SteveB wrote:
I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some
dull, and some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an
alignment jig. I have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to
work pretty good. But, we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I
think if I can figger out the angles, a pocket hand file would be
infinitely easier to use in the field.
Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

A round chainsaw file of the proper diameter and a decent eye . It ain't
rocket science , and the angles aren't all that critical . I find frequent
"touch-up's" work better than letting it get really dull . Easier to
maintain the correct angle too .

--

Snag aka OSG #1
'90 Ultra , "Strider"
The road goes on forever ...
none to one to reply

"SteveB" wrote in message
...
I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and
some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment jig. I
have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work pretty good.
But, we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think if I can figger
out the angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely easier to use in
the field.

Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve


SB:

Fellers like the hand-held file guide Karl Kummerling should have in stock.
I'm off now but if you can't search that up under the name and something
like +arborist, I'll see what can be found later on your notification.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and
some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment jig. I
have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work pretty good. But,
we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think if I can figger out the
angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely easier to use in the field.

Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

"Snag" wrote in message
. ..
SteveB wrote:
I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some
dull, and some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an
alignment jig. I have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to
work pretty good. But, we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I
think if I can figger out the angles, a pocket hand file would be
infinitely easier to use in the field.
Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

A round chainsaw file of the proper diameter and a decent eye . It ain't
rocket science , and the angles aren't all that critical . I find frequent
"touch-up's" work better than letting it get really dull . Easier to
maintain the correct angle too .

--

Snag

I kinda figgered that. I am pretty good at sharpening a knife, and that has
to do with angles, too. Once you get the hang of it.

Steve

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:48:26 -0600, nick hull wrote:

In article ,
"SteveB" wrote:

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

EZ-Lap has a nice tool and makes wonderful diamond laps. I would never
go back to a file

I looked and a cannot see anything for a chain.
--

Boris Mohar

"SteveB"wrote: (clip) What about a battery Dremel type sharpener? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oregon makes one about the size of a Dremel tool. with a gauge for sighting
the angles. It clips onto your car battery, which is very convenient

I've got the rotary stones for the Dremel, I've got the little diamond
home with the 'X' top to get the angles right, pretty much just do it by
hand with a good (new) saw file. My new saw blade has the proper angle
embossed into the top of the chain, makes it easy to get the angle
right. If you don't have that, a simple guide made from a scrap of
aluminum or plastic works just as well. The key is uniformity.

I clamp in the vice engine to the left, do the left hand side teeth.
Switch ends, do the right hand teeth with the engine on the right. Use a
magic marker to show where you started. 2 or 3 firm strokes per tooth,
clean the chips out (very important) of the file with your hand or a
wire brush. Takes about 5 minutes, I do it about every 2 run hours, more
often if the bark got dragged in the dirt. In the field you can make a
cut in an upturned log, works fine as a vice.

If the saw starts cutting circles (usually wants to drift to the right),
one side of the saw is dull. If you did the dirt level cut of a stump,
this always happens to the right side of the blade.

About every 4th sharpening you need to look at the depth gages (the
little flat spots directly in front of each tooth. These need to be set
to the mfg specs, usually about .025". If your saw is underpowered you
will need to go less. If the wood is soft, you can go up .005" or so.

The blade needs sharpening if you look straight down at a tooth and you
see a shiny leading edge from the top. If the leading edge is well
rounded as viewed from the top, you will have a long job of sharpening.

Just for comparison, my Stihl 290 (3.75 hp) with a .375" width chain on
a 20" bar will do a 20" wet/green red oak log in 51 seconds. My old Mac
10-10 with the same bar/chain setup is a bit slower at 60 seconds. Ya
gotta have a SHARP chain.

SteveB wrote:
I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and
some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment jig. I
have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work pretty good. But,
we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think if I can figger out the
angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely easier to use in the field.

Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

In article ,
"SteveB" wrote:

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

EZ-Lap has a nice tool and makes wonderful diamond laps. I would never
go back to a file

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

SteveB wrote:
"Snag" wrote in message
. ..
SteveB wrote:
I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some
dull, and some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an
alignment jig. I have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems
to work pretty good. But, we're going to go up and cut some wood,
and I think if I can figger out the angles, a pocket hand file
would be infinitely easier to use in the field.
Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

A round chainsaw file of the proper diameter and a decent eye . It
ain't rocket science , and the angles aren't all that critical . I
find frequent "touch-up's" work better than letting it get really
dull . Easier to maintain the correct angle too .

--

Snag

I kinda figgered that. I am pretty good at sharpening a knife, and
that has to do with angles, too. Once you get the hang of it.

Steve

If you can put a good edge on a blade , you can sharpen a chainsaw . My bud
Bill the Machinist was telling me about a guy he worked with . Dude could
grind the sweetest lathe cutters you ever saw . Until he "polished" them on
the flap wheel .
He just could not understand you don't polish the actual cutting edge ...
--

Snag aka OSG #1
'90 Ultra , "Strider"
The road goes on forever ...
none to one to reply

wrote in message
...
I just clamp the whole thing in a vise and use a rebar cutting blade
in a skill saw. Takes very little practice to do.
Good enough for cutting logs and brush.


I want something I can use for a day out cutting logs all day in the woods.

