coppicer

Does that involve changing the sprocket as well?

Come now, it's good to see anybody from a manufacturer making an effort to contribute.

Thanks for that useful confirmation Rob. Good to know. Though I will soldier on with my grinder wheel sharpener and work to get it to do what I want, it does seem that the Grandberg allows a lot more flexibility when it comes to positioning the stone to shape the tooth. Looking back I kind of wish I had bitten the bullet and bought that instead of the Clarke but we live and learn.

Thanks to everybody for their helpful comments, and Wonky in particular for the pictures, which I will compare to my own chains. I will probably order a new chain and use that as a kind of example to work towards. However I'm pleased to report that late afternoon I had another go at sharpening an old chain, based on advice from earlier in the thread. I then went over to the coppice and cut up some ash I had waiting. The saw was hugely improved, just night and day, which is really pleasing. It still chugs a bit in the cut when there's lots of wood, but that's a power issue rather than a sharpness issue I think. I didn't expect to get it perfectly sharp first time, and it's not, but I will try resuscitating another one of my old chains tomorrow based on this thread. With regard to the comments about using a hand file, I can see that it's a useful skill, but I doubt that an amateur / part-timer like myself sharpens chains often enough to get to a good level of consistency. I don't expect the electric sharpener to be any quicker than doing it manually (and in some ways it's less convenient of course, because you can't do it on site) but I do expect it to be more consistent tooth-to-tooth. Like stubby said, the best way to learn is to have somebody who knows how to do it to show you. But the help received so far has given the saw a new lease of life. When I get a bigger saw I plan to bar this one down from 16" to 14" or 12" and keep using it for "dirty" jobs, so I'll still need to be keeping it sharp.

Could you clarify what you mean by "obtuse" here? Does it mean "the cutting edge of the top plate is not angled sharply enough"?

Some teeth here. Phone doesn't have a macro feature, so hard to take close-up shots.

I'm going to take a closer look at (and take some photos of) the teeth tomorrow as per Wonky's suggestion. Having said that, it didn't seem to do it this afternoon.

Wasn't aware of this - learn something every day. However, the saw seems slow relative to what it used to be, sometimes leaves scorch marks in the cut on angled cuts as well. Poor technique, maybe.

Went out to the shed yesterday and had another go with the Clarke sharpener, trying a slightly different angle. That definitely made an improvement so thanks to @Stubby for suggesting that. I think previously I wasn't getting the wheel down far enough into the curve of the tooth. And perhaps just need more practice with it. One thing I noticed yesterday was that the saw cuts OK when at 90 degrees to the wood, but relatively poorly at an angle, when making the sink cut. Is this something to do with the side plates of the chain? I was looking at the Grandberg sharpener the other day, and it looks as if the cylindrical stone used would make it inherently easier to get into the curve of the tooth than the grinding wheel of the Clarke sharpener. Maybe @Rob D has some thoughts on this, as a seller? Of course, if my problem with the Clarke is just technique, there's not much point investing in another sharpener. Too many toys already ?

Pity! On the AV issue, I notice that Echo states vibration of 5.2m/s2 for the 501 and Stihl claims 3.5 m/s2 for the 261, so quite a difference in the nominal figures, though whether that means much in real operation I don't know.

One more question. If were to get a 261, would that mean that I would be able to use the diagnostic functions and reset functions / error codes etc. (like you can on a car with OBD) or doesn't Stihl provide easy access?

Wouldn't put you off buying?

Thanks for this - take it you wouldn't recommend the 241 then. Are you still liking the 501 two months after that thread? Vibes not a problem?

<cough> You've watched me using the saw then?

I've just been out to the shed to have another check and the rakers do seem to be okay. I gave one or two of them another few strokes using the gauge from the Stihl 5605 007 1027 filing kit for picco chains.