New sharpening jig

[SpaceBus]

I was shopping for a new milling chain and ran across the Tecomec Deluxe saw chain sharpening jig. From the photos I noticed several features I liked over the Granberg jigs I already have. Namely that all of the adjustment screws are more accessible, the tooth stop is adjustable, the whole jig is much more stable, and the part that holds the file can accept a flat file, round file, or three angle file. I haven't used this jig to adjust my rakers, yet, but the instructions make it look much easier and more precise than any other setup I've seen so far. In the photos I'm testing out the jig on the chain that came with my first saw. The last time I took down the rakers "a few thou" less than the height of my cutters with my bar mounted grinder, I wouldn't suggest this technique for everyone. I look forward to using the flat file with the jig for future raker adjustments on other chains.

The only thing I don't like is the black plastic parts, but they do work well, better than the Granberg jigs!

 

[Diabel]

More jigs! What......

 

[SpaceBus]

More jigs! What......

Indeed, I have three now!

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

I still love my 2in1 .... less work to get a sharp chain...

 

[SpaceBus]

I still love my 2in1 .... less work to get a sharp chain...

If that's good enough for you, go for it. I'm milling logs into boards and don't have time for unequal length cutters, uneven depth gauges, and slow cutting chain. With these jigs I can do more work with my 25cc top handle saw with 12" bar than most people could do with a 70cc saw and 24" bar. The 2-N-1 is little better than free hand filing.

 

[shortys7777]

Thats pretty cool. Interested in seeing your milling set up. Do you have any posted on here?

 

[salecker]

If that's good enough for you, go for it. I'm milling logs into boards and don't have time for unequal length cutters, uneven depth gauges, and slow cutting chain. With these jigs I can do more work with my 25cc top handle saw with 12" bar than most people could do with a 70cc saw and 24" bar. The 2-N-1 is little better than free hand filing.

As always it depends on the operator
there are people that can freehand better than anything you or ?? can produce with a grinder,2in1,factory,ect.
Someone who has mastered freehand filing will always have the best cutting chains,period.

 

[SpaceBus]

Thats pretty cool. Interested in seeing your milling set up. Do you have any posted on here?

I think I posted some a little while back, but can't find them now. It's taken apart in the back of my truck, but I'm setting it up tomorrow and will get pics. It's a Logosol F2+ and a 395xp.

 

[SpaceBus]

As always it depends on the operator
there are people that can freehand better than anything you or ?? can produce with a grinder,2in1,factory,ect.
Someone who has mastered freehand filing will always have the best cutting chains,period.

Maybe for cross cutting, but not for milling, at least not to my standards. Free hand just won't get the cutters as consistent as a jig, and that means a slower and rougher cut.

 

[jetsam]

Someone who has mastered freehand filing will always have the best cutting chains,period.

You hear that a lot. It took me decades to admit to myself that that was not even close to true.

I spend a lot less time cutting wood now (also a lot less time sharpening chains, pretending like I can see a .005" or 2° difference between teeth because of my magical freehand abilities).

Ever hear someone say they wouldn't do anything but freehand? Keep listening. Eventually you'll hear them say that sometimes you just need a new chain, and that's a cry for help. A properly sharpened chain is better than new, and anyone who does it all by eyeball is gonna be really lucky to even visit that zone once in the life of a chain.

 

[salecker]

I will still disagree
Someone who knows how to use a tool and what needs to be done to get a cutter to cut will always do a better job then some arbitrary set of angles that a machine uses.
Spacebus proved that by saying it might be true for cross cutting,But...
The same goes for ripping someone who knows what they are doing will stomp on your set by a guide angles and depths.
There are a ton of variables for any situation and a tool will never take those into consideration.It can not adapt on the fly,all it can do is replicate what it is set to do.
The saying is "If you want a job done right do it yourself"

 

[SpaceBus]

I make adjustments to my jigs as necessary, maybe I put a little extra pressure on a few teeth as needed. We will just have to agree to disagree on this topic.