Steve

"nick hull" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
"SteveB" wrote:

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

EZ-Lap has a nice tool and makes wonderful diamond laps. I would never
go back to a file

I have a big flat EZ-Lap that I use for my knives. Must be ten years old
now, and still works like a charm.

Steve

SteveB wrote:

I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and
some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment jig. I
have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work pretty good. But,
we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think if I can figger out the
angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely easier to use in the field.

Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

The newer good Oregon chains have angle guide marks stamped into each
cutting link to aid in eyeball alignment. Their site also has sharpening
tips.

On Dec 11, 10:01 pm, "SteveB" wrote:

I want something I can use for a day out cutting logs all day in the woods.

Steve

I like this Husqvarna file guide;

http://www.bizrate.com/powertools/oid668060039.html

Jim Wilkins

"SteveB" wrote in message
...
I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and
some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment jig. I
have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work pretty good.
But, we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think if I can figger
out the angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely easier to use in
the field.

Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve


1. Get your chains sharpened at a place with a proper (auto) sharpener.
2. Install a good, known quality sharp chain on saw.
3. Keep that chain sharp with hand file. In the field, you can hand file
the chain on the saw in not much more time than it takes to change them.
4. I personally do not use a guide with a hand file...and so cannot comment
on their attributes.


I tend to run the same chain on a saw without replacement until it is worn
out. Then I discard chain, flip bar, and install new chain. Repeat.

If, when hand filing, the angle on the teeth starts getting out of
alignment, then take that chain in and run it through a machine to correct.
With practice, though, this will probably happen only once or twice through
the life of a chain.

You can get a 'dermal type sharpener...they even have one that clips to your
vehicle battery. They work well, the two problems being: they eat their
stones fairly quickly; you can screw up the set in the teeth with just a
moments inattention.

"SteveB" fired this volley in
:

I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull,
and some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment
jig. I have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work
pretty good. But, we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think
if I can figger out the angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely
easier to use in the field.

The trick the old loggers around here use is not to sharpen the chain,
but to _keep_ it sharp. "Sharpening" involves more than just putting new
edges on the teeth, you also have to grind/file the gauges to keep the
penetration depth correct.

The old guys just use a file in the field -- a new, clean, sharp one.
Most of them own a real chain grinding rig for the evening 'true' re-
sharpenings. Y'know; one of those things that looks like a compound
cutoff saw with an abrasive disk in place of the blade.

'course... these guys also buy chain by the roll.

LLoyd

In article ,
Boris Mohar wrote:

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:48:26 -0600, nick hull wrote:

In article ,
"SteveB" wrote:

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

EZ-Lap has a nice tool and makes wonderful diamond laps. I would never
go back to a file

I looked and a cannot see anything for a chain.

Bought mine at Walmart, they might not still sell it

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

On Dec 12, 7:34 am, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
...
The old guys just use a file in the field -- a new, clean, sharp one.
Most of them own a real chain grinding rig for the evening 'true' re-
sharpenings. Y'know; one of those things that looks like a compound
cutoff saw with an abrasive disk in place of the blade.
LLoyd

This works better than I expected it to:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93213

"Jim Wilkins" wrote: This works better than I expected it to:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93213
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I bought one in a different color, but very similar, called "Nick the
Grinder." It works GREAT. Two of my friends borrowed it, and have both
since bought their own. Sale price gets down to about $60.

Jim Wilkins wrote:
This works better than I expected it to:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93213


$30!! If I didn't have a bunch of diamond bits for my Dremel, I'd buy
the HF grinder just to see how well it works.

Bob

On Dec 11, 8:18 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
I'm using a chain saw more now. I got four or five chains, some dull, and
some unfindable. I have a Sears sharpener that has an alignment jig. I
have kind of gotten the hang of it, and it seems to work pretty good. But,
we're going to go up and cut some wood, and I think if I can figger out the
angles, a pocket hand file would be infinitely easier to use in the field.

Any pointers, tips, or easy to follow sites?

What about a battery Dremel type sharpener?

I'm looking for quick and easy and portable.

Steve

Just divide a right angle into 3 to get you a decent 30 degree visual
and buy a box of files sized for the chain you use.

You will appreciate a few minutes to rest and allow the saw to cool
before topping off the fuel and bar oil while you file.

The best tip is to look at a chain that is fresh from the box and
replicate what you see.

Keep the damn thing out of the dirt it's not a skinny rototiller!

On Dec 12, 6:50 pm, beecrofter wrote:
...
You will appreciate a few minutes to rest and allow the saw to cool
before topping off the fuel and bar oil while you file.

These enforced breaks may keep you from getting tired and careless
too.

Keep the damn thing out of the dirt it's not a skinny rototiller!

The simple way to lift logs:
http://www2.northerntool.com/product/7279.htm
You can also use it to turn a tree that fell against another one and
maybe roll it free.

It doesn't lift them very high and my back won't take bending over for
too long, so I bring a folding tripod made of chain link fence posts
and a lever-type chain lift to raise the logs to waist level and lower
them onto sawbucks.

It's sooo much easier to trim off all the branches, find and remove
nails, and saw the log to length using a clip-on guide when it's up at
a convenient height.

Jim Wilkins

And a smooth flat file for the depth gages, every third touch-up of the
cutters.

Pete Stanaitis
---------------------

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Round chainsaw file.