Chain touch ups

I generally hand touch up my chains after 4 gas ups, unless I bump a rock or hidden nail. Some people say every tank or every other etc. I am just curious what others are doing. I realize it depends on many things, dirty logs, species etc but we all seem to be cutting hardwoods which is why is ask.

 

It really depends on what your are cutting however I have NEVER ran 4 tanks without touching up a chain. I never let chains get dull.

 

Clean black locust can make sparks fly from yo chain. If you cuttin' locust, keep yo file or timberline or whatever sharpening thang you use handy cause you gonna need 'em every tank, maybe every half tank!

Keep dem chains sharp all da time. Hits easier on da machine an da opetator. An hits safer too!

 

Try to every couple of tanks. I just find it much easier to follow the correct angles when the chain is still fairly sharp.

 

I will run 4 tanks sometimes more through my saws if I don't hit dirt. I grind my chains so I just swap a new chain home and it goes on the Dull spot hook till I get low on that size loop and will grind a few.

 

Unless chain encounters debris, with most saws they get a touch with Granberg-guided file every other fillup. That's with clean wood and full-chisel chains. By that much runtime you can see more dust coming out with the chips. Semi-chisel can go a lot longer.
No rigid scheme for "time-to-file"- at least every other tankful with the big dogs, whenever things get at all dusty with the others.
Chains that are KEPT SHARP make things go better for me and the machinery, and a regular change of pace to file chain helps keep me focused. Only takes a few minutes and a good excuse for cool-down/hydration/drainage.

 

Been cutting clean birch the past few years
I can get a cord +, between touch ups
I also bump the rakers after every 2nd or third filing .
Watch the chips

Carry spare chain to the field, R&R there if needed
clean / sharpen in the shop in the evening after cutting

 

I don't see how people cut or want to with those chains so dull the seem to get red hot. they, take so much force to push them through, they cut crooked and burn the wood? you not only wreck your equipment , it just wears you out!

 

At the cutting area, others are there cutting.
Many times I want to go & sharpen some's chain.
You can tell by the sound, rpm, kinda a high pitch over rev'ing sound , that
The chain is real dull.

The sound of a sharp chain biting / chewing at the wood is a wonderful sound
The low growl it gets when loaded at rpm in a cut, "music " !
You know "CHIPS" are flying

 

A symphony to the woodcutter's ear!!

 

I oversharpen...there, I said it. Usually every fuel refill. Only 2-4 strokes needed to keep it cutting nicely. As stated above...easier to keep a sharp chain sharp than fight a dull one with the file.

 

I try to run a file over mine every other tank. Just enough to take the burr off....one or two light strokes.

 

I cut till it starts to dull. There is no set number
Its silly to say every other tank every 4 etc.
If I'm in poplar or hemlock I can burn a few gallons before swapping chains or sharpening.
If I'm scavenging wood on the ground and I kiss the dirt every now an then yeah every tank. Sometimes my first cut I can rock the chain working on an old Rockwall so that would put me at zero tanks!

 

I was kinda doing the same thing as Clemson, start to dull I would swap out or a new, or freshly sharpened. I have a grinder, so its is quick and easy fix. I started trying the quick hand file method since if I am in the woods, and things start to go dull I can touch them up sooner and not have to swap them out. it also seems like a take a bit more material with the grinder, effectively shortening the life of the chain.
By no means do I run till 4 regardless of the chips. I can tell if something is really off and I am overworking the saw for a lack of better words. i would say 50% of the time i have the luxury of dropping trees on my own property. These are very clean and with a little brain power I can go for a while on a fresh chain. My reason for asking is an old friend of mine who worked on a logging crew for a while said this was the practice of the group. When felling, I understand that the chains have to be sharp, but thought I would ask a question to the guys who buck more than they drop as I do myself.

 

The grinders are why I learnt to sharpen with a file. My local shop usually takes about 15% of a tooth or better each grind and charge me $6 to do it. I can buy 6 files for ~$6. I'm sure I can spin a chain by hand just as fast as a grinder and my day isnt ruined if I dirt the nose or catch a stone or something...bust out the file and clean it up, keep going. I usually keep a chain on the saw until it's at least halfway gone. I do file rakers probably every 4th or 5th sharpening? Just a light touch with a flat file...I don't gauge them. This sometimes results in a grabby chain, but it goes away after another filing or two.

 

This is why I grind my own and bought the grinder. you can take less than 15% if you set it up to do so and you are not charged $6 each, aND your angles are perfect, we'll of you know how to set it up?

 

Agreed you can barely take any material with a grinder.
Ive tried both, a file jig is just something else to carry or forget. Same with files.
There is no way I'm stopping every tank and Messing around with the jig ive have had good luck free handing it, even then I'm not going to file every tank.
A few chains bench sharpened is my favorite route.

 

15% off a chain would be about 6 sharpenings. I get way more than that unless I hit rock or metal. Just need to kiss the cutter....

 

Sure seems like many of y'all spend more time filing your chains than you do cutting wood!!!! Just saying.

 

Just have never been able to justify a quality grinder.

No jig here. 100% freehand. I don't absolutely file every fill up, but more often than not. The cutter who was working my last timber sale carried 5 things with him: Water jug, Fuel jug, Oil jug, scrench and a file. He was always touching up his chain while waiting on the skidder. It was neat to watch him work.

The shops sell chains, so.... My local shops may not best represent the norm for sharpenings.

I can do a quick touch up in under 5 minutes.