Chain saw sharpenning

[TRAILRIDER]

Is it difficult to sharpen the chain for a chain saw? Silly question, I know, but do you sharpen it on or off the bar? I use mine so infrequently, and money is SO tight it seems silly to buy a new chain. Thanks, Mary.

[TurnerHill]

Dead simple, even without a guide. But if you go to the store and buy a guide (they're cheap), it's as easy as filing your nails.

On the bar.

[frankva]

Very easy. Take your time. the file does the work, not your arm. You do need the right size file. (they are cheap)

[RosewoodfarmVA]

I use a little Dremel-like tool that I got from Lowes years ago. It runs off 12v and have a cord with alligator clips that you attach to a car/tractor etc battery. It has an inch and a half long stone that fits in the end of the shaft, with a metal plate over it that has the various angles etched in it. You turn it on, slide the stone into the tooth keeping the angle right so that it cuts both sides straight. You usually just have to bump the tooth and it's sharp again. If you happen to hit a rock or metal (I know, we never do this right? ) it will get the tooth ground down much quicker than a file will.

I cut lots of wood and may often sharpen several times a day. IT's so nice to have this little trick to get it done!

The main things to watch out for:
Make sure the stone is the right diameter for your saw chain.
Make sure the chain is fairly tight on the bar so the teeth don't rock and get the sharpener out of alignment.
Make sure you use the same cutting angle on both sides (if you don't it will cut crooked).
When the stone gets worn down change it! Don't keep using it til it's half size or you'll reduce the diameter of the tooth cutting notch.

[TRAILRIDER]

Oh thank you everyone, very good advice. I will definately give it a try! Mary.

[tyusclan]

Use a file that fits the cutting tooth. Sharpen one side of the cutters at a time, filing to the outside. You only need two strokes per tooth, three if it's really dull. Do NOT seesaw the file back and forth in the tooth. This will ruin your chain.

If the chain starts cutting to one side add a stroke to the opposite teeth. In other words, if the chain starts to cut to the left file two strokes on the left teeth and three on the right. This will bring it back into line.

If you'll touch it up every time you refill the gas tank, the chain will run cooler and last longer. It also puts less work on the saw and you if your cutting with a sharp chain.

Your chain should pull out small "chips" of wood. If it starts throwing sawdust, you need to file down your rakers. You can get a guide to show you how low they should be, but I just usually do it by hand. Just take a file and take two or three strokes off each raker, and you should be fine.

[Harry Chickpea]

There is a thread on an outside forum that really covers the subject; the main participant is a professional logger.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/rural...sharpness.html

Don't be intimidated. It is easy to file incorrectly, but you'll still get a better cut than if you do nothing. I did it for years. One of the issues I eventually was taught is that once you chain hits dirt or overheats, it will heat treat the metal at the extreme cutting edge. The minimal filing that you could otherwise use just won't get the job done once this happens. Place the bar in a bench vise and bear down into the hollow of the tooth. It may take as many as a dozen strokes or more but eventually, you'll feel the metal get softer, and a curl of metal will show on the top of the tooth. Once you start to get the curl, you are at the point where you can truly sharpen the chain.

[frankva]

Those last two are very good posts.

[JohnL751]

The first time I sharpened my chain many many years ago, I didn't get it even. The saw cut to the left. Had to go back and hit it a few more licks to even it out.

Leave the chain on the bar. Just take your time. Don't file too much at a time until you learn. You'll do fine.

[Cabin Fever]

One reason why a saw will cut to one side or the other is because the teeth on one side of the chain are removing bigger chips that the teeth on the other side of the chain. The cut will slant toward the side that is removing the bigger chips.

There are two ways to remedy this situation. One way has already been discussed and that is too file the teeth a bit more on the side of the chain away from the slant (if the cut is cutting to the right, file a bit more of the teeth on the left side of the chain).

The other way to remedy the slanted cut is to make sure that the rakers are all exactly the same distance below the tops of the cutting teeth. If these distances are the same, each tooth will cut identical size chips and the cut will not slant. In fact, one could have a chain with short teeth on one side and long teeth on the other and as long as the raker-to-tooth distance is the same on both sides, the cut will be straight.

[TRAILRIDER]

Man, I sure got alot to learn...........

[seagullplayer]

I can make it a little better or a lot worst...

But the hardware store 3 miles from my house will do it for $3.

I have about three chains I keep in rotation, a sharp chainsaw is a wonderful thing indeed...

[HermitJohn]

People that cut lot wood can be practiced enough to freehand with a file. Others need a jig that clamps on sawbar though i dont like sharpening on saw, any slop of chain in bar grove can make an inaccurate job. personally several years ago I bought an Oregon electric chain sharpener mounts on bench and sharpens chain off the saw much like what your hardware store uses only homeowner version. Now there are Chinese knockoffs less than $50. Think Harbor Freight has them on sale less than $30. Somebody on here owns one and likes it ok, has posted about it a few times.

[ronbre]

dremel makes a handy attachment for doing that