Sharpening for cedar

[Valley Mick]

Does anyone have any tips for getting my chainsaw chain to stay sharper longer when cutting red cedar.  Tried using a half chisel chain and a full chisel.  One fella told me to switch to a carbon coated chain.  They are a major pain in the butt to sharpen.  Another logger said to decrease my tooth angle (flatten the tooth out alittle), to get a longer time inbetween sharpenings.   Does this seem right???  Don"t wanna mess up a good chain for nothing then have to reangle the teeth.   I use a 034 stihl with a 20" bar.

[Kevin]

I cut eastern white cedar with chisel chain.
Your cedar may be sucking up fine sand which is dulling the chain, the round cornered semi chisel might be the best  option.
Which semi chisel did you try?

[windthrown]

I use semi-chisel Stihl RM chain (Rapid-Micro 3/8 std. non-safety) with the cutters sharpened to 30 degrees with 0 degree offset for an edge that lasts longer for cutting in cruddy conditions. It comes from the factory sharpened at 35 degrees. Cedar is pretty soft wood, so I presume it is something in the bark that is dulling your chain. Full chisel chains will definately dull faster in gritty or dirty cutting conditions than semi-chisel will. Carbide tip loops are so expensive ($2.50 a link at Baileys) you would be better off buying a large lot of standard chain loops and swapping them out. For example, a 72 link 20 inch bar carbide chain loop would cost you $180. For that you can get 8-9 semi-chisel loops from Stihl ($20 each).

[ely]

cedar has alot of sand /dirt in the bark. at least it does around here. i see the effects on the mill and on the chainsaw both.

[motohed]

Does anyone have any tips for getting my chainsaw chain to stay sharper longer when cutting red cedar.  Tried using a half chisel chain and a full chisel.  One fella told me to switch to a carbon coated chain.  They are a major pain in the butt to sharpen.  Another logger said to decrease my tooth angle (flatten the tooth out alittle), to get a longer time inbetween sharpenings.   Does this seem right???  Don"t wanna mess up a good chain for nothing then have to reangle the teeth.   I use a 034 stihl with a 20" bar.

I have had awesome luck with 25 degree angle with a zero off set .

[John Mc]

When you guys refer to "zero offset", are you referring to the angle you drop the handle of the file a bit when filing? If so, the 30 degree angle would be how far from perpendicular you are to the bar to the left or right, but the offset would be how far from perpendicular you are "up and down". In case I'm still not describing this well: Is "Offset" the angle that Oregon says you should make 10 degrees when filing their full chisel chain for normal crosscut use?

John Mc

[Kevin]

Yes, that's the 10o side plate hook.

http://www.oregonchain.com/tech/ms_manual/ms_02.pdf

page 5

[Rocky_J]

I think Oregon recommends the 10 degree file handle angle because their chain steel is so soft and the angled handle creates a more square angle on the cutting corner so it won't dull as fast. I prefer a bit more of a point for faster cutting. I never liked the results with the 10 degree angle so I've always stayed level with the top of the tooth. Of course about a 30 degree angle on the top plate (when looking straight down on the chain) and the filed edge on the underside of the top plate is about 15-20 degrees from vertical.

I'm guessing on the numbers because everything is by hand and by what I think looks right.  8)

[Valley Mick]

thanks alot guys, you helped me out. I dropped the angle to 30 degrees It stays sharper longer.  I also tried a part chisel chain, Ya it stays longer between retouches.  But it doesn't bite like a full chisel.  The chain i was referring to before was a carbide sprayed chain.  I got it from cutters choice.  It was around 80.00.  It really cut ok, but resharpening chews a file to hell.  I guess if a guy had acouple for the landing when cutting to length and sharpened a t home with one of them rotary rigs you'de be ok.
they really do hold an edge nice but not really worth the money to me.  But when your buck to length through sand they'd be the cats ass. ;D

[windthrown]

Yep. That's the compromise of full chisel vs semi chisel. Full is faster but needs clean wood, o/w it dulls fast. Semi is slower cutting but the edge lasts longer and dulls slower in dirty wood.   

[385XP]

Try using a 13/64 file on semi chisel it lets ya get a better edge and a little more hook.

[windthrown]

I learned to sharpen 3/8 standard chains 'old school'. Use a 7/16 file for the first half of the cutter life, then flip to a 3/8 for the second half. I was shown that by a Stihl dealer out in the boonies that was a logger for years before he opened his saw shop. It is far easier to find those file sizes than 13/64.

[Valley Mick]

385xp by more hook do you mean the leading edge of the chian is thinner?  Like the difference between a cutting axe and a splitting axe? the cutting axe has a more gradual
slope to the edge, and a splitter is a sharp kinda 45 deg.  edge??? :-\