Sharpening chains

[2stroke2]

Whats the best and easiest way to sharpen chains? Is it the file or should i get one of those electric ones my dealer/service guys have. Ive heard that the electric option takes to much off ,and the chain dosnt last as long.
thankyou.

 

[tawilson]

The best way is with a file. The easiest is with a grinder.
Learn to file a chain first. It's not that hard. All sorts of info here and on the chainsaw manufacturers and Oregon's site. I learned by internet, had no one around to show me how.

 

[livewire]

Files are more forgiving IMO, as you don't take as much metal off. However, (someone correct me if I'm wrong) grinders are great for large quantities of chains. I know alot of people use them and swear by them but personally I favor the hand file....but that might be because I'm an incurable cheapskate.

My wife brought me home a dremel chainsaw kit thing from home depot. (bless her heart) I told her I lost the parts. hope she doesn't get another one.

Anyway, to each his own but I take pride in my filing and you can't always plug in a grinder next to the stacks.

"The best way is with a file. The easiest is with a grinder" yup, well said, Tom! missed it.

 

[kattcutter]

The best way is with a file. The easiest is with a grinder.

Agreed! I hand file anything up to 20".
Over that, I like to use my Oregon 511A. The grinder won't remove any more of the teeth than you have it set to remove. Chain lasts just as long, IMO.

Regards, kattcutter

 

[THALL10326]

Whats the best and easiest way to sharpen chains? Is it the file or should i get one of those electric ones my dealer/service guys have. Ive heard that the electric option takes to much off ,and the chain dosnt last as long.
thankyou.

Some will swear a file is the way to go, some will swear the grinder is the way to go. I say if you have a grinder you will never go back to a file. The grinder only takes off as much metal as the user sets it at. Grinders get alot of bad feedback because the peolple using them don't know how to use them. Blued teeth, cutting half the cutter away are all faults of the operator, not the grinder.

Filing is great out in the woods in a pinch when you need a touch up to finnish the job. However I've yet to see anyone hold angles filing as well as a machine can do it. Most of the chains I do on the grinder are chains that have been filed in the field and the angles are usually way off and different from right side to left side.

The best thing about the grinder verses the file is if you know how to properly use a grinder you can grind at least 5 chains while someone is filing one, maybe more. Average sharpening time on a grinder is around 5 minutes. Filing by hand I'm not sure anymore, quit using files many years ago...

 

[clearance]

Some will swear a file is the way to go, some will swear the grinder is the way to go. I say if you have a grinder you will never go back to a file. The grinder only takes off as much metal as the user sets it at. Grinders get alot of bad feedback because the peolple using them don't know how to use them. Blued teeth, cutting half the cutter away are all faults of the operator, not the grinder.

Filing is great out in the woods in a pinch when you need a touch up to finnish the job. However I've yet to see anyone hold angles filing as well as a machine can do it. Most of the chains I do on the grinder are chains that have been filed in the field and the angles are usually way off and different from right side to left side.

The best thing about the grinder verses the file is if you know how to properly use a grinder you can grind at least 5 chains while someone is filing one, maybe more. Average sharpening time on a grinder is around 5 minutes. Filing by hand I'm not sure anymore, quit using files many years ago...

Thall old buddy, happy new year. When I learned how to file (was forced to learn, I mean) the chains never had them angle marks on 'em, that came along later. With them marks anyone can get it right. I try and file before my saw gits dull. Hey ya gots ta learn, even if ya settle for a grinder. Its kind of like only knowing how to drive an automatic, or only knowing how to add with a calculator, or only knowing how to ride a bike with training wheels. I can sharpen pretty good by hand, do it, yelling, cursing, cutting your fingers, getting laughed at, after a few thousand times and hundreds of chains you''ll be good at it too.

