Sharpening chainsaw chains-what do you use?

[Rob]

Wondering what everyone uses to self sharpen their chain saw chains.

I have been using the sthil file sharpener.
Stihl 2 IN 1 EASY FILE CHAINSAW CHAIN SHARPENER .325" https://a.co/d/6VtSAWl

I thought it was working OK, but honestly I end up getting 50/50 chips and dust after using it-and it quickly dulls again.  I took a chain to Pape for sharpening and wow!  It cut for over 4 hours with no sign of dulling.  It was like a brand new chain.   I have been giving each chisle 5-7 passes and trying to keep the angle correct.  I have no doubt in the hands of a skilled operator it would more than do the job but I need something a bit more idiot proof.

I have looked at the timberline and I like that it clamps to the bar and has a handle to turn, but I hate to lay out 125 bucks to see if it works.  It also does not file the rakers to the correct height either-one has to use a flat file for that.

I have considered the Oregon bench sharpener as well.  Oregon Compact 120-Volt Mini Bench Grinder, Universal Saw Chain Sharpener, for All Chainsaw Chains (310-120), Small https://a.co/d/dBQF1MB


So what do others use?

[timberfaller]

Just from experience, a Granberg File-n-joint.  Oregon has one similar but I preferred the Granberg.  When I final had "spending money" I purchased a Silvey grinder.  The good ole days!

https://www.granberg.com/product/g106b-file-n-joint-low-profile/

For the rakers, just get a pre set or adjustable depth gauge tool and raker file(smooth edge).

https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/oregon%C2%AE-chainsaw-chain-depth-gauge-adjustment-tool-and-flat-file%2C-for-setting-chain-depth-gauge-%28raker%29-to-0-025%22-27742/p/27742

[HntnFsh]

I hand file a couple times after professional sharpening. Then take them back in to get sharpened on a machine. Nice to have all teeth the same length etc. The only bad thing about bringing them to a shop to get ground is that soemtimes you will get somebody that doesnt care and sets the depth too deep and grinds too much too fast and burns and leaves burrs. They just want get as many chains sharpened as they can as fast as they can.

I have access to a good grinder and use that sometimes. If I have time.

I also had a cheap harbor freight sharpener. If you were careful and made sure to hold your chain up straight and watch to make sure you did a good grind, it actually did pretty good.

Thats for my 3/8 chains.

My smaller ones I just hand file.

[timberhunter]

https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Chainsaw-Field-Sharpening-Kit/dp/B084XV4TGX

This is what I use and it’s simple and easy to use. The only thing about this angle gauge I don’t like is it doesn’t grab all file sizes tightly but it does work. Depending on what kind of shape the chain is in when you go to filing it and how much your taking off with the file I would say 5-7 passes may not be enough. I also have found a sharp chain still won’t cut if the rakers are too high. The raker gauge in this kit is kind of cheesy, I used it some but it’s easier to just take a couple passes with the flat file before you sharpen and you will get a feel for it pretty quick.  If a couple isn’t enough on the rakers  you can always go back.

[Bullkllr]

I honestly like the Stihl 2 in 1. Definitely easy to use and a big step up from my clumsy hand filing. I do think you need to be careful when using it as it's easy to over-file or get the angle wrong. For touch-ups I usually count three stokes per tooth using a light touch and clamp the bar in a stump vise. And try to follow the guides on the tooth closely.

I have a Granberg File-n-jointI use at home and agree it does a better job. If I get faster with it I might use it when field sharpening.

 
This guy does a solid side by side comparison of several common sharpeners.

[chukardogs]

I buy and trade old Homelite chainsaws for whatever silly reason people do such a thing. The three things I see when picking up old chainsaws are; the cutting tooth surface angle on one side isn't the same as the other. I've found numerous chains where the teeth have obviously been sharpened numerous times but rakers that set depth of cut have never been touched or were filed so far down the saw isn't strong enough to cut that much wood. I've found them so uneven that it causes the chain to bounce and jump while cutting. I've been given saws where the bar is so worn that the chain is flopping back and forth from side to side to the point where the owner says, damn thing won't cut anymore. It won't matter how sharp the chain is if the teeth can't stay in the wood. If when you apply pressure with your file, the cutting tooth moves more than a 64th of an inch, replace your bar. There should be very little play between the tooth guide and the bar.
My opinion only; sharpening grinders in the wrong hands can destroy a chain so fast you might as well get a new one. Once the tooths temper has been affected, the days of nice big even sized chips flying are over and it only takes one or two of the teeth to be affected to render the whole chain useless. Stick with a sharp round file, set at the right depth. Tighten your chain before sharpening until you can just move it to keep as much tooth rock and side play out of it as you can while sharpening. Then loosen the chain until you can get a penny between the chain links and the bar.
There may be no greater feeling than having your sharp chainsaw chain make large evenly cut chip piles at your feet!
 

