Off Topic chain saw blades

v-6

v-6

Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
952
to get a little input, how much do you guys pay to have someone sharpen your chains?
by the way i cut three red oak burls that has been down for a year or two.
i put then in my wood shed to get super dry

thanks for any input
vern
 
Vern, let one of them burls set face down in the dirt for 6 months. I fthings go right , it will spalt . Very pretty stuff!
 
vern, when i ship you a package i'm going to send you something to put in a cordless drill that will work great for sharpening chainsaw blades and its better than any stone, and the cordless drill makes it portable so you can do touchups in the woods. if you cut a lot of wood, i would invest in a home sharpening unit that looks like a chop saw. they work very well. brian breeden cuts a lot of wood since he has a tree trimming service. i would ask him what he uses.
 
I cut a lot of firewood, and when my chains get dull, as evidenced by smaller and smaller chips being thrown, I sharpen in the field. Get the correct round file and a file guide, a pair of heavy leather gloves, and go at it. Should take about 5 minutes. Lots of on-line assistance. The trick is the right angle for the file, which is where the file guide can be a big help.

Phil Millam
Winthrop WA
 
Practice practice. When I was young a logger taught me how to sharpen a chainsaw chain. Holding the angle of your chainsawfile is key. File back and forth without wobbling keep the file moving straight. Line the file up with the angle of the tooth being sharpened and be sure the file is filing into the tooth and not down into the chain. Many people make the mistake of pushing down and soon they are filing groves into the chain itself instead of the tooth.

Place the chainsaw in a vice, as this makes sharpening much easier.

The other thing you want to do is take down the raker periodically, so that the height of the raker is about the thickness of a dime below the cutting tip height.

Measure by resting the file on top of the cutting teeth and the teeth should be slightly taller than the raker by about the thickness of a dime- don't file them down too far or the saw will tend to grab and kick back.
 
Bufford and Phil are right, you can learn to do it quickly and easily with a file. Go to a saw shop if rthere is one around ad they will set you up with the right sized files (get several) and a guide. The guide helps you keep the right depth to file on the tooth, once you get the hang of it you will probably do like most guys who saw a lot and toss the guide. You need to keep the original angle of the teeth also. Many chains have a mark across each tooth so you can see the correct angle. You also need a small flat file to take the rakers down.
I don't doubt that Richard has a good tool to send you for doing this with a drill and it maybe the cats meow. But, it isn't that hard with files. Be sure to wear your gloves, a slip can allow you to get a nasty nick.
 
Files are much better for sharpening a chain, as power sharpeners wear out your chain much faster because they remove more steel than you need to to sharpen. If you don't let it get too dull, or saw rocks, it only takes a few minutes to get the chain back in shape.
 
I cut lots of wood. We pretty much heat our house with a wood stove. I also do a lot of wood turning in addition to knifemaking. I use a Dremel tool with round abrasive stones. You can buy these at Wal-mart. I can sharpen a chain on a 18" bar in a couple of minutes.
 
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