Chain Sharpening Angle

[Lazurus]

My chains, which are all Oregon are factory supplied at 30 degrees and I stick to this when sharpening, apart from the obvious 10 degrees on milling chains is there any benefit to a 20 or 25 degree sharpening angle, and if so why?

 

education please?

 

Stuart

[treequip]

The angle of any cutting edge is always a balance between durability and economy.

 

Shallower angles will require less energy to draw the individual cutters through the material, that's a win from that point of view but but the leading edge is less well supported meaning it is vulnerable to distortion and damage which is bad

 

In short, there is an advantage but there is a price to pay.

[TheHungrySquirrel]

I run 30 on semi and 25 on chisel.

Some state a 10 degree angle off horizontal but have noticed no cutting difference.

 

I know a few guys that run steeper angles in softwood.

[castanea]

I tend towards a shallow angle for general use. Would rather sharpen more often and have a saw which pulls itself through the wood. Site clearance, scrub, dirty low level cutting all week and I will open the angle to avoid spending all day sharpening. Maybe even chuck on a semi chisel if it's real grubby.

[agrimog]

30 25 20, horizontal, 10 off horizontal, every option has pros and cons, like a stihl chain or an oregon chain or a carlton chain, find one setting that you like, your saw likes and stick to it, there is no perfect answer

[stihlmadasever]

Whole host of variables to answer that question,but as treequip states there are pro's and cons to the angle variations depending on type of chain,hard or soft wood or even how the person cutting weilds the saw.

Trial and error would be my recommendation,try different angles and see how it affects the cutting performance

[Stubby]

I run 30 on semi and 25 on chisel.

Some state a 10 degree angle off horizontal but have noticed no cutting difference.

 

I know a few guys that run steeper angles in softwood.

 

I'm in this camp .

[Lazurus]

Thanks for the advice, I think my stock 30 degrees is the best of all worlds for my general cutting.

 

Now educated!