[Doublelunger]

I use an appropriately sized round file and a leather glove.

[boneaddict]

File

[CastleRocker]

I still have my old Silvey.  Best grinder ever in my opinion.  Kind of getting hard to find parts though.  I hand file a lot as well.  On my bigger saw(s) I take the rakers down .027" for hardwood, and
 .034 for softwood.  Makes for a smooth cutting chain.  Also, I grind new chains, and take 7 to 10 swipes on the rakers with a flat file.  Seems like most folks just put a new chain on, and wonder why it dulls so quick.

[b23]

Touching up a chain with a round file, after you get the hang of it, is actually pretty easy and really isn't all that difficult to learn.  I think one of the biggest mistakes people make, when learning to hand file, is they think they need to apply pressure to the file as they're making their passes.  There's really no need to apply much pressure, let the file do the work not your muscles.  When you press hard on the file, especially a new file, it just makes it dig in or bite harder and that makes it more difficult to follow the natural angle/contour of the tooth not to mention is a he11 of a lot more tiring. 

I worked on a landing one summer when I was in my late teens and the guys I was bucking logs with could touch up their chain in a fraction of the time I could and they'd do it with ease and never break a sweat while it would take me forever and I'd be pouring sweat.  One of them took pity on me, mostly because I was causing them to work harder picking up the slack for me, and told me to stop trying to muscle it just let the file do the work.  That little tip was a game changer.  The other tip they gave me was keep your saw out of the dirt and rocks, it'll make sharpening your chain A LOT easier.  That's one of those things that seems obvious but happens and a nano second touching the ground equals a whole lot more work on the file.

For a nicked up damaged chain or one that's been filed on incorrectly and the angles are alllllll over the place I could see where one of those fixture jig setups would be useful but for just keeping a chain sharp doing touch up work it's pretty hard to beat a round file.

[lewy]

Hand file and raker gauge

[chukardogs]

We had a Madrona fall in our street last fall. While cutting near the trunk where the tree had split into two trunks, I found a golf ball sized rock embedded in the crotch the hard way. I've sharpened that chain a half dozen times and it's just now starting to last more than a few cuts after I sharpen it. If I wasn't so stubborn I'd put on one of my other chains on but being retired gives me that no worries sense, "it's just time.

[Special T]

I buy and trade old Homelite chainsaws for whatever silly reason people do such a thing. The three things I see when picking up old chainsaws are; the cutting tooth surface angle on one side isn't the same as the other. I've found numerous chains where the teeth have obviously been sharpened numerous times but rakers that set depth of cut have never been touched or were filed so far down the saw isn't strong enough to cut that much wood. I've found them so uneven that it causes the chain to bounce and jump while cutting. I've been given saws where the bar is so worn that the chain is flopping back and forth from side to side to the point where the owner says, damn thing won't cut anymore. It won't matter how sharp the chain is if the teeth can't stay in the wood. If when you apply pressure with your file, the cutting tooth moves more than a 64th of an inch, replace your bar. There should be very little play between the tooth guide and the bar.
My opinion only; sharpening grinders in the wrong hands can destroy a chain so fast you might as well get a new one. Once the tooths temper has been affected, the days of nice big even sized chips flying are over and it only takes one or two of the teeth to be affected to render the whole chain useless. Stick with a sharp round file, set at the right depth. Tighten your chain before sharpening until you can just move it to keep as much tooth rock and side play out of it as you can while sharpening. Then loosen the chain until you can get a penny between the chain links and the bar.
There may be no greater feeling than having your sharp chainsaw chain make large evenly cut chip piles at your feet!

