Someone Might Care... Who Knows?
- Thread starter Jed
- Start date
- Replies 445
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sotc
Dormant hero!!
Oh really?
That enough?
That enough?
McGuarantee
TreeHouser
what is this 10 degrees business? is it more aggressive or more flattened off? i don't know too much about sharpening, other than i can get a chain cutting pretty ok. this is all quite new and interesting to me. though i don't understand half of it. i guess i do sharpen a saw just a step above a farmer 
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Well, as a farmer, I can say that you probably do! I am rubbish!
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Pull UP.
McGuarantee
TreeHouser
I seem to be more inclined to pull up when the chain is super gnarly and messed up. Seems to make the sharpening go faster
gf beranek
Old Schooler
When filing square chain there's a lot more relative angles think about. The learning curve can be long and frustrating, and that's why most people used a grinder to sharpen their square chains.
sawman
TreeHouser
yup seems to help me
Jed
TreeHouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #34
I might look into grinders. Square just seems to flow the chips SOOO much better. I currently alternate. I use the hexagon or double bevel on one or two sharpenings, and then do one on the 7/32 to get my 20 degree top angles back, then on the next, back to the square-file and so forth. Bit of wasted metal that way, but way less than you might think.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
A good cutting chain is also about keeping the rakers at the right height for what you're cutting, and keeping the gullets cleaned out as the cutters become shorter. Either one of those two things, if neglected, can dramatically decrease cutting performance,,,... even with the best sharpened chain.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
+1
gf beranek
Old Schooler
From my own experience, during the early years, I discovered bar wear was a major contributing factor in my chains cutting performance. Until I learned that I blamed the poor cutting performance on my sharpening. Yes! Bar wear was often the culprit.
All the little things start coming together and pretty soon you begin to think that you know it all. But there is always something more to learn.
All the little things start coming together and pretty soon you begin to think that you know it all. But there is always something more to learn.
Page
TreeHouser
Indeed sir
McGuarantee
TreeHouser
sharpening chains is a topic that warrants new learning all the time. a razor sharp chain is useless if your bar has 'barbs' or whatever you call it when you need to file it to make it smooth again. I'm not sure what a 'square chain' is. i don't think i have used one yet
Jed
TreeHouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #40
Yeah, I would blame the guy's sharpening every time, cause, you know... usually that's it; but just last summer, I was in a time-crunch situation, when a 28" suddenly wouldn't go in more that two bar widths deep, and here's the thing: absolutely no burrs, and a pretty sharp chain with good angles. Went down and sharpened it with the round file to get absolutely perfect angles--same thing. Almost ripped all the hair out of my head in frustration until I got the bar-rail closer for $20.00 from Bailey's, and got a new file for that weird, blue Pferd bar rail planer type deal..... long story short: that same chain now runs straight as an arrow, and the bar works like it's straight off the shelf. I've had this happen again on an Oregon 36"....Same treatment... Same happy outcome.
Ed L
Treehouser
Looked at my old Stihl sheets (the ones that come with the chains), the last time I see the 10 angle was 1989.......
Ed
Ed
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
Semi chisel.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Yeah, so many people, like myself in the learning years, blame their sharpening when actually it's the bar wearing out.
I had a supervisor come out on the job once and question my request for a new bar on a company saw. He said there was nothing wrong with the bar and I told him to try and cut through a 12 inch stem. He couldn't do it. I put the same chain on a new bar and let him have at it again. Breezed right through.
The guy was an idiot, in my opinion, to even question my request for a new bar. When he left the job site he still questioned how a bar could ever wear out.
What a case.
I had a supervisor come out on the job once and question my request for a new bar on a company saw. He said there was nothing wrong with the bar and I told him to try and cut through a 12 inch stem. He couldn't do it. I put the same chain on a new bar and let him have at it again. Breezed right through.
The guy was an idiot, in my opinion, to even question my request for a new bar. When he left the job site he still questioned how a bar could ever wear out.
What a case.
Jed
TreeHouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #46
What Tucker said; and I've also personally had a really bad time with full comp. Seems to me that to get that stuff to cut well, you have to take the stops so far down that, like Gerry pointed out: the saw just starts working really inefficiently--pulling too many chips, and not being able to flow-out the chips that it's pulling fast enough. In the case of full-comp, I feel that the chisel-spacing is so tight, that they by themselves start acting as the rakers. I've known East-Coast guys who are used to taking their stops down so far that, (once they've made the switch to full skip) their saw will not even cut a diagonal because the chisels are digging in so deep.
I've seen a really good tree-guy super embarrassed that way. Not sayin' no names but: Chris Maragulia.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Whenever I had a wore out chain that same supervisor would look at it and tell me, "you could cut for another week with this chain." This went on a couple of times and I was getting tired of it. So the next time I had a worn out chain I bored it into the rock road where we were working: totally ruining the chain. But that wasn't enough, I felt. So then I run the chain full throttle over the trailer hitch on the truck. Nice square corner of channel iron. That knocked at least half of the cutters off the chain. Only then was it ready to present to the supervisor for replacement. I got to the station and told him I needed a new chain. He said, "let me see your old one." Oh man, when he saw that chain his eyes rolled back and he cried, "What the F did you hit with this. I got my new chain. Worked like a charm every time.
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
What Tucker said; and I've also personally had a really bad time with full comp. Seems to me that to get that stuff to cut well, you have to take the stops so far down that, like Gerry pointed out: the saw just starts working really inefficiently--pulling too many chips, and not being able to flow-out the chips that it's pulling fast enough. In the case of full-comp, I feel that the chisel-spacing is so tight, that they by themselves start acting as the rakers. I've known East-Coast guys who are used to taking their stops down so far that, (once they've made the switch to full skip) their saw will not even cut a diagonal because the chisels are digging in so deep.
I've seen a really good tree-guy super embarrassed that way. Not sayin' no names but: Chris Maragulia.
No no no my brother. Full comp chain, if you are accustomed to it, glides nose first into the hardest of wood without hardly touching the rakers. It's all in what you are used to
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
Maybe not with a super long bar. Ill agree to that for sure. You give me a 20 or 24 inch bar and I will show you a bore cutting machine without low rakers.
