First try at square filing

That's interesting. Is that the way Stihl does all of their square chains? Do I have some kind of in between chain here, Some kind of half breed chain that Stihl makes? I think I have one more loop that came from a different Stihl dealer, that they made up off of a roll of chain for me, but it's .063 gauge for my 28" lightweight bar. The ones pictured are shorter, .050 sold and packaged in ready made loops. I have never used the .063 loop yet, I am going to go look at it.

 

huskihl,
Yep! You're right! Another lesson for me. Here's a couple of more pictures showing the .063 for 28" bar (the real deal) and also the chain again and box showing the designations on the box for the 25" bar, with the half breed chain. This half breed chain still needs to be sharpened with a square file, unless converted to round file, which would be very easy to do of course, and they sold it to me, as square grind chain. I know there's a lot of different chains out there, but this is confusing, or shall I say, surprising. The second picture is the real deal factory grind, on the .063, but the picture is not very good, as I think there is tiny piece of cardboard hanging on the vertical part of the tooth.

So, what in the heck is this odd ball chain called? (I did look it up, its called "RAPID Super Full Skip") I will still give it pretty high marks for cutting. It's a pretty good cutting chain, IMHO still better then round file, based on my experience with it. I can't really complain about it, but you called it right, it's not true factory square grind.

 

MAF143,
Sorry, I didn't mean to highjack your thread, but thanks to huskihl, maybe we learned something from it, at least I did.

 

No chance of hijackin' when you're talking about chain and I'm learning...

your second pic has the square grind like the Stihl chain I bought. But on mine the side wasn't as deep and that point at the bottom of the ground area was much higher on mine and my file was hitting that on my first try. Thats when I started round filing out the gullets so my file would fit in there. For me that was kind of a light bulb moment, and once that was out of the way, things started moving forward for me. I love learning about stuff, especially things that make my life easier and more fun.

 

10-4 on round filing out those gullets, I often do mine every couple of sharpening's or so, as it does seem to help.

 

RS = Rapid Super. Regular chisel chain
RSL = Rapid Super Square
F = Skip
RM = Rapid Micro. Semi chisel rounded cutter
3 = Low Kickback

 

Couple pics that may help. The most important part of a square chain is lining up the corner of the file with the working corner of the tooth. It will be sharp, smooth, and fast
Next is forward lean. A few degrees of forward lean will really help self-feeding with taller rakers and more blunt firewood-type angles
I don’t pay much attention to the top plate angle you see when looking down at the cutters. But it’s usually 15-25°

 

^^^^THIS^^^^
Looks like they did a funny factory grind on the RSF chain.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Kevin.

 

Thanks, I need more practice

 

Good info, I took a picture of this for my phone, as it should help when looking the box designations, in the store, when buying loops.

 

That's exactly how I try to get my chains to look! But sometimes I struggle a little and end up with a small beek (I guess it called side beek) but I am getting a lot better at it. It kind of depends on whether I am a bit tired when doing it, that and the lighting, and patience too, I guess. I also try for the very slight forward lean, at least, no backwards lean. I will look at each tooth when I finish it and if I don't have the straight up or slightly forward lean, I tilt my a little more and make sure I get it. 2 or 3 more file strokes usually fixes it.

It's good to hear from you, that the top plate can vary some. I was trying to follow the line on the top plate, but that line is more like 30 degrees on the top plate. And you really have to work the file to get straight with the line, so I have been not following the line as close, as I was, and I think I am more in the window of 20 to 25 degrees, most of the time.

I did notice that on the chain you sent me, you did follow the line, really close, it seamed like, on your ground chain, so I have tried not to get way off from the line. In your opinion, what does the blunter top angles do for you vs following the line? I am guessing that the blunter angle on the top plate might hold up better, but the sharper top plate angle might cut faster?

 

I don’t believe stihl actually makes square chain any longer, so anything you’re finding is probably new old stock. But Oregon CL is square full comp. Jason probably knows what Oregon’s square skip is called

 

Next to nothing.
Get your corner lined up.
Straight up and down or a couple degrees forward lean will take away from top plate angle because you’re actually rolling your file flatter to get the lean. Top plate angle I would consider number 4 or 5 on the list of important things

 

I think the Oregon full skip square is CJ.

 

I am impressed. You guys are so willing to share info and help others out. I've learned so much from this site over the last couple years and have a great time doing it. I try to share what I know, but that isn't always a lot... LOL This is exactly the information I need to get better at filing.

Thank you all for sharing.

 

Really? Do you think it would be a good idea to go buy a few loops of the Stihl square chain, while I can still get it off of that roll? I wonder why Stihl is not making it, anymore. If that's the case, then I suppose I would have to assume that the Stihl RS is the replacement if you want to run Stihl chain?

 

Good to know. Now, maybe I have my priorities straighter.

 

So everybody is hooked on square filed chain...why? (I've never tried it)
If its so much better, why does it not come from the factory as std?
Does it cut faster, if so how? Std chain can be made to cut just as fast as any given saw has the power to pull...and it seems that removing X amount of wood from the kerf would take X amount of horsepower...no?

 

It cuts faster, it will grab more, greater chance for kickback and it also dulls faster. Not a good combo for your average fire wood cutter or guy who has a saw and a few chains at most and pays someone to sharpen it. This is why semi chisel is so popular. It will hold an edge longer while cutting. Not as fast but will stay sharp for what it is longer .

 

This is not so (no disrespect meant).. Square is more durable than round. There is more metal to support that working edge. I mill with square and noticed a huge difference.

It's much more smooth cutting than round.