Chain sharpening...

[GardenKit]

grind properly and there is no problem, simples:biggrin:

 

Just as Spud says, light touches with the wheel, dont try to grind out too much damage in one pass, go round again.

 

'pulse' the wheel onto the top of the cutter, whilst not in contact with the steel the air movement of the rotating wheel carries off some of the heat.

 

As you move further down the cutter the wheel can be left on the steel longer as there is more bulk of steel to absorb the heat.

 

wipe off the burr with your index finger then you will know if you have overheated it:sneaky2:

[treequip]

Yes you must be right I suppose because the cutter is of so little relative mass it does not retain the heat long enough so air cooling is rapid enough to harden it . Accepted !. So cyanide hardening followed by slow tempering in a convector oven is not what is happening to a small cutter ! Yep thinking about it you are right . Small point -- I don't think cutters are chrome plated , rather they arte made from steel with a chrome content . Also time served in a toolroom that made plastic injection mould tools . Hate the smell of slurry coolent !!!

 

No they're chrome plated, the cutter body isn't fit to cut, it needs to be soft enough to be worked with a file, if it were a chrome alloy you would struggle to use a file on it and that would mean you couldn't sharpen them in the field.

 

If you take a chain that's been mullered by stone, much of the chrome gets ripped away, you can sharpen that chain again but without the chrome it won't hold an edge for more than a cut or two.

[Stubby]

No they're chrome plated, the cutter body isn't fit to cut, it needs to be soft enough to be worked with a file, if it were a chrome alloy you would struggle to use a file on it and that would mean you couldn't sharpen them in the field.

 

If you take a chain that's been mullered by stone, much of the chrome gets ripped away, you can sharpen that chain again but without the chrome it won't hold an edge for more than a cut or two.

 

O.K. but surely as soon as you file an edge you have removed the chrome in the vital part , the cutting edge ?

[Dean Lofthouse]

Cutter teeth have a comparatively huge surface area, so cool very very quickly in air, hence the "quenching" effect and therefore hardening?

[Stubby]

Cutter teeth have a comparatively huge surface area, so cool very very quickly in air, hence the "quenching" effect and therefore hardening?

 

Yep , got me head round that now .

[Rich Rule]

Regardless of the physics of the matter. Once the cutter is hardened due to stone or a grinder it will be extremely difficult to put an edge on it with a hand file...

[Ty Korrigan]

And so the moral of the story is...

Grind the teeth in short sharp touches and they will be fine:confused1:

Ty

[Rich Rule]

And so the moral of the story is...

Grind the teeth in short sharp touches and they will be fine:confused1:

Ty

 

Or just use a hand file.

[Stubby]

Or just use a hand file.

 

Thats the one for me !

[Albedo]

I've got City and Guilds fabricator welder qual's but have forgotten all this.

 

I've been a tree surgeon for 18 years or so and didn't know all this about chrome and steel in chains etc.

 

I have found this thread very educational so thanks to the OP and all the posters who have put some thought into this.