why sharpen a chainsaw chain/blade?q

E

eccvets

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i finnaly replaced the chain/blade on my chainsaw and the difference is night and day. Considering I put it thru about 10 years of service without doing anything to resharpen or touch up the blade, it lasted quite a long time. I actually read up on how to sharpen it myself but for 18 bucks, a new chain works, looks better, is much more accuratly sharpened, and probally is stronger then the old chain so I gotta ask, why spend all the money, time, and effort for something you can get new for so cheap and is so readily availble?

I love sharpening my knife knifes and putting a hair splitting edge to them but a chainsaw blade (unless your going into competition for some kinda lumberjack event) is just meh.
 
eccvets said:
i finnaly replaced the chain/blade on my chainsaw and the difference is night and day. Considering I put it thru about 10 years of service without doing anything to resharpen or touch up the blade, it lasted quite a long time. I actually read up on how to sharpen it myself but for 18 bucks, a new chain works, looks better, is much more accuratly sharpened, and probally is stronger then the old chain so I gotta ask, why spend all the money, time, and effort for something you can get new for so cheap and is so readily availble?

I love sharpening my knife knifes and putting a hair splitting edge to them but a chainsaw blade (unless your going into competition for some kinda lumberjack event) is just meh.
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My experience is different than yours. A few minutes with a chainsaw file gives me a noticeable improvement when my chain gets dull. I can feel it when the tool is dull and it just feels wrong, even though it can still gnaw through a tree.
 
If you have used your chainsaw with the original chain for ten years without sharpening it, you obviously don't need a chainsaw. Sell the saw and hire a beaver.

That's one of the more ridiculous questions I've heard in quite some time. You should know that you can take your chain into the chain saw store and they'll sharpen it perfectly for about $6, and it will be more than plenty strong enough to last you another 3 or 4 sharpenings. Without straining many brain cells, I guess that's about 30 or 40 years were left on that chain.

That part about the night and day difference you mention- why not have it cutting like "day" every time. Sharpening your own blade takes 10 minutes.
 
A quick tuneup with a file makes a "worn out" chain like new again. The file cost me about $6.95, and hand sharpening it is not hard once the hump of the learning curve is crossed. With the amount of wood I burn in my wood stove yearly (I heat my entire house with it exclusively), it would be a huge exercise in frustration not to be able to touch up my chain in a day of cutting. Not to mention it would be hugely cost prohibitive for me to buy a new chain as opposed to getting the normal life expectancy out of the ones I have.

For hand filing the chain, I freehand, just as I freehand when I stone sharpen a knife. Sure there's plenty of jigs and even special grinders for chain sharpening, but you don't need that if you learn the skill of doing it with your hands. It's a satisfying thing to keep any tool sharp and in its best working condition, especially when you have the skill to do it without the crutches. As to "accurately" sharpening chains to the precisely correct angle, I know quite a few professional cutters who insist on hand sharpening as opposed to using a preset angle grinder, simply because they can get it sharper by hand.
 
Well, I have to admit it's a lot of sharpening with so many teeth. But for me it's hard to throw away something with life in it.
 
n80shutterbug said:
A quick tuneup with a file makes a "worn out" chain like new again. The file cost me about $6.95, and hand sharpening it is not hard once the hump of the learning curve is crossed. With the amount of wood I burn in my wood stove yearly (I heat my entire house with it exclusively), it would be a huge exercise in frustration not to be able to touch up my chain in a day of cutting. Not to mention it would be hugely cost prohibitive for me to buy a new chain as opposed to getting the normal life expectancy out of the ones I have.

