Some amateur sharpening questions

[StoneyMeadowMaple]

So, i stopped and picked this up today. Its 3/8 and I would need .325 for the little 545xp, but I wanted to give one a try first. If it works several people are getting one for Christmas.

 

[Husky77]

Just my view, but forget about all the gizmos, guides and 2 in 1s - they just get in the way of seeing what's going on during the sharpening process. Study the shape of a new chain until it is burned in your brain - pictures, youtube, compare to a new chain etc. Then stick the bar in a vice and practice again and again. Sharpen often and don't wait for chains to get really blunt. Replace files often. Take your time, look from above and the side.

Best advice there from Muddy

 

[StoneyMeadowMaple]

Best advice there from Muddy

It’s fantastic advice, not sure how much of that can be drilled into a 75 year old.

 

[NSEric]

I have just about every sharpening gizmo going. The stihl 2 in 1, simple file guide, husky style 2 in 1, dremel bits and a round chain grinder.
My biggest issue when hand sharpening is seeing what im doing, if I use the vice and a bright light in the garage my hand filing is pretty good. Out in the woods my hand filing goes to crap, there's never anything close by to hold the saw well. With the stihl 2 in 1 I dont have to pay attention I just line it up and file easy peasy, they work good.

 

[J D]

there's never anything close by to hold the saw well.

 

[thenne1713]

So, i stopped and picked this up today. Its 3/8 and I would need .325 for the little 545xp, but I wanted to give one a try first. If it works several people are getting one for Christmas.

I bought a China knockoff, really impressed, but still field file x3, then change chains, then bench grind every night. Filed more than x3 always seems to pull to side.

 

[J D]

I bought a China knockoff, really impressed, but still field file x3, then change chains, then bench grind every night. Filed more than x3 always seems to pull to side.

Almost everyone files better in one direction than the other... & most will naturally start filing that direction first. So they end up doing the "harder" filing when they are more fatigued.
Try filing the side you are less comfortable with first, it might help even things up

 

[StoneyMeadowMaple]

View attachment 1224490

We have one that goes in a saw
Kerf, its a nice vise, currently resides in the front bumper of the Power Wagon above the winch. Different than that one, maybe 3” wide jaws with rubber pads. I have never seen another like it.

 

[J D]

I've always been a fan of a vise on a post that locks on the tow bar of the truck.
I have one of those stump vises but forget it half the time & end up cutting a couple of notches into a stump & banging a wedge in to clamp the saw

 

[mudfly]

So, i stopped and picked this up today. Its 3/8 and I would need .325 for the little 545xp, but I wanted to give one a try first. If it works several people are getting one for Christmas.

Have you had a chance to use the 2 in 1 yet? What are your opinions?

 

[echomeister]

Do yall use two hands on the file like in the video?
I have always only used one hand. The other holds the bar.

 

[SteveSr]

Do yall use two hands on the file like in the video?
I have always only used one hand. The other holds the bar.

2 hands on the file. You need a vice or something else to hold the saw. I can't imagine filing one-handed.

 

[StoneyMeadowMaple]

Have you had a chance to use the 2 in 1 yet? What are your opinions?

I haven’t yet. Hopefully I will this afternoon, my leash is short around Christmas.