Small filing tip

[SkwerI]

Fortunately my truck is always right in the middle of the work site.
My knees don't let me file a saw on the ground any more.

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[HolmenTree]

Fortunately my truck is always right in the middle of the work site.
My knees don't let me file a saw on the ground any more.

Even if my truck is only a tree length away that's too far
I always carry a file and just sit right down on the log or stump. No time wasted.

 

[SkwerI]

My truck is a bucket truck. It's under the tree being worked on.

 

[pantheraba]

Angle of the cutter to the sun helps see the dulled edge..plus a stump vise (idea from Stig).

 

[HolmenTree]

My truck is a bucket truck. It's under the tree being worked on.

Hey Brian so you're gonna stop mid cut and retouch a clean cutting aerial saw?
That's something I've never done.
I think the topic here is on ground saws.

Just giving you a hard time

 

[HolmenTree]

Angle of the cutter to the sun helps see the dulled edge..plus a stump vise (idea from Stig).

Direct sunlight will blind you reflecting off the chrome. You need a little shade on your cutters from the brim of your hardhat.

I'd have to figure a way to hang that wooden vise on my belt for portable use

 

[FJR]

Fred are you saying you file with both hands, right handed and left handed?

I learned to round file from the best, from loggers who were filing chainsaws since the late 1940's. To be an expert hand filer you have to train only one hand.

Yep, I will use both right and left. Next time I will give it a go with just my right hand. The scary thing (when using a vice), is that I feel like my left hand filing comes out better than my right hand.

 

[HolmenTree]

Yep, I will use both right and left. Next time I will give it a go with just my right hand. The scary thing (when using a vice), is that I feel like my left hand filing comes out better than my right hand.

Yes filing experience does do that . I assume your right handed so you want your strongest grip to hold the file.

On the subject of 2 hands on the file at once I find one handed use gives the best accuracy on sawchain [less body roll etc]. Hand saws may be a different story.

 

[woodworkingboy]

You don't really need to see the cutter to know if it's sharp. If it will grab your fingernail.....

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Your holding the wrong end

 

[sotc]

Max round files on residential work.
I file left hand the right hand. Makes the most sense to me

 

[Bermy]

I have a neat little vice mounted on the shelf in the back of my van...otherwise out in the bush if I remember the stump vice great, if not, between the knees, but I like your pictures Willard, going to try that some time.
I confess to using a file guide, is that like, going to get me demoted or suspended? I need glasses now to file properly too...sigh, keep a pair of cheaters in the van.

 

[HolmenTree]

I confess to using a file guide, is that like, going to get me demoted or suspended? I need glasses now to file properly too...sigh, keep a pair of cheaters in the van.

By all means a file guide is good Fi. I used the Oregon file guide lots when I was younger. I cheated a little though, I would put a toothpick between the file and guide on both ends to keep the file a little lower in the cutter producing a little more aggressive "hook" in the cutter's sideplate.

I have to wear glasses when I file too now. A real PIA to carry them around in my shirt pocket , but haven't lost them yet over the years.

 

[canadiantreeman]

I tried Willard's method for a solid 6 months, and have since given up. Sorry, just couldn't hack it! I did find it to be the most comfortable position to file from....but then I worked on a project clearing an peach/pear/cherry orchard that had been taken out by a landslide. Rock and dirt all over those hardwoods...I was filing the 261 4-7 times a day! My hand was wrecked by the end of a few days so I gave up and went back to two hands. Can't say as I didn't give it the ol college try, but I slipped back into old habits.

Back to the old tricks. I find as long as I can keep the nose of the bar supported against the direction I am filing, then I have no issues and can file as well as I do on a vice. Luckily, I don't find myself off the beaten path in the woods so it can be done on the tailgate of my pickup most times. I like to stand and keep the saw around waist height and work over the top.

Now this loose chain wedge/scrench trick is a good idea, I might have to give it a try!

 

[HolmenTree]

I tried Willard's method for a solid 6 months, and have since given up. Sorry, just couldn't hack it! I did find it to be the most comfortable position to file from....

Now this loose chain wedge/scrench trick is a good idea, I might have to give it a try!

Sorry to hear that Dylan, sounds like your forearm is giving out to exhaustion. But 6 months of practice is good, keep it up you will build endurance and strength in that arm. It took me alot longer then that to get to where I am now.

You may want to try an easier to grip file handle. This wedge method is really gonna slow you up.
Just tension your chain to spec, then file.

Just think of that little sit down filing break on the stump as a rest / pit stop for the work to come.

 

[squisher]

Lol. I don't think Dylan is lacking the strength for filing. Not everyone files the same way. I was taught ages ago, to do it whatever way works best for you.

I agree I don't see the need to wedge anything in the chain, seems like an unnescessary step to me.

 

[HolmenTree]

Lol. I don't think Dylan is lacking the strength for filing. Not everyone files the same way. I was taught ages ago, to do it whatever way works best for you.

Endurance is what is important in good filing. I remember in 1990 when I got into heavy weight training , even though I beefed up quickly and my extra strength was handy for pushing over those smaller trees that setback on me when falling. I noticed my filing endurance was decreased. I had to take rest breaks for a few seconds for every 1/2 doz cutters, my forearm was giving out.
Started lifting with higher reps and my endurance came back.

I have seen alot of sh!tty filing techniques in my travels and was surprised to see some of the worst were from the west coast.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hahahaha!

 

[squisher]

Endurance is what is important in good filing. I remember in 1990 when I got into heavy weight training , even though I beefed up quickly and my extra strength was handy for pushing over those smaller trees that setback on me when falling. I noticed my filing endurance was decreased. I had to take rest breaks for a few seconds for every 1/2 doz cutters, my forearm was giving out.
Started lifting with higher reps and my endurance came back.

I have seen alot of sh!tty filing techniques in my travels and was surprised to see some of the worst were from the west coast.

Ha I almost missed this. I have alot of respect for you but come on are you serious about forearm endurance for filing a saw? For real man it isn't that hard. When cutting in the woods, filing is a break.

As for the west coast crack, I really dunno what to say. I'll tell you what I've noticed in my brief time working with saws and seeing all sorts of filing techniques. I don't care how it's done, if the saw is sharp it was done properly even if it wasn't done the way that I do it. I actually file very similar to you, although I'm left handed so it's sort of backwards of your method.

 

[MasterBlaster]

For real man it isn't that hard.

Just file the sucker!

 

[squisher]

Lol, there's probably supposed to be a comma in there like "for real man, it isn't that hard".

 

[Magnus]

To be an expert hand filer you have to train only one hand.

This is not correct.
If filer is dominant on one hand I agree, but all is not. Some can work with both hands.
I can file with both hands and did for a long time. Still do if it is in a vice some times.

I file as you described, blade up saw in front of me, free hand, right or left. If saw is still and wrist locked, nothing can change angle.
File work back in the tooth, not down...

 

[stig]

I don't file onehanded.
Never have.
Probably couldn't do it if I tried.
Which I see no reason to do

 

[MasterBlaster]

Same here. Like chopping wood with just one hand.