 

[Stihl #1]

This will probably cause some discussion, but for me, if I am using full chisel chain, I file every cutter one stroke every time I fill up the tanks. The file is used to keep a chain sharp, not sharpen a dull chain. I still use a file guide, as it holds the file up slightly high of the top plate of the cutter and keeps from filing down towards the driver, putting a lot of hook in the cutter. This does not file away the chain, and keeps me from having to grind a bunch of the cutter away to get a dull chain sharp. The guide also helps me keep the 30 degree angle. I know most guys don't use a guide, but I guess with a lot of practice I might be good enough to not need one, but I don't cut for a living, so the guide works best for me.
If I mess up a chain by hitting something, or getting in the dirt, or I have filed it a lot, then I use the grinder to true all the cutters up. A good grinder is a lot of money, so it is probably best to find a good dealer that knows how to use one correctly, like THALL, and pay him to do it as needed.

 

[caspian]

Everyone who uses a saw should be able to hand file a chain. More importantly, they also should be able to look close enough to see what a sharp cutter looks like when new, hand filed or machine ground and realize when it's time to do something with it to get it sharp again. I learned to file years ago. My uncle had a lawn care repair shop and he also showed me how to use the grinder. He let me come and sharpen my chains whenever I wanted at no charge. He also told me to sharpen them twice and i would remove less metal. He didn't do this for the normal customers but he told me to put the chain on and set the stop tang so the grinding wheel just whizzed by the end of the cutter. You could almost hear the wheel touch and see a few irregular sparks fly. Make a complete pass of the chain to clean off any irregular edges from the last sharpening or resulting burrs/rough edges from it being in use. Adjust the chain stop dog and make a second pass to remove metal and sharpen the cutters. I've hand filed for years and would have the chains machine sharpened when I felt my filing wasn't doing it anymore. I decided to buy one of the cheap grinders to make it easier on me. My chains are usually rocked out beyond the point of hand filing and I just grind anymore. I'm not in a hurry so I sharpen the way he told me , right or wrong, and do the multiple pass sharpening. Once you do the cleanup grinding it's easy to even estimate how much your going to remove when you adjust the stop. Look at the bolt thread and do the math. Let's say it's 1/4-20 thread on the adjustment bolt. Twenty threads per inch means a full turn of the bolt is 0.050", a half turn is 0.025", a quarter turn is 0.0125", an eight turn is 0.006" etc... I built my house in the middle of five acres that had been timbered off about fifteen years before. I don't cut for firewood, just normal trimming and storm cleanups of fallen trees. I had the area around the house cleared of stumps when I landscaped. Since then I've expanded my mowing a little. I've gotten tired of driving my tractor around some of the left behind stumps so I've been using my saw like a stump grinder to level them and now I can drive over them. I guess I could have rented a stump grinder but what fun or challenge would that have been.

 

[THALL10326]

Thall old buddy, happy new year. When I learned how to file (was forced to learn, I mean) the chains never had them angle marks on 'em, that came along later. With them marks anyone can get it right. I try and file before my saw gits dull. Hey ya gots ta learn, even if ya settle for a grinder. Its kind of like only knowing how to drive an automatic, or only knowing how to add with a calculator, or only knowing how to ride a bike with training wheels. I can sharpen pretty good by hand, do it, yelling, cursing, cutting your fingers, getting laughed at, after a few thousand times and hundreds of chains you''ll be good at it too.

Hahaha Clearance, I know exaclty what your talking about. I got a older brother who does his by file right in my little shed where a grinder is bolted to the wall. He likes to file and boy he is nit picky about it too. Takes him forever and he gets em pretty dayumm good too. I always tell him why don't you quit fighting that damn file and use the grinder. He goes I like filing, I go you love punishment too,lolololol. Its all a matter of choice I guess. Hell I rarely sharpen my own chains, I like new ones. Hit a rock, toss it and get a new one. I know thats stupid but I got a bad habit of saying screw it and putting and a new chain and go. When in doult throw it out is my motto and my wallet hates me for it,LOL

 

[ktoom]

The grinder is the way to go. You have to have it setup right and you will have no problems at all. I even use it to grind down the rakers. I don't really care for filling. I usually bring accouple chains with me, so in case one gets dull i just throw a new one on.

