Square filing. Who has tried, and given up?

[Gypo Logger]

An almost perfect chain in 90 secs?

I agree with that. It would only take one pass with a new file.

Round filling can be very quick to do.

My round chisel is at least as fast as say the Husky square out of the box.

I may have missed it, but how much faster are we expecting out of a properly sharpened square over a Husky square out of the box?

Usually a chain out of the box is not that good, as the moving parts haven't married together until a tank or two and at least a couple of 90 second tickles.
John

 

[parrisw]

Great pics parrisw, can the jig be tilted down for the required angle?

o

Sorry John not my pics. It was BobL's. But I'm going to try to make something as soon as I get my files.

 

[BobL]

30 to 32 cutters for a 16" bar and about 45 seconds for a 13" bar with skip chain that may have 15-16 cutters.
Like Wiggs said, it didn't happen if I don't make a vid of the 90 second tickle. Lol
John

I average 3.6 seconds per cutter so 32 cutters will take me ~120 seconds to touch up - I can go faster but I wont be as accurate.

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[parrisw]

Ok, maybe this is a dumb question, but can you use any flat file that has cutters on the side of it? I'm thinking the file might not be thick enough?

 

[BobL]

Great pics parrisw, can the jig be tilted down for the required angle?

Yes it can.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I average 3.6 seconds per cutter so 32 cutters will take me ~120 seconds to touch up - I can go faster but I wont be as accurate.

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Good job Bob, you got your method down pat and fast to boot. I've never seen two people ever file the same.
John

 

[Andyshine77]

Bob that's exactly how I sharpen my chains.

 

[redprospector]

Ok, maybe this is a dumb question, but can you use any flat file that has cutters on the side of it? I'm thinking the file might not be thick enough?

No such thing as a dumb question if you don't know the answer.
The answer is no. The edges on a bastard mill file are 90* to the flat sides. To file a square chisel chain the file has to have the right angles on the edges. A goofy file has a rounded edge, but won't generally cut quite as fast as a chain filed with a double bevel file.

Andy

 

[Gypo Logger]

Andy, in my feeble attempts to Sq. file, I was thinking a four sided file would be better than a 6. It might help keeping the corner in the corner.
John

 

[redprospector]

I'm always trying to talk myself out of SQF in favour of RF, which isn't hard to do.
If a perfect SQF is only 20% faster than a perfect RF and I can RF an almost perfect chain in 90 seconds and a much less perfect SQF in 15 minutes, what's the point? It's a false economy. I just like the look of a perfect SQF cutter, regardless of how slow and frustrating SQF is.
GGRRRRRR.
John

Hang in there John. Don't talk yourself out of it.
You know as well as anyone that it's just a matter of learning the motions and becoming efficient at making them. Before you know it your 15 minute filing jobs will become 10, and then 5. On a 16" bar I can see it being well under 5. How long did it take you to file a chain with a round file when you first started learning?
We cut a lot of pecker poles around here, and I've seen new fallers come in and after a week say that you can't make a living cutting trees. But for every one like that there were 10 guy's out there making a decent living doing it. The difference is how efficiently they did what was necessary. But efficiency comes with time.
I've got faith in ya John. I can't see you letting a little 60 DL square chisel chain whip your ass.

Andy

 

[redprospector]

Andy, in my feeble attempts to Sq. file, I was thinking a four sided file would be better than a 6. It might help keeping the corner in the corner.
John

Without the bevel on the edge of the file your side plate would have about a 40 or 45* angle...........and in the wrong direction.

Andy

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hang in there John. Don't talk yourself out of it.
You know as well as anyone that it's just a matter of learning the motions and becoming efficient at making them. Before you know it your 15 minute filing jobs will become 10, and then 5. On a 16" bar I can see it being well under 5. How long did it take you to file a chain with a round file when you first started learning?
We cut a lot of pecker poles around here, and I've seen new fallers come in and after a week say that you can't make a living cutting trees. But for every one like that there were 10 guy's out there making a decent living doing it. The difference is how efficiently they did what was necessary. But efficiency comes with time.
I've got faith in ya John. I can't see you letting a little 60 DL square chisel chain whip your ass.

Andy

It's been so long since I learned how to file a decent chain, I don't really recall, but I learned alot here in the last ten years, mainly about chip clearance and gullet work.
My main problem is keeping the corner in the corner with sqf
I'm so jealous of my RF I couldn't bring myself to mount my heavily beaked SQF today, but I'll do it tomorrow. I've got the under the top plate so thin I bet it will make at least 4 pecker poles piss their roots before it's duller than a hoe. Lol
John

 

[parrisw]

No such thing as a dumb question if you don't know the answer.
The answer is no. The edges on a bastard mill file are 90* to the flat sides. To file a square chisel chain the file has to have the right angles on the edges. A goofy file has a rounded edge, but won't generally cut quite as fast as a chain filed with a double bevel file.

Andy

Ok, thanks Andy, makes sense now. I got some goofy files coming, should get here soon.

 

[redprospector]

It's been so long since I learned how to file a decent chain, I don't really recall, but I learned alot here in the last ten years, mainly about chip clearance and gullet work.
My main problem is keeping the corner in the corner with sqf
I'm so jealous of my RF I couldn't bring myself to mount my heavily beaked SQF today, but I'll do it tomorrow. I've got the under the top plate so thin I bet it will make at least 4 pecker poles piss their roots before it's duller than a hoe. Lol
John

Just keep after it, you'll get the eye for keeping the corner.
Try rolling the file up to make the bevel under the top plate not so thin. It may help some with the corner.

Andy

 

[redprospector]

Ok, thanks Andy, makes sense now. I got some goofy files coming, should get here soon.

If you got 8" goofy files, they are quite a bit wider than the double bevel's and you may have to re-think the filing jig a little. But I bet you can do that.

Andy

 

[parrisw]

If you got 8" goofy files, they are quite a bit wider than the double bevel's and you may have to re-think the filing jig a little. But I bet you can do that.

Andy

Yes 8" goofy files coming. I'll see what I can do, but I want to learn to file square by hand anyway, the file holder will just be a fun project.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Yes 8" goofy files coming. I'll see what I can do, but I want to learn to file square by hand anyway, the file holder will just be a fun project.

It wasn't my intention to dice the goofy filing, it's just I couldn't make it as fast as RF, but I understand that saw racers especially in the southern states have this down pat. I'd like to talk to them and see their chains. Red has helped alot in this regard, so I'll keep trying.
John

 

[redprospector]

It wasn't my intention to dice the goofy filing, it's just I couldn't make it as fast as RF, but I understand that saw racers especially in the southern states have this down pat. I'd like to talk to them and see their chains. Red has helped alot in this regard, so I'll keep trying.
John

John,
I know I'm not in the part of the south that you're thinking of, but most of the chain's I've seen from the south east look pretty similar to this one. They may have switched to goofy filing race chains, but I've found a double bevel to be faster.

Andy

 

[Gypo Logger]

Red, don't laugh at me, buts here's how far Ive come with goofy filing.
John

 

[redprospector]

Haha. You may have come a little too far.

Andy