Square ground chain faster or not?

chainsawworld · Oct 22, 2005

it is safe to say we are not talking semi-chisel against chisel.
in the spring i was really butting heads with (i believe it was mac man) on the west coast. i thought it was impossible to beat my round filed race chain. i played and played with the chisel file and found it to be between 30 and 40 100ths faster per cut in 8x8 squared cants. it does take longer to sharpen and i do much more with it but for compitetion the sqaure file is the way to go. i still do round file for every day work mostly because it is faster and the round files are much cheaper. marty

Diesel JD · Oct 23, 2005

Interesting stuff...! In my area I don't think square chisel is available unless you order from Bailey's or Madsens. I will ahve to buy one and see what it does. I try real hard to keep my round chisel out of teh dirt, but crap happens. It seems the main reason that sqaure chisel takes longer to file is that for each cutter you ahev four angles you need to file instead of 1 for round chisel. That being said, and the idea that it's hard to fiel a square chisel chain...I would like to learn how just to see if I could, if for no other reason.. Intersting thread....is there any reason square chisel won't work in hardwood like oak and hickory?

ccicora · Oct 23, 2005

I know in oak, Beech, maple the chains are hard to beat. The hardest part is getting the angles right on both sides. As for the competition aspect, I say go ahead and run your round for I need all the advantage I can get.

Gypo Logger · Oct 23, 2005

There is no doubt that sq. is faster than rnd., however if it takes 1/2hr to file a work chain and you can't file it right then what's the point?
A good rnd.filed chain is alot superior to a poorly sq. filed chain. If you were raised on sq. why go rnd? It all comes down to what's easier, quicker and faster cutting.
I use only sq. chain now because I can. I grind all my chains and they are faster and smoother than rnd. Would I have cut any less timber had I stayed with rnd? probably not.
It's like this. If all your game was shot with a 30-30 and you never missed why buy a more expensive calibre? So Shut up Cahoon :blob2:

John

Billy_Bob · Oct 23, 2005

Diesel JD said:
...It seems the main reason that sqaure chisel takes longer to file is that for each cutter you ahev four angles you need to file instead of 1 for round chisel....

It does not take me any longer to file my square ground chain than it does my round ground chain unless there are more cutters to file.

Actually I have been working with a friend the last week. Every morning, he files his 18" round ground saw and I file my 32" square ground saw. I go two or three strokes for each cutter (of course holding double bevel file at correct angles). I am done filing my saw before he is done filing his!

Then we go out to cut wood. He cuts wood half the diameter as what I am cutting, yet I cut twice as much wood as he does. Then he gets disgusted watching me zip through my cuts, and goes back to the truck to re-sharpen his saw... (Note: I'm not implying that my chain is twice as fast, my 460 saw is also faster than his.)

Square Ground Filing - Correct filing angles
Outline picture of double bevel file...
http://www.oregonchain.com/tech/ms_manual/ms_06.pdf

Billy_Bob · Oct 23, 2005

P.S. When I file my square ground cutters, I line up the part of the file where the flat part meets the bevel with the “point” of the cutter as shown on the above link.

Also I align the file with the angle mark on the top of the cutter.

And I “twist” the flat part of the file so it meets the top part of the cutter.

Then for each filing stroke, I place more upward pressure on the file than pressure to the side.

This is because you are filing more metal on the top of the cutter than on the side of the cutter. So more pressure needs to be pressed say upward and to the right than sideways – or upwards and to the left than sideways (when sharpening the opposite side).