Here's a question primarily for those who sharpen chains freehand, but anyone is free to jump in like always. My sharpening jobs typically are "good", which means a nice edge - fine for anything I'll be cutting. I expect that most of the folks here who have done their own chains for a while would say the same thing. I happen to use just a file with no guide, but that doesn't matter - whatever method is used will usually get better over time, after a bunch of reps doing it the same way. But every once in a while after sharpening, the chain feels more like something that just came out of the wrapper (don't you just love the sound that unwrapping a new chain makes). My last one was one of these "factory jobs" - it makes you :cheese:. It can't be as good as the actual new machined chain, but it sure feels that way. No idea of how this happens - maybe it's only on a full moon. Is it a matter of having the file a half degree better - or maybe a quarter degree ? And then, how many cutters have to be better? I don't have a clue, and of course can't duplicate the factory job - the next one will be back to just good again. So, does anyone else find this same thing happens to them?
Factory job?
- Thread starter willworkforwood
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Not so, a good Hand sharpening can be much better that a brand new chain....Race chains for example are all done by hand. My milling chains are much better after I tweak them as well. (cutters machined and rakers by hand) Same method as I use on my cross cutting chains. Hand fileing once you get consistent is the very best to get a fast chain.
smokinjay said:
+ 1, I'm not a sharpening expert, but I'll often " touch up " a new chain before it goes in the wood. A C
I agree, normally I cannot match a new chain, and they really are not the expensive on Ebay(like $14 for a Stihl chain), but yesterday I sharpened one by hand and had the biggest wood chips coming out that I ever saw. It must be that 10% up that Smokin Jay has been talking about. Plus I did file the rakers.
I started filing my own chains a few years ago. I am just now beginning to be satisfied with the results. I have used the 12v Oregon sharpener and found out it was warped and caused it to hit and miss my chain. I used the file with the built in guide and didn't like it either. I recently found that if I concentrated my efforts on getting the file under the edge of the chain and pulled keeping tension upward at the leading edge of the chain, it works much better. It is throwing chips instead of sawdust and is making very quick work of wood instead of what it used to be. My only problem now is trying to be consistent on the angle. It seems I have a bad habit of being off a few degrees of some of them and it causes it to cut in a curved pattern.
Not at all.willworkforwood said:
The big factors are knowing whether you've got the proper amount of hook in the cutter and whether the edge is dull or sharp. A common file guide used properly will establish proper hook. Using a jeweller's eye loupe or some other form of magnification, apx 5x will allow you to determine when the chain is sharp...then you'll understand why brand new chains get filed first.
For more consistant filing angles I made up this jig:
All I do now is concentrate on keeping the file level to the bench and aim it parallel to the edge of the jig. The file holder establishes the proper hook so by checking progress every few strokes you'll soon learn when it's done. Count file strokes and repeat on every cutter.
Here's how it was made.
Hope this helps.
I fairly new at sharpening chains, and I think I am in the same boat as willworkforwood - my chains are generally Ok to good, but not great and not as consistent as they should be. I can definitely make a dull chain serviceable, but can't always make a decent chain a lot better. I am using cheap chains, which could also be part of the problem.
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The last time I sharpened my chain was the first time I filed the rakers down. I used a set of dial calipers to measure the depth. I found the depth of the rakers to be .01"-.02" before I took them down. They were .025"-.03" when I finished. Made a big difference in the size of the swarf the saw spits out and how fast it cut.
Needshave said:
Jeff you really want to get a fast chain add .01 to your depth each time you file your rakers. Its called progressive raker fileing.
[/quote]
Jeff you really want to get a fast chain add .01 to your depth each time you file your rakers. Its called progressive raker fileing.[/quote]
I take it you goto the point the saw is hard to control then back off a bit?
Jeff you really want to get a fast chain add .01 to your depth each time you file your rakers. Its called progressive raker fileing.[/quote]
I take it you goto the point the saw is hard to control then back off a bit?
Jeff you really want to get a fast chain add .01 to your depth each time you file your raker. Its called progressive raker fileing.[/quote]
I take it you goto the point the saw is hard to control then back off a bit?[/quote]
Not at all. The raker depth will change as well as the angle each time you take more off the cutter. By taking a little more off the raker each time keeps the angles where they should be this is hard for most to under stand but its called progressive raker filing. You already have a very good understanding know how to measure. So if your at .30 the next time cut it to .31 then .32 and so on. Keep a nice shape to the raker as well swooping back and slightly rounded.
I take it you goto the point the saw is hard to control then back off a bit?[/quote]
Not at all. The raker depth will change as well as the angle each time you take more off the cutter. By taking a little more off the raker each time keeps the angles where they should be this is hard for most to under stand but its called progressive raker filing. You already have a very good understanding know how to measure. So if your at .30 the next time cut it to .31 then .32 and so on. Keep a nice shape to the raker as well swooping back and slightly rounded.
wendell said:
A huge tip on my filing technique (fine metal work, not chainsaw filing) came from my wife, who used to work for a master goldsmith. She told me to ever so slightly drop the heel of my hand as I push the file forward. There is a natural tendency to "roll" the stroke in an arc, and this technique neutralizes it. What it does is to train you to go straight instead of in an arc. She was able to take surfaces that I had previously filed "flat" and file off the crown in the center, a crown that I didn't even know was there just looking at it. I don't even think about it anymore, filing straight is now second nature to me. I also used the same technique to correct many of my sloppy woodworking habits, like sawing and paring with a chisel.
I've watched several videos of folks filing their chains, and I can see that they are committing the same offense I used to. It probably won't hurt a raker to be filed that way, but it seems cutters would need a much higher degree of precision.
Needshave said:
That will make the saw vibrate more and more the flatter it get. Speed comes from a smooth cut rounded and swooping back and taking a little bet more off each time you cut a raker in.
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