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Hello guys, I posted recently seeking advice (chainsaw options for part-timers, basically) and got some really interesting responses. I will update that thread in due course, as I promised. This is a spin-off query and I thought it was best to post it as a new thread. I need to be able to get into a difficult-of-access patch of woodland, so my original post concerned small, light chainsaws suitable for extended use. SBCK, one of the respondents, suggested that I might like to try using a really good handsaw instead. I had never considered doing such a thing but the idea grew on me. I spent a couple of weeks reading up on hand saws, in particular cross-cuts, and then started trawling Ebay and Gumtree. Those sites are mixed blessings. On the plus side, there's a lot more old saws on the market than you might imagine. On the minus, it's hard to assess things like tooth wear and degree of pitting in a photo, plus you're up against people who will pay £30 for a piece of junk to hang on a pub wall. I assumed I'd turn up a Disston or Atkins with "cutter" and "raker" teeth, and I read up on how to sharpen those designs using jointers, spiders and so on. But mercifully I didn't yet shell out good money for a raker gauge! I turned up a 33" Tyzack saw, UK-made I believe, with a non-US tooth pattern that had no rakers. I'd call it (probably incorrectly) a "W" pattern -- see attached photo. From what I can see, this was the favoured European design in the nineteenth century and was still preferred by some on this side of the pond in the last century. Can anyone give me any pointers (ahem) on sharpening? I'm guessing that the basics of filing the cutters are the same as for a US saw, but that the system of setting teeth left and right is different. TIA for any help. NP.

Hello all, I'd like some advice please? I am considering offering a chain sharpening service in my local area, as part of a wider range of sharpening services to provide some sideline income. My plan was to buy the 'top of the range' Oregon 620-230 sharpening grinder which seems to cover all chain sizes, and has the addition of a hydraulic lock to remove the need to manually clamp the chain before each grind. My fears are that I'd be throwing £300 away on a machine that would barely see much action (other than the few chains I'd sharpen for home use). Am I right in thinking that you professional arborists all either sharpen your own chains by hand in the field, or own such a machine yourselves and will sharpen all your chains on a Sunday morning? A person advertising online was charging £7.50 per chain, which I thought seemed a bit steep, but I'd like to hear the members' opinions. If I didn't have a market within the arborist community, I don't think the few domestic users that have a saw for firewood/pruning etc would provide enough income to pay for the machine in any reasonable timescale, so it might be a dead duck of an idea. I was a member years ago so I know the good natured banter here and I'm awaiting some 'good ol' fashioned p-taking' and the like What do you people think? Also, if you have views on such machines vs hand sharpening I'd be willing to hear those too. I'm a bit worried that the hydraulic feature is jest another thing to go wrong, like floor jack, hydraulic presses etc, which invariably leak and lose pressure as the seals degrade. Over to the floor.....