Well, I had an idea I was filing the chains wrong, but man....... Finally got a couple of guides and put 'em to the chains. The files seem to be cutting much better than my other files, and they're fairly new. With the 30 deg. angle mark aligned to the chain, I can see how far off I was and after 5 passes of the file at the correct angle, the teeth looked almost out of the box new. Discovered I have a tooth missing on the 18", but it's cutting fine. Did a slight bit of tweaking because the saw wanted to cut a circle. Got too heavy handed on one side. Also discovered on the little Homelite that there are 3 cutters in a row on the same side of the chain. That chain was spun together locally for my SIL. Anyway, this is probably old news for a lot of you, but I should have done this a looooooong time ago. The grabbing I described in another thread is gone now too. @Pallet Pete, I may have to hold off sending you any chains now. I'm gettin' gooder at this.
I wish I had pictures, but before I had a grinder I made a little jig out of an "L" shaped board that I clamped into my bench vise along with the saw bar. One half of the "L" went down in the vice jaws. The other part of the "L" overhung the vice's anvil and had two 30* lines drawn onto it (one for each cutter direction). I would eyeball to make sure the tip of my file followed those lines. I'm not sure if that description made any sense, but it worked well for me. I was never any good at those file mounted guides.
I had one of the little stubby guides that came with the saw (I think), but for the life of me couldn't figure out how to use it. This one (Oregon) is so easy, even I can use it. Got it locally for $7.
I have used the same file guides, but went to the bar mounted type for about $30. I got pretty good with the hand type, but with the bar mounted I tend to get more consistent angles from tooth to tooth. It also allows you to set the 0 or 10 degree horizontal angle. My next item will be a stump vise.
+1 for the Oregon file guide. It does take some practice to get used to it (left and right sides of the chain particularly). To me, the number one thing it helps is setting the file depth. Also helps a lot with the angle. After using one for years, I tried free hand filing. The first filing seemed to be sharper. By about the third filing, something was obviously wrong. Put the guide back on and the file depth was already off. A FEW people can sharpen efficiently free handing a file. Most that I know that thought they could really have an eye opener after having a chain sharpened with a guide. The human hand is just not as precise as a tool. ^Same concept.^ Perfect angle. I tried the husqvarna guide. I couldn't get the hang of it.
Imo this is better than file guides....you can roll the file...keeps the correct angle..and makes your chains razor sharp....its the husqvarna roller guide..comes in .325 and 3/8...can be had fer about $12