 

[Marco]

I think a person needs to decide between filing or grinding. If you grind you make a slightly different profile on the tooth then filing that needs to be "readjusted" when you come back to file. I have folks that are good at filing that I talk out of me having sharpen their chains because they would have to rasp away at it to get it to fit their file again.

 

[314epw]

grinding

I think a grinder is the only way to go unless you get your gollys filing.Angle are always correct and is much faster.As far as blue teeth and burrs,That just plain old operator error!By taking your time you should be able to beat hand filing by at least 3 to 1.Now the problem is how much do you want to spend? $50 to $1000?Even the $50 grinder will set yourangles better than hand filing.
Ed

 

[IchWarriorMkII]

For 25 bucks you can have a Granberg file jig, 5 more bucks for a pack of files to go with it. Read the directions once, slap it on the bar and go to filing chains. That is probably the cheapest way to get a dull chain sharp.

It also is damn easy to make a sharp chain the first try, you do a little turning of some knobs to get the file where you need it, then you file away. Nice and consistent on every tooth, all you do is push the file back and forth.

Now, if you want to spend a little more than 30 bucks to your chain sharpening set up, you can go with a grinder. I'd like to know how to run a grinder properly myself... but I can get by with all my sharpening needs with a file jig and a box of files.

 

[craiggy]

Try that vallorbe racing cut, although I did'nt buy the jig I followed a diagram online and managed to do it free-hand, I have 12 years of experience in round filing. I have never made a round filed chain cut the way that I can make one cut with this racing cut. I was very skeptical at first until I tried it in some dried rock maple firewood that I own, I was blown away, it cuts very smooth and fast. Many of you on here are really good square filers, I have never tried square filing, but for me this all the performance I'll ever need from my 357xp cause I only run .325 chain and 15 inch bars.

 

[manual]

I like to hand file, because If I am out in the woods and go through something that dulls my chain or am eating lunch I can touch it up there and now.

 

[SWE#Kipp]

Try that vallorbe racing cut, although I did'nt buy the jig I followed a diagram online and managed to do it free-hand, I have 12 years of experience in round filing. I have never made a round filed chain cut the way that I can make one cut with this racing cut. I was very skeptical at first until I tried it in some dried rock maple firewood that I own, I was blown away, it cuts very smooth and fast. Many of you on here are really good square filers, I have never tried square filing, but for me this all the performance I'll ever need from my 357xp cause I only run .325 chain and 15 inch bars.

It's nice isn't it
I have the .325 gude and have tested the 3/8 and liked them both !

 

[blis]

Try that vallorbe racing cut, although I did'nt buy the jig I followed a diagram online and managed to do it free-hand, I have 12 years of experience in round filing. I have never made a round filed chain cut the way that I can make one cut with this racing cut. I was very skeptical at first until I tried it in some dried rock maple firewood that I own, I was blown away, it cuts very smooth and fast. Many of you on here are really good square filers, I have never tried square filing, but for me this all the performance I'll ever need from my 357xp cause I only run .325 chain and 15 inch bars.

Whats so special in it?

 

[stihl025]

Hell I rarely sharpen my own chains, I like new ones. Hit a rock, toss it and get a new one. I know thats stupid but I got a bad habit of saying screw it and putting and a new chain and go. When in doult throw it out is my motto and my wallet hates me for it,LOL

Thall,

What size chains do you use? If they match anything we run, I will gladly take those "throw aways" off your hands. No kidding...

It could make a great donation to a volunteer department... We are pretty tough on chains too.

 

[craiggy]

whats so special in it is that it is alot easier than trying to square file. What I said was that it cuts faster than my round filed ,and that dosent mean faster than yours or anyone elses. It also cuts alot smoother and faster.

 

[ray benson]

What files are you using? Any tips to this method?