Sharpening?

[sbhooper]

It definitely depends on your wood. I cut mainly eastern red cedar and it holds a lot of dirt in the bark. It is not real bad until you have to cut through a "V" where dirt has really settled in. My brand new Stihl chain lasted real well until I started on a fence clearing project and found that the thick trees had an old woven wire fence it it.:censored: It took some filing to fix that. Usually, I check the cutters by feel. If they feel like they are still fairly sharp, then I keep cutting. The saw will tell you when they are no longer sharp also.

I look at sharpening as a good oportunity for a break.