MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
I use a straw as a scabbard for my files.
How do you sharpen saw chain?
- Thread starter Jed
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woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
I see old timers filing vertical. Once it may have been explained as the way to do it.
Yu gotta understand there's a considerable difference between loggers sharpening square cut chisel chain for softwood conifers with flat 3 sided files and grinders, and the logger/arborists who use round ground chisel for smoothly cutting hardwoods n stuff.
One of the third generation pro loggers I met ran his 36 inch bar/chain appallingly loose in my eyes. Stuffed his plastic wedge tween the bar n chain to tighten things up as he sharpened the saw on his lap with a triangular flat file. His saw cut through softwoods like a hot knife through butter!
Running a long bar with a chain that loose gives me the willies though. I prefer mine a wee bit tighter! Even though doing so probably costs me more in replacing worn bars.
How much slack off the bottom rails are you guys comfortable with running long bars?
I like about a quarter inch or so, but never more than half an inch.
Jomo
One of the third generation pro loggers I met ran his 36 inch bar/chain appallingly loose in my eyes. Stuffed his plastic wedge tween the bar n chain to tighten things up as he sharpened the saw on his lap with a triangular flat file. His saw cut through softwoods like a hot knife through butter!
Running a long bar with a chain that loose gives me the willies though. I prefer mine a wee bit tighter! Even though doing so probably costs me more in replacing worn bars.
How much slack off the bottom rails are you guys comfortable with running long bars?
I like about a quarter inch or so, but never more than half an inch.
Jomo
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Long bars or short bars, I feel it's basically the same principle regarding chain tightness. As minimal a gap or none at all, and still being able to easily pull the chain around the bar with your fingers, is the correct tightness setting....plus your own feel for it for that last tiny measure of more loose or more tight.
I virtually never file during the day. The saw stays sharp as long as no debris touches it.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Hard nose bars loser, I think is the common recommendation. Maybe like the old style strapped toe clips on bicycles, some dudes have never seen them.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
I pour the bar oil directly on the bastid.
Only ever had to do that with my 880 with the cannon six foot bar on it, cuttin long dead euc.
But yeah, been there, done that.
What's a five dollar quart of oil compared to a four bill bar?
Not very environmentally friendly though!
Jomo
But yeah, been there, done that.
What's a five dollar quart of oil compared to a four bill bar?
Not very environmentally friendly though!
Jomo
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
The environment was friendlier back then!
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
I remember the old recommendation to soak new chains in oil. I did it, but thinned the oil a bit. It felt good to do that, and not such a mess if you have them drip over the oil container for a bit. Maybe sometimes soaking chains in kerosene then dipping them in oil might not be a bad idea.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
To what end? Why?
There's this sappy stuff called keno that live eucs exude in a variety of colors.
This stuff accumulates on your chain and bar, spikes n such, it's notoriously hard to get off. Like clear pine sap, but worse.
Dumping your long chains into 5 gallon buckets of diesel fuel is an effective means of cleaning long chains before sharpening on a chain grinder.
A clean Chain's a sharp chain!
Jomo
This stuff accumulates on your chain and bar, spikes n such, it's notoriously hard to get off. Like clear pine sap, but worse.
Dumping your long chains into 5 gallon buckets of diesel fuel is an effective means of cleaning long chains before sharpening on a chain grinder.
A clean Chain's a sharp chain!
Jomo
Merle Nelson
TreeHouser
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
I think i'd aim for spending $30 on a small used vice from a garage sale/ CL, as it it more versatile.
Never used a stump vise myself. https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=1335 Who has? Seems like a 2x6 might suffice if no stump is available. It might need some pilot holes, as it would go into face-grain (ya know, like face nailing something), not end-grain. $9.
Never used a stump vise myself. https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=1335 Who has? Seems like a 2x6 might suffice if no stump is available. It might need some pilot holes, as it would go into face-grain (ya know, like face nailing something), not end-grain. $9.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Pitch and whatever crud accumulates restricts chain movement, soaking in oil when new gets a high degree of lubrication into all the moving parts. To what degree it is necessary is probably debatable.
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
Probably with today's super engineered holes and grooves in drivers for channeling oil, has made this an obsolete action. I do think about storing all my chains in a oil, though, with our cool, damp conditions, chains that sit for a long while want to freeze up.
flushcut
TreeHouser
I have. Before I made the one I posted I was using a stump vise stuck in some 5/4 oak. It worked well enough but it wasn't heavy enough or stable enough to really get after a dull chain.
Iuse one all the time when logging mature hardwoods.
I'll just make a shallow cut 4" from the end of a big log across the grain and hammer the Stump vise into that.
Szajer
alive with pleasure
I'll squat over the saw housing.
Sharpening the inside teeth first — which is left knee down, the saw against that thigh -and outside of saw housing is against the right foot/inner calf of the right leg. Both hands on each end of file.
Then switch knees and posturing while sharpening the outside teeth.
Sharpening the inside teeth first — which is left knee down, the saw against that thigh -and outside of saw housing is against the right foot/inner calf of the right leg. Both hands on each end of file.
Then switch knees and posturing while sharpening the outside teeth.
old irish
TreeHouser
Didn't read the whole thread and don't know if this helps, but we got tired of the high price of bar oil and went to using used diesel motor oil. It has properties that help cut the pitch and sap and is basically free. The disadvantage is that it is messy. Lubricating properties seem ok even in a production situation and the oil runs freer in cold conditions than bar oil, which you could thin with diesel also. Probably wouldn't be good for chainsaw milling.
Szajer
alive with pleasure
I always begrudge the day I have to pick up another gallon of bar oil.
But lately I've been thinking of going biodegradable. It's just so damn expensive. Plus I won't run anything stihl doesn't recommend. Yeah, I know-- I'm a purist that way....
But lately I've been thinking of going biodegradable. It's just so damn expensive. Plus I won't run anything stihl doesn't recommend. Yeah, I know-- I'm a purist that way....
Cobleskill
Treehouser
There has been some posts about using canola oil. It seems if you use your saw on a regular basis it is fine. It might not work in the cold weather, I can't remember. Do a search on here and you will get some good first hand knowledge.
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