 

[jetsam]

I will still disagree
Someone who knows how to use a tool and what needs to be done to get a cutter to cut will always do a better job then some arbitrary set of angles that a machine uses.
Spacebus proved that by saying it might be true for cross cutting,But...
The same goes for ripping someone who knows what they are doing will stomp on your set by a guide angles and depths.
There are a ton of variables for any situation and a tool will never take those into consideration.It can not adapt on the fly,all it can do is replicate what it is set to do.
The saying is "If you want a job done right do it yourself"

Everyone is restricted to sharpening as well as they understand how. If you don't know what the outcome should look like, you get random outcomes.

By the middle of a chain's life, no hand filer is going to come close to what that same person could be doing with a tool that gives them the option of consistency. The longer they hand file a chain, the worse the drift from any kind of consistent setup gets.

There's no magic to refusing to use a tool that measures your results. That's just wearing a blindfold and saying that it's better because you can't see it.

I was proud of my hand filing for a really long time. When I actually started measuring outcomes, I learned that my hand filing is laughably bad. If you sometimes treat yourself to a new chain, yours is too. Old chains should be as good or better.

My neighbor is another lifetime hand filer (he should be one of those youtube hand filing masters, his look like steel eating beavers have been at them). Guess where his chains go when they're so bad they don't cut anymore! Been a couple of them that would probably have worked better backwards.

 

[salecker]

Again i will disagree
Chainsaw racers will win a race with their chain sharpening ability's.
The chains they use have the cutters filed back to around where witness marks will be,plus a bunch of other tricks
If you tried to compete with a chain that was just touched with jigs or machines,you would loose.
And be talked about as the rookie who didn't know anything about how to win.
Using a machine or jig doesn't allow for human error on angels or depths,true...
But it doesn't allow for human knowledge either,if you know what you are doing with a file no machine or jig is going to come close.
But again we are discussing weekend firewood cutters in here,not many pro cutters to tell you their thoughts.

 

[SpaceBus]

Most pros use a Silvey square grinder and square ground chain. I've read blogs by another retired pro that uses a modified Granberg File-N-Jig and a protractor. True professionals leave nothing to error and do not trust their hands. Geometry trumps intuition every time.

 

[salecker]

Most pros use a Silvey square grinder and square ground chain. I've read blogs by another retired pro that uses a modified Granberg File-N-Jig and a protractor. True professionals leave nothing to error and do not trust their hands. Geometry trumps intuition every time.

I see you don't belive in real world use,kinda like the guy who was telling me that it would take me 1/2 a day to clean my boiler because that is what he watched on u tube.
The grinders and jigs work to put the angels and depths at the same place all the time ,i don't dispute that fact.
The fact is that a human that knows what they are doing is going to produce a better cutting chain every time.The human can put their touch on it so it will actually cut better in the wood they are cutting.
A machine or jig can't do that.
There is no chainsaw racer that will run a stock chain because they just don't cut it.

 

[jetsam]

Pros who go out with a dozen chains in a bucket like square because it cuts faster, and it just takes a minute to swap chains.

A firewood cutter who goes out with one or two chains is going to like round filed semichisel because it lasts longer.

Both groups are going to cut a lot faster if they measure their results rather than relying on magic. Doesn't matter if they're using a file or a grinder- it's all in the operator either way.

If the operator says, "I have a mystical sense that tells me this chain is PERFECT", his chains will suck (but his youtube channel will be very popular). If the operator says, "I measured the angles and lengths and it's pretty good", his chain will blow that first guy away.

Ever hear someone say that sometimes you just need a new chain, or sometimes you just need to send it out for sharpening? That's one of those guys who sharpen by magic. Guys who measure don't need to say that.

Grinders and hand filing are the same thing- they can both be done by somebody who knows what the finished product should look like and measures to see if they got there, or they can be done by somebody who follows a formula and doesn't care to check and see what the outcome was.