hand fileing

[Timbercruiser]

Im a new small scale guy cutting with a cable machine. I have a hard time with hand sharpening if I use the husky roller guide i do a good job. Any tips are a great help thanks

[tlandrum]

if you want to get good at free hand filing. it takes lots of practice. I would suggest using a chain with a witness mark in order to give you a site line to go by. while filing you can use this mark in order to keep a consistent angle. you can start out with just holding the file good and level as you follow the witness mark. then practice ,practice will give you muscle memory. then use a raker gauge to get the raker height correct for the wood and saw your using.   

[beenthere]

I have a hard time with hand sharpening if I use the husky roller guide i do a good job.

Keep using the roller guide. That would still be hand filing, IMO.   I use the guide and it works well for me... along with a sharp file. ;)

I can just hand file as well, but the guide gives more precision to the job.
This is what I use now.


 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Keep using the guide and eventually you will get to the point of not needing it (kind of like training wheels on a bike). Once you've done it enough filing a chain just becomes second nature.

[Cut4fun]

Firewood guys I have been showing find it easiest to learn hand filing with this style of guide.

[thecfarm]

Keep using the husky roller guide!!! Nothing a matter with that. I free hand and that works for me. If I had to use a guide I would have to relearn how to sharpen all over again.
I don't look down on anyone that has a diffeant way of doing something. I know others can do things better,quicker,cheaper,faster. As I say,good for you.

[Philbert]

If the roller guide works for you, stick with it.

What that guide does is it holds the file at the correct height, relative to the top cutting edge. It also discourages you from rocking the file (changing the vertical angle).

So, that leaves you to focus in maintaining a consistent horizontal angle (30* or whatever you choose), and applying consistent pressure.

Tips?

Make sure that the bar is firmly clamped in a bench vise, logger's stump vise, etc. so that you can use both hands to guide the file.

Tighten up chain tension a bit and set the chain brake to steady the cutting teeth.

Use a sharp file, and tap the end against a solid surface after each tooth to clear out chips/filings.

Use good lighting to see what you are doing.

Take your time and focus on excellent results, not speed.

Use some basic tools to actually measure tooth length (precision ruler or caliper) and angle (protractor) to see how consistent you are tooth-to-tooth and side-to-side.

See what you find and what you need to work on.

Philbert

[clww]

Now that I'm logging again, I file the chain at least half a dozen times a day. I use a guide and it makes a big difference. Another thing I'll add is don't just file a chain when it's dull. I touch it up with a couple of strokes per cutter every third time I fill up with gas/oil. File a chain to keep it sharp. ;)

[qbilder]

I hand file & do it pretty often. I have obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to sharpness. When the teeth get too inconsistent, I use the saw sharpener to reshape them all to exactly the same again. I never use the sharpener to sharpen anymore, only to reshape. After reshaping, I file before cutting. My old man cringes when he sees me doing things my way, and I would imagine lots of guys would find faults in how I do my thing. But the fact is, it's MY thing & it works very efficiently & effectively for ME. Find what works best for you & master it. 

[Philbert]

That's an important comment. Lots of ways to file - each person has to find what works for them.

Good point also on maintaining a sharp cutter, versus sharpening a dull one.

To the OP - my comments on the guide were meant to emphasize that it is helping you with a few things: height and vertical angle. If you were totally free-hand filing, you would have to control these as well as the horizontal angle and force applied.

Philbert

[SPIKER]

Philbert hit a lot of good points,

Some other interesting ideas

PUSH the file thru (one stroke pushing is cutting with most files) dragging it on the back stroke is only dulling the file and the cutter you are working on.

Use the other hand to hold the chain right at the link you are filing, holding it down and tight to keep it from wiggling around while file stroke is going on.

I also do all the cutters on ONE side, then switch the saw to the other side and run all those.   It is just easier for me some people swap back & forth but too much work.

I dress my chains with sharpener occasionally and then hand file very regularly when cutting.   I been cutting lots of dead elm, about like concrete or old rail road ties (treated ones.)  :/   Arms are pretty dead today as I had nephew out for firewood yesterday & did up a cord or two...

Mark

[NWP]

I use my right hand to push the file thru with the handle.  I use my left hand to hold the end of the file and put some pressure on it.  Usually I only do one or two strokes with the file per tooth.  A sharp file is a must.  I buy them by the box and throw them in the scrap bin when they start to get dull.  Also, make sure to tap the file on something every couple of teeth to clean the filings out.

[pine]

Firewood guys I have been showing find it easiest to learn hand filing with this style of guide.

The style posted by Cut4fun is the type I like to use.  I try to touch up my chain every tank or at most every other tank of fuel.  Takes less filing  and you always have a sharp chain.  Once it truly gets dull there is a lot more work involved in getting it sharp again.  Watch the rakers for knocking them down every so often as well.

[HolmenTree]

Other advice I can give the OP who is working cut and skid in Thunder Bay, Ontario is use a shortest b/c as possible. If your in average softwood for the area a 18" is the best, in hardwood run 20".
In cut and skid the longer the bar the quicker they dull.

[flashhole]

I'm in the cut4fun camp too.  It took some practice to get it right but now the sharpening goes quickly.  Good advice not letting the chain get completely dull, a lot easier to keep it sharp than to sharpen when really dull.  Whatever system you try, just keep at it.

[HolmenTree]

I used the file holder Cut4Fun showed also when I was a young logger many years ago learning how to file. Stihl makes a real nice deluxe  model.

[Hilltop366]

Sounds kind of funny but something I have seen is the chain having too much angle on the right side and not enough on the left, it is caused by having lots of elbow room on the on the left and not much on the right with the motor in the way.

I suspect it is more of a problem on shorter bars.

[Philbert]

Most guys are 'better' on one side than the other. It's something you need to be aware of and work on to get consistent cutters.

Not as big an issue if you file off of the saw, such as in a filing vise.

Some guys turn their saws over (really) to file the 'other side'.

Philbert

[mad murdock]

To go along with proper chain sharpening, I would include the bar maintenance as well under this topic, since the chain relies on the condition of the bar for optimal performance. Flip the bar over often to allow for even rail wear.  Every time you flip it, ( or at least every other time), check rails for square and wear, draw file as required to "dress" back to true.  I prefer to draw file the bar rails rather than grind, as it takes off less material, and there is no chance of messing with hardness of the rail as it is real hard to overheat steel with a file. The file needs to be in good shape though, an8"-10" mill "bastard cut" file is what I like to use for this task. Keeps the chain running true and cuts stay straight. Wear gloves when working the bar, small steel slivers like to come off the rails as you work them over.

[flashhole]

Great point with the bar, routine maintenance on the bar is the same as routine maintenance on the chain.  A lot easier to keep up with it than to correct it when it gets bad.

[joe_indi]

I have had the Pferd Chain Sharp tool with me for more than two years but never attempted to use it till recently. It put the 'bite' back into a stone damaged Stihl 36RSK. Though not the proper thing to do, I replaced the 5.2mm files on it with 4.8mm files and had good results with a .325" saw chain also. A bit pricey but, now that I have used it, I think its a good buy.

[flashhole]

I was trying to do a search on the Pferd CS-X for other opinions but came up blank.  Amazon sells them for $36.95.  Youtube videos are pretty good.  I might have to get one of these.

[gsrsol84mm]

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[flashhole]

What is the part number on the Stihl?

[Philbert]

Do those Pferd (and STIHL) guides let you adjust the height of depth gauges, or are they fixed at 0.025?

Do you still have to go back with a flat file to round over the leading edges of the depth gauges?

Thanks.

Philbert