Very interesting  post. I have a homesite that I use for my cutting jobs that are potentially hard on chains. I use my still for clean work. What drew you to playing with homelights
? Is it plentiful used saws you can get for cheap or free?

[Caseknife]

I hand file my chains a bit differently.  It was shown to me and explained 40 years ago by an Italian guy, my boss.  he showed me how to file against the tooth which makes the chain stay sharper longer because the microscopic burr does not round off on the leading edge of the tooth.  I have a Stihl 025 with a very worn chain that will throw 1.5-2" shavings.  I've been sharpening chains that way for the last 40 years.  My BIL on the other hand just buys new chains, says it is easier, but then he tends to cut rocks frequently:)

[chukardogs]

Have you ever used a 1960 Homelite 700D or a 1982 C-72? Back then, Americans still made decent chainsaws. Though I will say, anything after 1985 is pretty much garbage.but the older saws were beast! One man's treasure is another man's trash.

[Rob]

This is great info.  Thanks all.

Sounds like perfecting my hand file technique for field work and then a granberg plus a raker file at home is the direction I will go

[chukardogs]

I buy and trade old Homelite chainsaws for whatever silly reason people do such a thing. The three things I see when picking up old chainsaws are; the cutting tooth surface angle on one side isn't the same as the other. I've found numerous chains where the teeth have obviously been sharpened numerous times but rakers that set depth of cut have never been touched or were filed so far down the saw isn't strong enough to cut that much wood. I've found them so uneven that it causes the chain to bounce and jump while cutting. I've been given saws where the bar is so worn that the chain is flopping back and forth from side to side to the point where the owner says, damn thing won't cut anymore. It won't matter how sharp the chain is if the teeth can't stay in the wood. If when you apply pressure with your file, the cutting tooth moves more than a 64th of an inch, replace your bar. There should be very little play between the tooth guide and the bar.
My opinion only; sharpening grinders in the wrong hands can destroy a chain so fast you might as well get a new one. Once the tooths temper has been affected, the days of nice big even sized chips flying are over and it only takes one or two of the teeth to be affected to render the whole chain useless. Stick with a sharp round file, set at the right depth. Tighten your chain before sharpening until you can just move it to keep as much tooth rock and side play out of it as you can while sharpening. Then loosen the chain until you can get a penny between the chain links and the bar.
There may be no greater feeling than having your sharp chainsaw chain make large evenly cut chip piles at your feet!

Very interesting  post. I have a homesite that I use for my cutting jobs that are potentially hard on chains. I use my still for clean work. What drew you to playing with homelights
? Is it plentiful used saws you can get for cheap or free?

Yeah, I have multiple fly rods that cost a thousand bucks but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend much more than 50 bucks on a chainsaw. I've got a dozen Homelite Super XLs that are all runners. I buy every one I come across unless the seller knows what he has and wants what it's worth. I've been given saws that don't run and never will according to the owner, taken them home, changed fuel filter, air filter and put new fuel in it and used it the next day for cutting firewood. In my opinion, the Homelite Super XL built prior to 1972 is greatest saw ever built for the old guy cutting firewood on the weekends. (And it starts) If I was going to make a living using a chainsaw, well then I may own a Stihl, Husqvarna or a Jonsered but for the old guy cutting a few cords of wood on a weekend, the old Homelite works just fine.

[JakeLand]

I use an appropriately sized round file and a leather glove.

👆

[NOCK NOCK]

This is great info.  Thanks all.

Sounds like perfecting my hand file technique for field work and then a granberg plus a raker file at home is the direction I will go

I have a granberg sharpener im looking to sell (discounted of coarse) if your interested.
It works good, but IMO is a pain in the arse for sharpening. I switched to the Stihl quick 2-1 things, for me they work way better than by hand or the granberg. I should also mention I'm a skip tooth chain guy, they cut better and less teeth to sharpen.

[GWP]

I have done file(s), files with a clamp on guide, bench electric, and never looked back after getting a couple Stihl 2 in 1 sharpeners. I sharpen enough blades that my bride of 30+ years can just pull her dull blade and swap it out with a sharp one and be off and running again with her Stihl electric saws.
Works for me.
The gas Stihl I sharpen as needed as it does not get used much since we got the electrics.