Saw sharpening

[Bad Wolf]

I just finished watching the Stihl videos and they pointed out that an improperly sharpened chain can cause the cut to drift left or right. Anyone have experiance with this? I find I consistantly angle to the right by maybe 3/4 inch on a 12" log. I thought I was sharpening the chain to the same angle that it started with. Or could it be the bar?

Stihl 290 farm boss, with HF electric sharpener. Before that I was using the Dremel attachment. Both seem to be doing a good job.

 

[smokinj]

Most likely it the sharpening......Make sure you are setting your stops on the HF and using it on every thooth.....(lighter the grinding the better but still need to push until you hit the stop)

 

[Bad Wolf]

OK I'll re-examine my HF set up but I know I hit every tooth as I just started using it so I've been very focused on each step. Also I was getting the same drift when I was using the dremel.
The bar I've had from a previous Stihl and may be worn, I'll look tonight when I get Home.

 

[Shipper50]

I am still learning to sharpen chains with a electric sharpener like the HF and I did have one that cut crooked. I found I had the tooth shorter on one side over the other side. Also, I found my bar had the rails what I would call penned a bit, you might look at your bar if you haven't lately.

Shipper

 

[smokinj]

OK I'll re-examine my HF set up but I know I hit every tooth as I just started using it so I've been very focused on each step. Also I was getting the same drift when I was using the dremel.
The bar I've had from a previous Stihl and may be worn, I'll look tonight when I get Home.

Could be the bar....But a drift like your getting is allot. On 50+ inch's I will hit the same slot every-time unless it hallow. Dremals imo will cause this almost every-time as well. Takes quite of bit of wear for a bar to be off if your flipping it every-time.

 

[DiscoInferno]

On the HF sharpener you have to set the chain stop separately for left and right cutters. The same physical setting will give quite different length teeth on left and right. And since you also have to set the cutter angle separately for left and right, and the angle gauge is so imprecise, there's a lot of opportunity to get some angle mismatch. But my worst half-moon cuts came from hand-filing in my early days; the HF grinder improved things a lot and I'm a better filer now.

 

[charly]

Buy a cheap pair of Dial calipers at Habor Freight. One paint dot on a single cutter. Go once around and find the shortest cutter. Then file them all to the shortest cutter. Also a ridge just off the side of the bar where the chain runs will not let the teeth take a bite on that side. Found that out years ago, after filing a 32 in chain on a Husky 394, then hiking up a steep grade , which took 10 minutes , to drop a pretty good size rock Maple, only to find out the saw wouldn't cut, least I say, my foreman wasn't to happy and pointed out what burrs on the bar can do. I try to keep my cutters within about .005-.010 of each other. .005 or less is best. Don't forget the rakers and round off the nose of the raker too, just don't leave it flat and square. Makes for a rough cutting chain. Once you see how a chain cuts with these specs, you'll be able to file them by hand like nothing, 3-5 five strokes and you good to go again. Trick is to start with even cutters.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I just finished watching the Stihl videos and they pointed out that an improperly sharpened chain can cause the cut to drift left or right. Anyone have experiance with this? I find I consistantly angle to the right by maybe 3/4 inch on a 12" log. I thought I was sharpening the chain to the same angle that it started with. Or could it be the bar?

Stihl 290 farm boss, with HF electric sharpener. Before that I was using the Dremel attachment. Both seem to be doing a good job.

Get your bar trued. I dunno if it's your bar or your chain but it's one or the other. I get my bar trued every year (it's pretty cheap) so I know it's the chain when my cuts start to drift. Also, a too-loose chain can cause uneven cutting and it speeds bar wear too.