Grinding/hand filing thread...let's see upclose pics of your chains guys!!!!

[khntr85]

At long last I remembered taking a few pics before I started sawing wood and sand. (Tuff job being a sawchain less than a mile from the coast!)
And yes, I am running semi chisel. Full chisel would last only a few minutes.

Hand filed - a file takes less space in my pocket than a grinder, and I cut a mix of soft and hardwood, whatever people want removed. And hedges!  :-(



  

  

  

 

Hey nice job man...

I got the snap a few pics of the semi-chisel chain I do on my usg grinder...the outside profile looks just like the first pic of the right hand cutter....

There is a fine line of to much gullet or to much beak...

[clairmont]

hi there, anyone had those  problems ,after I grind my chain, there is a burr on top of the cutter that does not go away while sawing, also after its been ground a file just slide on the tooth like it was glass; the tooth is not burn blue;I use CBN wheel and clean it with the white stone;my grinder is a Super Joly Speed SharpAuto, what could I be doing wrong! thanks

[d1hamby]

Try cutting some harder wood? Can we see what your talking about?

[John Mc]

hi there, anyone had those  problems ,after I grind my chain, there is a burr on top of the cutter that does not go away while sawing, also after its been ground a file just slide on the tooth like it was glass; the tooth is not burn blue;I use CBN wheel and clean it with the white stone;my grinder is a Super Joly Speed SharpAuto, what could I be doing wrong! thanks

I had a few chains in my past that had the odd link as hard as glass right from the factory (Woodland Pro/Carlton or Total). If it happens only after you've ground it, the hand file sliding like glass is because you overheated your tooth when grinding. Even if you can't see a color change, you have overheated it. The alloy that most chains are made of is one that will "air-harden": that is, if it's heated up to a high enough point, it will quench in air (rather than requiring a dip in water or oil to quench it). It will be especially noticeable on smaller parts and thin, sharp corners - like the cutting edge of your chain.

Often it's just a very thin shell on the tip of the cutting edge. You won't see the whole tooth glowing, because it's just being overheated at that thin micro-edge (in fact, the body of the chain might be acting like a quench medium and drawing heat out from the cutting edge so fast that it helps to harden the edge.)

Someone who does more grinder sharpening than I can describe this better, but you need to use a very light, intermittent touch on the grinder. Think zzt-pause-zzt-pause barely touching the tooth, rather than a longer bzzzzzzzzzzt.  If the wheel is clean, as you say, it's possible a longer cut and/or to high a pressure on the tooth when grinding is causing this (again, I'll defer to the guys who do a whole lot more grinding than I do.)

[John Mc]

One addition to the comment I made above:

Once you have hardened a tooth by overheating, you can ruin a whole lot of hand files trying to file through that hardened spot. IMO, the best way to get past this is to put it back on the grinder and re-sharpen using the proper technique.

[khntr85]

hi there, anyone had those  problems ,after I grind my chain, there is a burr on top of the cutter that does not go away while sawing, also after its been ground a file just slide on the tooth like it was glass; the tooth is not burn blue;I use CBN wheel and clean it with the white stone;my grinder is a Super Joly Speed SharpAuto, what could I be doing wrong! thanks

I had a few chains in my past that had the odd link as hard as glass right from the factory (Woodland Pro/Carlton or Total). If it happens only after you've ground it, the hand file sliding like glass is because you overheated your tooth when grinding. Even if you can't see a color change, you have overheated it. The alloy that most chains are made of is one that will "air-harden": that is, if it's heated up to a high enough point, it will quench in air (rather than requiring a dip in water or oil to quench it). It will be especially noticeable on smaller parts and thin, sharp corners - like the cutting edge of your chain.

Often it's just a very thin shell on the tip of the cutting edge. You won't see the whole tooth glowing, because it's just being overheated at that thin micro-edge (in fact, the body of the chain might be acting like a quench medium and drawing heat out from the cutting edge so fast that it helps to harden the edge.)

Someone who does more grinder sharpening than I can describe this better, but you need to use a very light, intermittent touch on the grinder. Think zzt-pause-zzt-pause barely touching the tooth, rather than a longer bzzzzzzzzzzt.  If the wheel is clean, as you say, it's possible a longer cut and/or to high a pressure on the tooth when grinding is causing this (again, I'll defer to the guys who do a whole lot more grinding than I do.)

I use a file and a grinder both a lot....it's easy for me to file a chain I have previously ground...


Like you said some of these guys use the grinder like a chop saw,!idiots!!!!

The machine is only as good as the operator and a lot just don't care....

These guys at some shops don't even use chainsaws, so how in the world do people think they will/can do a good job??

[khntr85]

At long last I remembered taking a few pics before I started sawing wood and sand. (Tuff job being a sawchain less than a mile from the coast!)
And yes, I am running semi chisel. Full chisel would last only a few minutes.

Hand filed - a file takes less space in my pocket than a grinder, and I cut a mix of soft and hardwood, whatever people want removed. And hedges!  :-(



  

  

  

 

A grinder in the pocket, how many times have you seen guys do this???

[mike_belben]

For sawlogs where the cuts need to be square or a few inches can cost me a downgrade, i use new chain and take care to handfile very conservatively and even.  Once it starts going crooked it gets hung on my firewood chain nail.  Im constantly bucking hollow mulch filled oaks, sometimes with rocks or iron, and cant keep up with a hand file on a 24" bar.  I sharpen with a milwaukee 18v grinder and a 7" wheel.  Its fast and works great.  No matter how much i bugger a cutter tip, its a one second blip of the wheel and onto the next.  Uses chain somewhat fast but my time costs more when i gotta hurry up and get home to grab kid off the bus or else.

[Skeans1]

Speaking of square filed chain I tried my hand at converting a round filed chain to a square file...I have 2-loops of Oregon square chain now so it will be a lot easier to follow the factory grind...I still haven't ran any of the square chain, but I am anxious to try them...

  Anyway here is my first ever attempt at turning a round filed chain into a square filed chain...and yes this is an Oregon vanguard chain, and no i didn't gut the rakers....I was just seeing what it's like to square file!!!

If you look at your corner every square filed chain here has a beak or a low corner which is a weak corner they'll bend over in a few cuts. I run the stuff in both hard and softwoods out here in the PNW it's very common for a faller to run it exclusively where we can go up a bar length or up a cutter combo on a smaller lighter saw.
Not the best picture but you can see the corner.