Chain Sharpener

I put a new chain on the MS250 yesterday and it was like a new saw. Certainly got me thinking…

I have a number of old chains that I’ve had filed and they cut OK. Would a chain sharpener make a difference? Anyone here use them?

 

The chain grinder I bought has seriously revived my chains.


I do well enough at hand filing, but far from great. After a few sharpenings my cuts start to meander.. but if I'm in the woods, I can get it good enough to get back to cutting.

Overall, a great purchase for me.

$.02

 

I agree. I have hand sharpened my entire life but periodically if get a chain that liked to walk left or right. With the grinder it retirement them to cutting straight again. I still hand sharpen in the field but when it starts to not perform correctly I go back to the grinder.


Mike in Okla

 

Are you referring to an electric grinder?
I use one.

 

Do you lower the rakers (depth guages)? What type of filing guide are you using or freehand filing?

Does Iron Horse sharpen chains? A lot cheaper than buying a grinder.

Ive free hand filed as wel as use a guide and found that when the chain doesnt "bite" good a couple strokes on each raker with a flat file makes a big difference.

 

Consider the Husky file guide to “train” you on how high/low to place the file on a tooth and use their depth plate/raker gauge to maintain a consistent adjustment tailored to each specific tooth.
-borrowing Chuds pic from another thread.


These guides keep the file at the proper height and angle. If you’re willing to share a pic of your filed tooth, we may be able to help steer you in the right direction should you not want to go that route. Proper hook is a very important part of good cutting performance.

 

Yes, a grinder can really true up a chain.

 

I use a grinder. I don't even file anymore. My chains cut great all the time. You still have to know what you are doing, regardless of how you sharpen.

 

I bought a grinder for the very purpose of bringing a rocked chain back into service quickly. I’m OK with filing but eventually get the angle off and then on to the grinder they go. Mine is the Oregon 520 and pleased with it. Oh, another reason to grind your own is that many shops have their least skilled or newer employee grinding chains….it’s a recipe for disaster

 

Thanks everyone. I currently hand file with a Stihl file and file guide. I do OK. I may give the grinder a go and report back.

 

Light touches on the grinder. A little at the time gives the best results.

 

I hand file for the most part but if you "rock" a chain the grinder is the way to go.
Also works great for getting a chain that is a little out of shape back up to par and setting rakers.

 

chain grinders are the way to go. I have a super Jolly. Works great. However, being able to hand file is a good skill to learn. I've started with a grinder, and am now trying to learn how to round file, with and without a guide, and JUST stepped into the world of square filing.

If I hose up any of my chains doing my hand filing, I know I can bring them back to standard with my grinder. Unless its a square file, then I'm hosed....

 

If I am going to be doing a bunch of cutting, I will run round-ground full chisel chain so I can touch the chain up with a file in the field. A few years ago, I picked up an Oregon 620 which is the same thing as the Super Jolly. If a chain needs more than a touch-up, I just run it through the grinder. If I am just gonna do a couple tanks worth of cutting, I will run square chain (I can't file that stuff) that I sharpen on a Simington 451C.

 

These style depth/raker gauges do not account for teeth that are different lengths. If they aren't all the same, each tooth isn't taking the same "bite". If more of one side is taking that bigger bite, chain will cut crooked.


Even this style does not adjust those depth gauges to only the tooth you're filing.

It rests on cutter before as well.


I'm not implying they're junk and don't work, but when you start wanting to get serious about chain cutting performance, they aren't the way to go.



So what a grinder does (besides make a sharp chain) is they make every tooth the same length, which will make that first pic style raker guide work much better. The progressive style plates do a much better job at tailoring each depth gauge to each specific tooth. I've had milling chain where I hit metal on one side (multiple times) and had a nearly worn out chain on the one side and almost new on the other (L vs R cutters). The plates make that chain cut straight.
Lay it on the chain like this and file off what's sticking past the plate. As you can see, the further back on the tooth you get, the shorter its height, the more is filed off.



Some file guides try to get the file at the proper height by these means:




Hand filing you want about this much of the file above the tooth to create proper "hook"

 

If the file height isn't proper, you can get this:


File too low and this:


So even with a grinder, you need to know what the end result should look like.

 

I must admit i was getting more of a beak when i was freehand filing.

 

Youins that grind....question...do you touch them up by hand afterwards? I ask because the chains I take to a shop to get the angles back are very 'bitey' to my files when I try to touch them up after using. Mostly dissapates after about 3 strokes. Is it just the contour that the wheel leaves that I have to get through so it smooths out?

 

This was something new to me, but you never know with yt.

 

If you overheat the tooth, it will temper it, making the file skate instead of biting in. After that hardened material is removed, file should flow smooth. If they're making your chain do that, they are too aggressive in how much force they are using to grind.