For hand filing the chain, I freehand, just as I freehand when I stone sharpen a knife. Sure there's plenty of jigs and even special grinders for chain sharpening, but you don't need that if you learn the skill of doing it with your hands. It's a satisfying thing to keep any tool sharp and in its best working condition, especially when you have the skill to do it without the crutches. As to "accurately" sharpening chains to the precisely correct angle, I know quite a few professional cutters who insist on hand sharpening as opposed to using a preset angle grinder, simply because they can get it sharper by hand.
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I agree . We heat our home with a wood burning stove as well . In a hard winter we'll burn 3 cords of oak and when cutting that the chain gets dull after about a 1/2 cord . So, hand sharpening it in the field with a file amounts to a huge savings . Espically, when you factor in stopping to make the 22mi. drive into town then back . That alone takes an hour + . Ditto for drill bits, axe, pruners, shovels, hoe, razor, ect.. DM
 
glee said:
Well, I have to admit it's a lot of sharpening with so many teeth. But for me it's hard to throw away something with life in it.
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Full skip chains not only cut a lot faster/more aggressively, they also have only 1/2-2/3 the teeth (I don't really know, I haven't counted them). That makes for really quick sharpening as another added bonus.

I don't even burn wood, but I cut many chords per year, just to clear some of the broken off or blown down trees that we have an endless supply of. My friends think it's very cool whenever I show up with a pickup load of wood for them, and of course, they they feed me and whatnot. :D
 
grizzled gizzard said:
If you have used your chainsaw with the original chain for ten years without sharpening it, you obviously don't need a chainsaw. Sell the saw and hire a beaver.

That's one of the more ridiculous questions I've heard in quite some time. You should know that you can take your chain into the chain saw store and they'll sharpen it perfectly for about $6, and it will be more than plenty strong enough to last you another 3 or 4 sharpenings. Without straining many brain cells, I guess that's about 30 or 40 years were left on that chain.

That part about the night and day difference you mention- why not have it cutting like "day" every time. Sharpening your own blade takes 10 minutes.
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You got that right!

The last word in the OP's post indicates that this is just a kid who ain't old enough to know his @$$ from his elbow.

OK, I'm done feeding the troll, now.
 
I dont really use my chainsaw for very heavy use. just purining trees mostly. either way, I stand by what i say and buying new saves time and money (at least for me as I dont have any skill for it or the tools which cant be found where I am).
 
The file can probably be found anywhere that they sell a chain for your saw. Offhand, I can name three or four places in a twenty minute drive from my house that would carry one. Buying a new chain may save you time, it doesn't save you money unless your time is worth more than about 75 bucks an hour. (I can sharpen a chain in twenty minutes or less, and with very little practice you could to)

Not trying to be hypercritical of you here, I'm just pointing out that if you get serious about using a chainsaw, you will have to revise your theory. Or blow 25 bucks on a chain every time you go and cut for a day. I guess the other option is to cut with a dull chain and get half a days work done in a week, which definitely doesn't save time!
 
I agree with David Martin. Our home is a quad-level & has a fire box insert in the fireplace w/ a fan system built into the back of the hearth wall. We go thru 2 to 3 cords a year of locust, oak, & maple. I can usually get around 1/2-2/3's of a cord cut before those little puffs of blue smoke start rolling off my chain. Time to get the file, 20 to 25 minutes later & 1 or 2 cups of coffee & we are back at it. I do keep an extra chain in the carry box "just in case" while I am out. Just for information, I have a Stihl Farm Boss w/ a 28" bar (old saw, has served me well).
I assume if "eccvets" only uses his saw for trimming or just prunning, he might be able to go that many years on the original chain. If it was me, I think I would buy a prunning saw with extension & be done with it. A side note to all you guys with saws, please be careful with these, a friend of mine almost bled to death when he got "bit" by his a few year ago . . .
Be safe.
 
eccvets said:
why spend all the money, time, and effort for something you can get new for so cheap and is so readily availble?
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How about the satisfaction you get from doing it yourself? How about the fact you're keeping one more piece of (in this case, quite usable) "trash" out of a landfill? What about gaining some basic skills that could help you should you be unable to locate a new blade?

You cannot consume a productive lifestyle. Sounds like that's what eccvets is talking about. Of course, on the flip side, I guess he is stimulating the economy in his own strange way.
 
