chainsaw sharpening tips

[Dendron]

Hi all, When sharpening a chaisaw by hand, what is the best way to make sure I've put an edge on every single blade ?

 

Any tips welcome. t i a

[Steve Bullman]

ok theres 101 tips...i'll start the ball rolling with what i consider to be probably the mst important 2.

 

1. make sure your chain is tensioned properly

2. find the bluntest tooth first, sharpen that tooth then proceed to sharpen every other tooth giving them all the same ammount of strokes with the file.

[Peter]

You'll also get 101 different opinions. I guess the important thing is to find something that works for you.

If you want to do it by the book, you'll need a pair of calipers. Find the shortest cutter overall, sharpen it, and then file all the other cutters to the same length.

Tedious, mind numbing and in my book, pointless.

I start wherever I feel like it, sharpen each cutter until its sharp regardless of length, and then lower each depth gauge to match.

[skyhuck]

It hard at first but if you can learn to, use either hand.It makes it so much quicker,put my saw on any flat surface,rest my chest on the saw body sharpen one side,then just swop hands and do the other side,can do a 25" in under 2 minutes.Also always after you've done run a stick over the teeth from the none edge side to remove burrs.

[bob]

top tip of the day when you take scabbard off put it under the saw bar at the correct sharpening angle and it gives you an easy way to maintain correct angle without having to check all the time

 

 

 

i am a big fan of the roller guides for oregon chain

[digga]

roller guides are quick and easy to use on oregon chains use them on all my saws

[skyhuck]

no guide just file and short bit of branch for handle.

[MasterBlaster]

First off, it's NOT called a blade, it's called a tooth or a cutter.

 

The most important things to me are lots of light and a secure filing station, like a vise.

[Marc]

A vice sure makes it easier, in the field a vice is not always to hand, so a stump vice is a good purchase and fairly compact.

Learning to be able to sharpen good both left and right handed is key to quick in the field sharpening imo, I will sharpen both sides at the same time alternating between left and right hand rather than do one side at a time, that way you don't get so fatigued or bored by the time you move onto the other side.

Alternativly if your better sharpening with your right do the left side first rather than finish on your weaker side.

 

My top tip is on chains with wear markers use this as your angle guide by running the file parrell with this, file guides are good but you'll become much quicker sharpening by eye.

 

I also try to keep the cutters all the same length that way when it come to doing the depth gauges I use a guide on one to get an idea how many strokes I need then just do each by stroke without a guide.

 

Use 2 hands on the file, grip the tip between thumb and forefinger, hold the handle with your forefinger pointing up the file it makes it easier to guide the file straight.

[Quickthorn]

On a related subject, I have problems boring in with chains that are almost at the end of their life (eg 1 mm/40 thou or so from the line you sometimes get scribed on the top plate). This would be with sharpened semi chisel chain, all cutters same length, depth gauges set to 25 thou. I thought it was my sharpening, or some other problem with the guide bar, but a friend now tells me it's because the top plate on a cutter at the end of its life is a lot further away from the depth gauge than when the chain was new. The geometry of it means that not much wood is cut as the cutter goes round the nose of the bar, and that's why boring in is harder with an older chain. Is he right?