Chainsaw milling novice- cut not running straight, chain sharpening issue?

[Rough Hewn]

Andys right you don’t need to alter the angles, it’s personal preference.
But yes the clearing teeth need to be lower than the cutting teeth.
Lo pro is delicate, go gently.
Always buy the bigger bar.
[emoji106]

[Rough Hewn]

Get a ladder.

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

Get a ladder.

Sound advice . You can mill and clean the windows . 👍

[trigger_andy]

5 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Sound advice . You can mill and clean the windows . 👍

I thought that guy got banned?  

[Layne]

@trigger_andy @Rough Hewn thanks guys I really appreciate all your advice. Ok 10 degrees, keep things simple, use a ladder, I'll do all that. I'll get a bar and ripping chain for my 661 to go with an alaskan mill and get working on my chain sharpening.

 

I looked at the ripping chain in the photo with a friend's jewellery making magnifying lense and I could see that the teeth are if I'm understanding the term correctly a bit laid back i.e. the angle at the point is more than 60 degrees. So I imagine that's because I've filed with the round file not low enough on the depth setting? Is there a good way to know exactly how deep to set the file? I've read people say things like have 20% of the file sticking out above the top of the tooth.

 

The grinder we've got in the workshop that I use for all my crosscut chains is a Portek Maxi Mk II. It has a grinding disc that you hinge down onto the tooth rather than a round file. Seems to work fine for my crosscut chains. When you guys refer to a metal bench grinder for using in the workshop, which do you recommend? Sounds like I might want something better than the granberg precision grinder for sharpening my chains in the workshop.

[trigger_andy]

36 minutes ago, Layne said:

The grinder we've got in the workshop that I use for all my crosscut chains is a Portek Maxi Mk II. It has a grinding disc that you hinge down onto the tooth rather than a round file. Seems to work fine for my crosscut chains.

That will do the job well enough. Its at the cheaper end of the scale though so will potentially not be as accurate as a high end model at £200-£400. For a start it does not seem to have any clamp to hold the chain when the grinder is down so there will be a little play which will result in a little bit of inaccuracy. Will be more accurate than your Granberg and certainly better than your hand filing.  Just turn the dial til you're sitting at 10 degrees instead of 30. 

 

Amazon.com

WWW.AMAZON.COM

 

This is one of two we have in the workshop. We have an older model, but basically the same. 

 

[Layne]

@trigger_andy yes definitely better than my hand filing

 

When you lower the grinder it does pinch and clamp the chain in place so that doesn't seem to be an issue. I find there is a little bit of play from side to side in the arm that swings down, which made me go for the granberg precision grinder as I thought this would be more accurate in terms of getting the length of the teeth bang on?

 

I clicked on the link but it only seems to take me to an amazon home page.

[trigger_andy]

27 minutes ago, Layne said:

@trigger_andy yes definitely better than my hand filing

 

When you lower the grinder it does pinch and clamp the chain in place so that doesn't seem to be an issue. I find there is a little bit of play from side to side in the arm that swings down, which made me go for the granberg precision grinder as I thought this would be more accurate in terms of getting the length of the teeth bang on?

 

I clicked on the link but it only seems to take me to an amazon home page.

Thats good then. Seems a nice wee grinder for the money.

 

Its handy to re-zero the chains after a days filing or use of the Granberg. But if the Granbergs been set up right its almost as good as a bench grinder. Just check the length of the teeth with the Granberg as you move over to the opposite set of teeth.

[alandurrant]

Prob repeating, but here we are:
1/ your chain is blunt, very important in your case since:

2/ mill that fixes only one end of the bar is no good.
3/ use a ladder (I've drilled through the rungs on mine) and wedge if it bends as well - that first cut is critical. Remember when wedging the cut plank as you go along will bend as well.
Getting the bark off will lengthen the time between sharpening.

I think you know that saw is not 'ideal' for planking.
Cannot reccomend enough getting a 'super jolly' (the Oregon ones are actually Tocomec re-badged).
 

[Layne]

 @alandurrant thanks! I'm just getting a 24" alaskan mill to improve my smaller milling setup. I'm going to move up to using my 661 for this as well when I can get the bar I'm after - the Sugihara Pro solid bars look like a good option for milling, what do you guys use?

That's a great tip to drill through the ladder (so you can screw it to the log right?) and I'll be attentive to wedging it as needed. Thanks for all the advice, I'll look into the grinder you mention.