Chain sharpening tutorial.

It takes me the same amount of time to do either style ,i do not want to take over your thread ,but if i am needed to answer any questions ,i can do to best of my ability ,i do not measure any angles per say ,my silvey does not have #s on it to go by ,i just aim for a steep sharp cutter ,they seem to last ok in what i cut ,seems like once you train a chain after the first couple sharpening's ,the cutters reshape to the flat file and touch up pretty fast

 

Pete, I got back a little late to the shop the other night, and I heard something calling to me from the top of my tool chest...
It was my dad's old Granberg File-N-Joint...
So I took a little trip down memory lane...



I forgot what a fine job these contraptions do, keeping every angle just right...

This chain was filed "Outside In" with a 30 degree top plate for durability, and a 15 degree downward angle...
The file depth was set deep into the cutter to clean the gullet as the file profiled the underside of the cutter...
I used a 7/32 file.. Not super fast, but smooooth.....
Oregon LGX chain.

 

Because it's the only way to use "The Force" while sharpening...
That, and it leaves a beautiful, burr free corner and edge...

And round files are cheap...

The best grinders are reversible also... For a reason..

Absolutely... The Granberg is not for the time challenged...
I would not want to crank out chains from rocked teeth with it.

 

One of TRX's chains just showed up here at the shop today..
I believe he ground it on a Silvey square grinder with the "blue" wheel.
I'm sure he has pics of it. The chain was a semi-skip 115 DL Oregon.. It looks very nice..
It's a work chain... But has a little bit steeper angles than factory, so it will self feed nicer.

 

I'd be interested in hearing thoughts about progressive depth gauges like the Carlton File-O-Plate and the ones sometimes attached to Husqvarna's roller-type filing guides. I've read Carlton's sharpening booklet which explains in detail why the FOP is so great, and the instructor of the Game Of Logging class I took a couple of months ago recommended the Husky guides very highly. I more or less understand the problem these tools are intended to solve, but I don't have the long-term practical experience to say whether that problem is actually problematic.

Also, does a saw's horsepower have any bearing on correct raker height? A couple of chains I once had professionally sharpened seemed to bite too hard and made for a rough, jerky cutting experience when I used them with my Husky 350. Might the same chains, with the same raker depths, have performed better with a bigger saw, or would they have been overly grabby regardless?

 

Grabby is not a desirable characteristic to have on a chain..
Many could confuse agressive self feeding and grabby, but properly set rakers "all the same", and proper cutter angle's can give you a good self feeding chain and still be smooth.
Grabby is usually a by-product of rakers being too low, and or un-even.
Progressive raker gauges are made to not be as concerned with how many thousandths below the cutting point the raker is, but to try and keep the cutters "Angle of engagement" somewhere in the 5-6 degree range.
As the cutter is sharpened back, it lengthens the distance between the point and the raker, thus, the raker must be taken down more than the standard .030 to keep the same angle of engagement.

When felling trees, you need to be able to bore cut.
An overly agressive chain will not allow that.
It'll chatter, buck, kick back, and just cause all sorts of mayhem in general..
But for firewood bucking, you could get away with it.
Especially if your saw has the HP to pull it..

 

let me know if that is smooth or not ,the rakers were a little more than i normally do ,i measured a couple they were at 30 ish ,it should bore nice still though

Also a word on advise ,i was told a long time ago 2 swipes on a new chain on the rakers ,that makes a grabbier chain in what i cut and bogs the saw more ,i had a 660 crank snap off at the clutch milling having to much raker ,it is hard on your saw ,and slower in my opinion anyways ,off the roll i do not touch them until about the 3rd to 4th sharpening ,this works good for me in what i cut ,but your results may vary ,i tried running round a while back ,after running square so long ,i took it off and ground it square ,the round was much more grabby than the square ,i was hollowing out a cedar log for an umbrella stand ,for the bore cutting /carving the round was horrible

 

That chart says to use 1/8" wheel for 3/8" chains and 3/16" for .404.

If I have to regularly sharpen both, can I just use the 3/16" wheel instead of swapping wheels out?

 

The wider wheel will work ,just will give different angles ,i like the thin wheel on my usg stihl ,does not go to far into the gullet and gives a steeper or longer top plate angle similar to my square ,here is one i did with the thin wheel ,it was not done on the silvey in the background ,i was using the lamp on it for the images

 

Mighty purdy!

 

I had been using 3/16" as that was the wheels I had. I open the gullet down to just a hair over the tie strap (which isn't much over stock)

 

Great thread....i use the husky roller guide...it works well....i like all this knowledge...i would also like to learn how to square file