First time sharpening chain...now it smokes

HybridFyre said:

I'm not so sure it's filthy from dirt and grime. I think it turned black from burning it after it started smoking. At this point it sounds like you guys think I should have this chain professionally sharpened to repair it.

Click to expand...

Actually what I would do if I was you would be to go buy a new chain. Soak that old chain in ammonia for a day or two and clean it in hot hot water and use the burnt chain to practice your sharpening skills on. And not to start a pizzin match but as far as the raker profile not being rounded like fresh outta the box?, that really makes no difference at all.

BrotherBart hit it on the head. That chain has been run hard, dry, and hot, and has been filed the wrong way. It would take a good hour to get that chain back in shape by hand. A grinder would do it in about 10 minutes. Get a file jig that clamps to your bar of a grinder and get that chain sharp. Also make sure that oiler is turned up. You bar is getting burrs on it and your chain might be shot from no oil. Not razzing on ya, just saying it how it is. Everybody starts rough. Fill your oil every time you fill the gas. CUT CUT CUT

HybridFyre said:

Ok thanks I appreciate all the pointers guys. I'll clean it up and try again. In the meantime I have my new full chisel chain to use.

Click to expand...

Oh my, Full Chisel. Why?

Jon1270 said:

...the point of the cutting edge are hideously dull.

Click to expand...

TreePointer said:

Yeah, that chain just ain't right....

Butcher said:

....the fresh chain I put in don't look any where near as filthy as yours.

Click to expand...

BrotherBart said:

That chain is toast.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

You guys are harsh.

HybridFyre said:

I don't see any way to adjust the oiler though. Is that a standard feature on all chainsaws? I have an ms271.

Click to expand...

No, adjustable oilers are not universal. I've never handled an MS271, but from what I'm finding online about it, your saw doesn't have one.

I've never used any kind of filing guide - always freehanded it, from way back when I was a teenager.

As was said, there are no concise directions. You basically need to hold, angle, & pressure the file to maintain the factory profile as you remove material. Trial & error, practice makes perfect and all that - but it looks like you've got a good chain to practice on. Also, every time I file, if I've got a couple bad teeth say from nicking a rock, I don't file those any more than the rest. That will lead to some teeth being shorter than others over a few sharpenings. Better to have those couple teeth not quite as sharp, and catch them up on sharpness over a few filings, than have them all sharp but some half as high - IMO. If I said that right.

Also, in the future - try to get a feel & eye & ear for when your saw isn't cutting right, or for when your chain is tightening up from dirt or lack of oil or whatever. You need to stop right then & fix it. Running it to the point of smoking is something to never do.

I have ruined a few chains in my cutting adventures. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do, but if you have the option to remedy the problem, then do it.
You will have to keep an eye on the chain to make sure you don't starve it for oil. Some saws can outcut their oiler and that will ruin a chain quick too.

You need this...

http://m.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/accessories/filing-tools/2in1file/

That's not the first sharping that chain has seen, it must have been done by a shop before, It looks like it's got a million logs on it. Rakers take a long time to become an issue, but these look bad. The cutters look like crap. Sit the file into the cutter of the new chain. You will see it fits nicely under the cutter when it's at the correct angle and level. I don't think it will do the same on the old chain. Was the old chain sharpened with a grinder, and then by you with a round file? That chain is shot.

Start with the new chain, when you feel the chips getting to be dust and the engine picking up some speed, it's time. If I'm careful and cut green oak. I can cut for days, maybe 4-8 tanks of gas before a touch up. Touch up is 2-3 forward cutting strokes.

This is rare. but you can get a dead tree that gets so hard it will through sparks and dull a chain. I has this happen with a 3 inch dead tree. I took a lot to make one cut to get the thing down.

Isaac Carlson said:

Get a file jig that clamps to your bar of a grinder and get that chain sharp.

Click to expand...

I touch up several times by hand, then use the jig every so often to get all the angles and lengths back to a good baseline. Even with the jig, it takes some experience to set it up and use it right.

HybridFyre said:

Thanks for the info. This was a new chain...it came new with the chainsaw. Probably had 5 or 6 tanks of fuel run through it. Never run into the ground. But it had cut a few logs worth of standing dead. It had never been sharpened prior and I did it by hand never taken to a grinder. I soaked it in ammonia for a day as someone suggested. I know it's shot but I may see if I can revive it to practice on.

Click to expand...

It was a hard to tell the total condition from the picture..... but if it's not cutting, it's dull. Maybe you hit a nail, you never see them, the tree grows around them, or that rare dead standing that becomes petrified. As I said, I had one. I used to through mine away when they got dull, until I got that file on the frame. I'm on the same chain for the second year. Give it another try.

And keep that chain for cutting stumps or "iffy" stuff. No sense ruining another good chain if you have a beater chain. I have a few 20" that are a sharpen or 2 from the trash can and thats what I use them for

HybridFyre said:

Thanks for the info. This was a new chain...it came new with the chainsaw. Probably had 5 or 6 tanks of fuel run through it. Never run into the ground. But it had cut a few logs worth of standing dead. It had never been sharpened prior and I did it by hand never taken to a grinder. I soaked it in ammonia for a day as someone suggested. I know it's shot but I may see if I can revive it to practice on.

Click to expand...

You can fix it with plenty of filing, there is life still to be had.

Most likely when you sharpened it, something was a little off somewhere, and you may have blunted the cutting edge. The smoke from the bar was probably due to the buildup of heat, which cooked the oil/dust onto the chain, making look not as nice.

File it back until you are past any damage, nice and easy. Then use your guide to hit the rakers and bumper links, and file anything that sticks out past the guide.

BrotherBart said:

That chain is toast.

Click to expand...

I would not say it's "toast". Rather it has never been sharpened, gullets maintained or rakers set and profiled correctly.

I am very confident that chain could be resurrected in short order.

HybridFyre said:

i'm gonna ask a dumb question. What is a gullet? Is that the curved opening under the tooth of the chain?

Click to expand...

There are no dumb questions.

Here, I plagiarized this:

The gullet is the space between the depth gauge and the cutting corner. The gullet provides an opening for wood chips to exit the cut, and when the trailing edge of the gullet is sharp, it contributes to the cutting action of the cutter. Sometimes the gullet's edge has a round profile, but in some chisel cutters, the gullet is sharpened to a squared stair-step profile. Square gullets are more aggressive than round gullets, but they're also significantly more difficult to sharpen.

BrotherBart said:

That chain is toast.

Click to expand...

I agree!! That chain has seen it's day. GO here all The info you need http://www.madsens1.com/muu_barchain.htm Jay

Is there a possibility you hit a piece of metal or rock after the 'one minute' on that first cut? It's not out of the question to have a piece of barbed wire, nail, spike, etc which has grown deep into the tree. Or possibly an unseen rock below the log? Thought I remember someone even posting a picture of cutting through a shotgun slug or a rifle bullet? Any of those objects or something similar would dull the chain in very short order and cause it to smoke. I think my record is also about 1 minute from touching up a chain with a file during a gas stop to hitting a piece of barbed wire buried in a hedge tree.

To me, the chain still looks to have plenty of 'meat' on the teeth, so assuming the 'smoking' didn't get the metal so hot it was tempered back from its original hardness, then some filing should be able to straighten it out again and restore the sharp edge.

bobdog2o02 said:

What kind of tree are you cutting. I also notice the cutter doesn't have any "clean" shiny cutting edge like I am accustomed to seeing on my chain.

Click to expand...

Ditto to this......a freshly sharpened chain (with one minute of cutting) should still look pretty fresh.