sharpening

[rowan lee]

I had a professional sharpen my saw a while ago and it ripped and stayed sharp for a lot longer than it does when I sharpen it. I've done my cs30, I've tried using sharpening guide and tried without and I've got the right file. Even in my workshop with the saw in a vice and if I take my time I still can't get it as sharp as he did:blushing:. Does it take a lot of practice to get it properly sharp or am I probably doing something wrong???

 

I'm a domestic user myself, and have found over time and through trial and error my skills have improved. Funnily enough, i started using the stihl guide holder as well first off and found it didn't work as nicely as my dads oregon file guide.

 

Then as brushcutter mentioned i tried one of the husky roller guides

File gauges - Filing equipment and haven't looked back since, by far the best method i have used over the last few years.

[Harrison2604]

"These chainsaws must cost you a fortune, I have a little Makita that I use for me logs and I'm always having to buy new chains for them because they go blunt so fast!" - Anonymous CLIENT

 

... one of the funniest things I've ever heard and wasn't sure whether he was joking or not. Turned out he wasn't and I had to explain to the mid 80's pensioner that you can sharpen them and that ramming it into the ground is what makes it go so blunt!!

[Big J]

I use a roller guide for the MS260 and I would never go back to free hand sharpening. It's just as quick and I would swear to you that the chain is more aggressively sharp after a few sharpens than it is when it comes out of the box.

[Ian C]

what bollocks ,been doing it free hand for over 30 yrs & that includes sharpening chains ,never needed a grinder to correct my filing yet ,& never wil do,grinders do more damage than good ,any good man that can do it free hand will tell you that ,if you cant dress a chain properly, give asda a ring

 

well put jonny:lol:

[Bolt]

... Does it take a lot of practice to get it properly sharp or am I probably doing something wrong???

 

Without seeing how you sharpen, it is impossible to say if you are doing something wrong.

 

Maybe you could pose for a photo mid file stroke?

 

Some customer I was once working for complained that he had sharpened his chain time and time again and it was still blunt. Turned out it was on the saw backwards.

 

Some blokes I was training for from the highways complained their saws wouldnt hold an edge. Turned out that all the chrome from the cutter surfaces had long since be work off following them striking tarmac.

 

The you get wrong sized file, filing in the wrong direction, not removing burrs, wrong brand or type of file holder, chains that have gone bitching hard because they have been heated up when bench grinding, etc, etc.

 

If you are happy you have the theory nailed, but you just need the practice, this IMHO is the best way to practice...

 

Get a new full chisel chain that has witness marks. It is easy to see if this type of chain is sharpened right or wrong.

 

Put it on your bar, clamp the saw firmly (you aint practicing the banjo, boy) and give it a very light sharpen before you even use it.

 

Do this simply because it will start to get you familier with how to hold the file and move your arms in a coordinated way.

 

Use the saw for a while, but not so long as it starts to get even slightly blunt (about an hour should be OK if you are carefull) clamp it again and sharpen it lightly again. Compare the angles to the witness marks.

 

Continue to use the saw, and tickle the chain sharp before it gets bluntened.

 

Soon you will be doing it second nature.

 

If the chain gets damaged, or all the cutters are different angles, you will have the devils own job to get it right, so sharpen it very little and very often if you want to get some really valuable practice in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember, happiness is a really sharp full chisel chain.

[tractorboy1]

well put jonny:lol:

 

So I bet you look nice it that green uniform Ian:001_tt2:

[spudulike]

what bollocks ,been doing it free hand for over 30 yrs & that includes sharpening chains ,never needed a grinder to correct my filing yet ,& never wil do,grinders do more damage than good ,any good man that can do it free hand will tell you that ,if you cant dress a chain properly, give asda a ring

 

I have no doubt that you can sharpen your chains to a great standard giving an edge that will last a long time. I can sharpen my chains by hand and like you, know what is important in sharpening chains.

 

I am not stating that a grinder is the ONLY way to sharpen a chain correctly, I am not saying that hand sharpening isn't a good way to sharpen, both have their own positives and negatives.

 

I have seen chains sharpened by hand and badly - usually the cutter angles are too steep, not enough hook, varying angles and cutterlength and the rakers too high or low - home owner saws are generaly the worse!

 

I have seen chains ground badly with grinders and know that many will overheat the cutter by letting their disk glaze over and then use too much pressure to overheat the cutter until it glows orange leaving a bad burr on the top and side of the cutter. The heat will take out the hardness of the cutter and make it go blunt quicker plus turning it blue.

 

I personally find that a well maintained chain needs no more than a light file to get it back to a sharp condition but when someone has destroyed the tip of the cutters on a 26" full chisel chain and 1mm of cutter needs to come off then a well maintained grinder used by someone who knows what they are doing is quicker and easier and gives a near factory sharp finish.

 

Semi chisel low profile chains on a 14" bar are a different can of worms to a 26" full chisel.

 

So for the record - I don't talk bollocks and both sharpening methods are valid when done by people that understand the technicalities of sharpening chains.

[skyhuck]

I personally find that a well maintained chain needs no more than a light file to get it back to a sharp condition but when someone has destroyed the tip of the cutters on a 26" full chisel chain and 1mm of cutter needs to come off then a well maintained grinder used by someone who knows what they are doing is quicker and easier and gives a near factory sharp finish.

 

 

 

So for the record - I don't talk bollocks :

 

:001_rolleyes:You sure????????

 

A badly damaged 25" chain on an 066 can be done by hand in under 5 minuets (I know because I timed myself)

 

It would take as long as that to take the chain off and refit.

 

I have never met a professional cutter who thinks grinding is quicker or even better.

[treequip]

 

The heat will take out the hardness of the cutter and make it go blunt quicker plus turning it blue.

 

 

So for the record - I don't talk bollocks

 

Well that bit about hardening is somewhat testicular, over heating a cutter will harden the steel and since it is harder it probably won’t blunt as quickly but sharpening it with a file will be near impossible.

[spudulike]

If you heat steel and quench it, it goes from soft to hard, if you heat hard steel and let it cool slowly it goes soft, try heating a spring and quenching it - it will probably shatter if you compress it!

 

The terms to read up on are hardening and annealing!

 

I have just spent ages on a 26" full chisel that someone had run on a badly worn bar - all the cutter tips were buggered - had to take about 1.5mm off each cutter - it took a while on a grinder and think I would have still been sharpening if I had been using a file.

 

Not saying it can't be done but not a 5 minute job - not by me anyway - how badly damaged is "badly damaged"? Mine was a real mess!