I would agree with eccvets for his specific circumstance. If this were an $18 knife that was used so little that it needed a touch-up once a decade, I'd probably just toss it. I could resharpen utility blades, but I don't.
 
For safety's sake sharpen the saw everytime you fill it with gas. Sometimes I have to sharpen more often. There is nothing more frustrating than using a dull saw. On a dull saw the chain will run hotter, which will compromise the lubrication of the chain and can lead to chain link failier. If it's a good day the chain may fling off in a safe direction, or if one's not so lucky, it can whip back at you with devastating results. People have died from this

Sharpen the teeth, and check the rakers once in awhile, those are the dull humps between the sharp teeth. Idealy they should be about the width of a dime lower than the leading cutting edge of the teeth. Lower them with a flat file. Don't file off too much or the saw will want to kick back during use.

When sharpening I place the entire saw into the vise, clamping it into the middle of the bar (that thing many people mistakingly call the blade). Its easier than trying to hold the saw and file at the same time. Look at the condition of the rivets on the chain, if you have any doubt don't use it, take it to the chainsaw store and get a second opinion.

Chainsaw files wear out quickly, after a dozen sharpenings it should be replaced. The chain on a chainsaw can be used until the teeth are all used up. I will keep on using a chain until its teeth are nothing more than tiny triangles. Old chains cut better than new chains because they are lighter and the chain spins faster as a result. Performance is enhanced because the teeth are narrower on old chains meaning they will have to cut less material leaving the width of the cut a bit narrower, which means faster cutting.
 
Bufford said:
Chainsaw files wear out quickly, after a dozen sharpenings it should be replaced. The chain on a chainsaw can be used until the teeth are all used up. I will keep on using a chain until its teeth are nothing more than tiny triangles. Old chains cut better than new chains because they are lighter and the chain spins faster as a result. Performance is enhanced because the teeth are narrower on old chains meaning they will have to cut less material leaving the width of the cut a bit narrower, which means faster cutting.
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Good info! I never knew that about old chains!
 
Why is everyone all pissed off and butt-hurt that he'd rather buy a new chain? Big deal.
 
I read once that in Sweeden, people use their Mora knives until dull and then grab a new one...
 
Any Cal. said:
Good info! I never knew that about old chains!
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Yeah, me either. Interesting. I never noticed that before.

I have two bars, and three chains for each, so I don't have to fool around when I'm cutting.

You must be cutting something really super tough if you have to sharpen on every fill-up. My Stihl chains, especially the skip tooth ones, are very long lasting. I don't think I've gotten through 3 chains in a day yet, cutting oak, pine, ash, and birch.

If one keeps his knives sharp, I can't see how he could stand anything dull. I know I certainly can't, and I work with sharp tools all day every day. Few things are more important than maintianing my tools to the best of my ability. Cutting with a dull chain is strictly verboten.

Using a chainsaw so little and infrequently actually requires considrably more upkeep than using one regularly. If my gas is more than 3 months old, I pour it out and get fresh, even though I do use Sta-bil every single time.

To each his own though. If the OP had invested $800 in his equipment, he'd probably see things differently.
 
Just1mor, Yes, your right I forgot to add about the cup of coffee . I sharpen mostly like Bufford describes 'in a vise' at my shop before going out to cut . Good info., I learned something . Guyon, you struck a cord w/ me . Thats the reason I sharpen everything until there is nothing left . I even went to a razor I can sharpen . I've noticed this progression: My Grandfathers generation knew the value of everything and the replacement cost was too high so maintain it . My fathers generation was similiar . My generation not so . My nephew's drop tools and knives and can't remember where they left it . O-well, it doesn't matter just go buy another one . They know the cost of everything and the value of nothing and won't listen to someone trying to teach them the difference . DM
 
In the SW climates of less rainfall the hardwoods petrify and blowing sand embed in the bark which has a bad effect when cutting this wood . DM
 
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