Help Sharpening Saw chains

Joe,

The Granberg can be a pain untill you get the "Feel" for eyeballing depth. It drove me nuts at first, and I fought it untill I finally got it right.
20% is subjective without a refference. I settled on the thickness of a Nickel as being too little and needing just a smidge more.

In the end, I went back to freehand in the field, and using a Stihl clamp on depth guide for the bench. I can get two chains darn close in the same time it takes to get half a 24" loop done while correcting with the granberg.
It takes time, repetition, and failure to learn from now and then. Hang in there.

Best just not to worry about rakers untill you are doing very well with the teeth. If your doing good on the cutter's you will know when the rakers needs done. Take your time on one cutter at a time. (Then walk away) Then two and so on.

It takes time, repetition, and failure to learn from now and then. Hang in there.[/quote] I've been sharpening for close to 20 years and still have difficulty. Like jay also made note of practice at home a little bit at a time. Do a tooth or two then walk away. The other thing that sounds totally weird is learn to feel the file, know what it feels like when your getting a good cut, I usually wear gloves that are thin and keep a towel in hand to wipe the shavings off the file. Chainsaw files do not last very long, if they look a bit shiny they are bad, if they get a bit of oil on them they need to be cleaned.

I've used the Granberg guide for 30+ years. Discovered all the "speed secrets" I need after a few uses. Now I can mount it, set it up, and do a 20" 3/8" chain in 5-10 minutes, relaxing because this is a break after all.

It's really easy to set the ht so 1/10 to 1/5 of the file is above the cutter tops. Mainly, I set the ht so it's the same as it was last time- take gentle strokes on a tooth checking the contact area. When that's just up to the cutting edge, it's set. (Just don't let the angle of the side of the cutter go wild.)

Unless rocked or such, couple strokes/cutter and they're like razors.

This is definitely NOT rocket-science. A friend bought one recently after show&tell;. I spent 5 minutes showing setup procedure, then another 5 minutes with constructive criticism of his procedure. Now he finds it really easy, more so than any other filing help he's tried. All the others I've seen/tried either simply don't work repeatably or are bizarrely complicated. (And grinding is a waste of metal & money, IMHO.)

Hey Joe-
You just missed a good thread. With this cheapo electric grinder, an amateur can do a couple three chains very well,
in the same time an expert can use a granberg guide to do one.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/88234/

Kenny

Dingeryote said:

Joe,

The Granberg can be a pain untill you get the "Feel" for eyeballing depth. It drove me nuts at first, and I fought it untill I finally got it right.
20% is subjective without a refference. I settled on the thickness of a Nickel as being too little and needing just a smidge more.

In the end, I went back to freehand in the field, and using a Stihl clamp on depth guide for the bench. I can get two chains darn close in the same time it takes to get half a 24" loop done while correcting with the granberg.
It takes time, repetition, and failure to learn from now and then. Hang in there.

Click to expand...

Hey, your back over here huh? How's life in the berry patch? A C

Joejkd,

If you have not already done so, do a search for "chain sharpening" on this forum. This was a very hot topic a year or so ago and much helpful and encouraging info was then shared. There were lots of smal personal "tips" for excellent sharpening results.

My favorite, fastest, and most successful chain sharpening was accomplished with the freehand method using the correct size file. It took me about 10 to 20 sharpenings to develop the best technique but since then(about 45 years ago) sharpening saw chain has been effortless and successful. Would also suggest you check the Oregon chain and Bailey's web sites for photos and/or drawings of the chain sharpening process.

Best wishes and good luck.

Dingeryote said:

Joe,

The Granberg can be a pain untill you get the "Feel" for eyeballing depth. It drove me nuts at first, and I fought it untill I finally got it right.
20% is subjective without a refference. I settled on the thickness of a Nickel as being too little and needing just a smidge more.

In the end, I went back to freehand in the field, and using a Stihl clamp on depth guide for the bench. I can get two chains darn close in the same time it takes to get half a 24" loop done while correcting with the granberg.
It takes time, repetition, and failure to learn from now and then. Hang in there.

Click to expand...

Hey Dinger

Good to see you here as well. Just don't make the newbies buy those darn Husky's ! J/K

A

amateur cutter said:

Dingeryote said:

Joe,

The Granberg can be a pain untill you get the "Feel" for eyeballing depth. It drove me nuts at first, and I fought it untill I finally got it right.
20% is subjective without a refference. I settled on the thickness of a Nickel as being too little and needing just a smidge more.

In the end, I went back to freehand in the field, and using a Stihl clamp on depth guide for the bench. I can get two chains darn close in the same time it takes to get half a 24" loop done while correcting with the granberg.
It takes time, repetition, and failure to learn from now and then. Hang in there.

