I Thought I Was Good at Sharpening

In my firewood selling days , my hand sharpened chains seemed to be as fast and sometimes faster than new. I think the faster cut was usually due to the occasional excessive filing down of the rakers. I could get away with this with a 6.5 hp saw not so much with my little saws..

I used the same file on many chains( if I had to guess at least 6).. As long as they were just wood dull not dulled by dirt stone etc... I found the finer (dull) file left a finer edge.. whole lot of fines there..lol

PS - Guess I would also add - I know there is an article from Oregon out there (and posted on here before) detailing some of the 'tricks' the hot saw guys use to get better performance out of a chain. Some items on the list (rakers - as I mentioned earlier) are applicable for day-to-day saw use, though some others (shaving the chain rivets for a thinner chain, thinning the tooth gullet, etc) will weaken the chain and make be applicable for only a few uses at 'maximum possible cutting speed' before the chain is 'dead' and needs to be replaced.

Either way, it seems there are several factors which can be 'tuned' to an individual application to offer faster cutting vs a 'one size fits all' factory sharpen job.

My free hand filing sucks?

But I love how my file cuts when I turn the file (counter clockwise for this side of the chain) during the forward stroke...

I sharpen before every trip regardless.

4 strokes with a roller guide on each tooth regardless. Push towards the tip. Only touch the rackers near the end of the season.

This is my third season on the same Stihl chain! Still munches through the wood good, it's a placebo sometimes as different wood and MC will effect the cut as well as cut location.