outlast a vitrified wheel so in the long run, they average out and the plasma coated grit on the CBN wheels is much finer that a vitrified wheel so the grind finish is much better as well.

I paid around a hundred bucks a wheel for them fyi.

Nice thing about CBN wheels is they won't explode like a vitrified wheel can so I removed all the funky guards from my machines as they are no longer necessary.

 

[Sidecarflip]

I'm a hobby cutter, that is, if I have cutting to do on our property from say storm damage, I go do it. I don't heat with wood, never have, well maybe 50 years ago I did, cannot remember. If it's something up high, I just call one of my arborist customers with a bucket truck and have them put it on the ground for me. I'm old and I don't like heights. Had a large Mulberry taken down that split vertically, almost to the stump. Called one of them and they brought it down and chipped the little stuff and I just got done roasting all the rest because I'm a pyro at heart. Have to grind the stump next week, weather permitting. Nice to own a stump grinder and I use it quite frequently. A lot of it was deceased so the dry stuff helped the green stuff combust.