Click to expand...

Hey, your back over here huh? How's life in the berry patch? A C

Click to expand...

LOL!!
Yeah, it's winter. Lotsa barn time to fart around on the net while procratinating over doing something cold amd miserable.
Only 20% done pruning and gotta get busy though, as it's too muddy to skid logs and am running out of excuses. LOL!

I stop in time to time. Good crowd here.

Take care!
Dinger

Angelo C said:

Dingeryote said:

Joe,

The Granberg can be a pain untill you get the "Feel" for eyeballing depth. It drove me nuts at first, and I fought it untill I finally got it right.
20% is subjective without a refference. I settled on the thickness of a Nickel as being too little and needing just a smidge more.

In the end, I went back to freehand in the field, and using a Stihl clamp on depth guide for the bench. I can get two chains darn close in the same time it takes to get half a 24" loop done while correcting with the granberg.
It takes time, repetition, and failure to learn from now and then. Hang in there.

Click to expand...

Hey Dinger

Good to see you here as well. Just don't make the newbies buy those darn Husky's ! J/K

A

Click to expand...

LOL!!
Nope. I wont...don't have to.
Stihl is doing a good enough job of selling Huskys these days.:D LOL!!
The new 201T has me convinced of that. Good thing I stocked up on spares.LOL!

joejkd said:

Having trouble getting my saw chains sharp. I've tried a freehand file with a guide clipped to the file, and a granberg file jig. Neither seems to get the saw particularly sharp. I checked my rakers and they're ok for now.

The trouble I think I'm having is figuring out the depth on the granberg. There is no guide as to just how low I should set the file. The general rule is 20% above the top plate, but trying to visually check 20% of a 5/32" object is not exactly precise.

Does anyone have a better method for the granberg? Would I be better off with an electric purpose-built grinder? I need the most fool-proof method, as my vision is not so good for finish work.

Click to expand...

Joe,
Another option for ya. The Husqvarna roller guide. As long as you are running an Oregon or Husky chain, the little boogers are hard to beat for foolproof.
I got mine out today on a lark for a loop of LPX, and it reminded me of this thread. They work. Not as fast as freehand, but really help with establishing angle and depth without going to fussing like with a Granberg.

I hope you stick with it and find what works for you, as it is rewarding when the chain is done right and better than outta the box.

one of the things it took me a while to learn is that it is most important that each tooth be sharp and measured off each raker. don't be so worried about having all the teeth the same length but more so have each tooth to raker relationship be the same even if one or two are a little longer or shorter due to damage. Just match each raker height to its tooth at the same height. AND use a good fresh file...I like the Pferd myself. If you think the file is dull it was about 5chains ago..hehe

Ok...for what it's worth, I got myself a Timber Tuff grinder. ~$140, and after messing around a bit have managed to sharpen a couple of chains to a kick-ass performance level.
Not sure if it'll continue, but, Lordy....they sure are singing at the moment. One on an 16" bar on an old Stihl MS 250, the other on a brand new MS 362.
Once set, the sharpening process is easy and fast. Both chains, I used the same settings.
My first electric grinder, and I like it.

Brogan007 said:

Ok...for what it's worth, I got myself a Timber Tuff grinder. ~$140, and after messing around a bit have managed to sharpen a couple of chains to a kick-ass performance level.
Not sure if it'll continue, but, Lordy....they sure are singing at the moment. One on an 16" bar on an old Stihl MS 250, the other on a brand new MS 362.
Once set, the sharpening process is easy and fast. Both chains, I used the same settings.
My first electric grinder, and I like it.

Click to expand...

Just bought the New model HF grinder for Sawchains. The Red one. Its an improvement over the old orange one posted here above. My HF had both and i looked them over. The red one holding mechanism is better so you dont have to use the washers on the holder thing that rests against the tooth (as its already pretty centered, i saw what your talking about on the orange one), and you from what i can tell dont need a washer on the adjuster part either. The chain gripping mechanism on the red one is like a bike brake that you pull a lever and it locks it in for sharpening, then orange one has a lever that looks like you had to flip it 90 or 180 degrees each tooth to lock it in causing you to have to put it on and off as opposed to the bike brake thing that you grap with the same had that you pull the wheel down with. I had it adjusted up and sharpening in a few mins, back to razor sharp on an old trashed chain in 5 mins. would be twice as fast once you get it good and if you dont have a chain with trashed cutters that you were trying to saw a hunk or mortar with.

Got it with the coupon in this months Flyer for $29.99 well worth it and the red model looks to be beter than the orange with some updates. They must of copied some other persons patents this time? I spent a good 10 mins or more contemplating which one to get. glad i got the red!!