Chain sharpening tutorial.

Here’s a pic:


Consider getting either of these;
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EDIT: Here's a vid I found that helps explain the reason why progressive guides work "better".

 

I'll probably look into getting one of those soon. I use something similar to what you think i use. Unfortunately it doesn't seem very consistent so i don't like to use it. Alot if times i just go by feel once i cut with it. If it ain't grabbing enough I'll make a mental note for the next time i sharpen it. Other times I'll lay a straight edge down and use a feeler gauge to get an idea of where they are at.

I'm pretty sure this chain has been hand filed back this far so I'm sure tooth length isn't perfect. Before this sharpening there was definitely one side longer. It's close enough to the wear mark now i could get them pretty even by eye.

Is there any way to compensate for a longer tooth on one side by lowering the depth gauges more on the opposite side? Will a sharper angle on one side make it "pull" or cut towards that side?

 

The longer the tooth, the higher the depth gauge should be, so if you have one one tooth filed really far back, it's raker should be lowered a lot more than the rest so it takes the same "bite". No compensation needed for the next tooth (or other side). Those plates set on the tooth for each individual raker, which gets them all taking the same "bite". Tooth length doesn't matter one bit using progressive plates.

 

Sounds like exactly what i need to make hand filing easier. Thanks!

 

The Wood Wolverine that chain ended up making one straight cut in about 20" red oak. Lol. Could feel it grab side to side in the cut which makes me think you're probably right about cutter length/angle being the culprit. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it now cause i really kinda tried to get them even this last sharpening. Admittedly i could get the right cutters pointier than the lefts and it wanted to cut toward the right. Kinda makes me think i need to sharpen the left cutters more? Idk but i definitely don't want it to cut crooked on a stump cut!

 

** sorry for the long post. I kinda geek out talking about chain. I find it interesting and enjoy the technical side of making it as good as it can be. That being said-


When I was a green-horn using those sit-on-top raker guides, I learned a hard lesson. I hit metal while milling more than once on the same chain. After inspection, noticed only one side of the chain was damaged, so I filed cutters till sharp, proceeded to mill. After the second time hitting metal and filing more off the same side, the mill got jammed so bad it wouldn’t go any further. Took me a minute but I realized the chain was cutting so crooked it stopped progress. This led me to find out why and ever since, I’ve been using some variation of those plates (started with the ones on the Husky roller guide). After one full raker filing, that same chain cut perfectly straight. Ah-ha moment. But in the amount of time it was cutting not right, the drivers wore the groove of the bar so bad it’s not been usable since.
If you grind chain so all the teeth are the same length, using a feeler gauge or those over the top guides work fine. If cutters become different, they end up taking different bites, causing crooked cuts.


You have a helluva lotta hook on those cutters. I imagine it doesn’t stay crazy sharp for long?

 

Yeah there's definitely a little much hook there. It self feeds nice but doesn't stay sharp long. It's easy more than i intended but i do like some hook. I must've cut the gullet back to far before lifting up. Admittedly i was using a 3/16 file also. So that might be part of the problem too.

I'll be getting one of those plates soon. I had one of those husqvarna roller guides at some point. I'll have to see if i can find that first.

I have a 36" chain that i can't get to cut straight after cutting the first stump with it. I thought it was the bar. Got a new chain and it cuts perfectly.

 

I made my own plate as a test run. It works great! I used some stainless sheet metal. I'll probably make some more for when this one wears out.

 

Rethinking round chain. It’s probably been tried before but I want to see what happens. I used a 3/16” round file to touch up this chain to give me a little more forward beak than I’m used to having. The heck with longevity Then I used a couple different small files to thin out underneath the top plate, adding a beveled edge there and getting an almost square ground internal corner without bringing it completely out to the external corner. I had to come at it from 2 completely different directions to achieve the internal corner. A little extra clearance to help with chip flow? We’ll see.

 

Several people on a square filing group (from overseas) prefer to sharpen close to where you're headed.


They have little to no side plate sharpened. They don't cut primarily hardwoods either. I'm personally not a fan.
(above are not my pics)

 

I guess I got to where I was headed. I had this 18” 0.325 beater chain for my Stihl with a crazy amount of beak and not many sharpenings left in it. It needed a touch up regardless, so I used the double bevel file, taking minimal material off. The next time I’m cutting something on the softer side I’ll give it a go. Definitely not making a habit of filing chains like this, but I’m curious to see how it cuts and how long it takes to dull.

 

Thanks a lot for this helpful material