Professional chainsaw sharpening KK area.

[riceyummm]

I have heard it's good to get a professional sharpening after five home sharpenings. Anyone else hear that?

Anyone know of a service doing that by machine in the Khon Kaen area?

[slapout]

Never heard that advice before. Use good files at the correct angle and you can sharpen yourself until the entire cuting chain needs to be replaced due to being woren down to the nubbing.

[drtreelove]

Slapout is right, you can do it yourself for the life of the chain, but accuracy depends on your experience and good filing technique. There must be plenty of info online and Youtube videos to help you get it right.

I've heard that every fourth or fifth filing should be done on a bench grinder and there is good reason for that. If you do a lot of chain saw work, it is worth it in my opinion to get one. I've been filing chain saws for 50 years (sliced knuckle scars and hearing loss to prove it) and I still get the accuracy off sometimes with hand filing and have to put it on the bench grinder.

The problem is that even good hand filing doesn't always get the cutters and depth gauges exactly the same and the chain begins to get out of true. If cutters are not filed the same length on each side, the chain saw begins to cut in an arc and bind, especially on bigger wood. If the depth gauges are not filed down, best with a guide/gauge, the cutters cannot cut deep enough, or if you file the depth gauges too much the cutters will bite too deep and jam. A bench grinder is much more accurate and gets every cutter and depth gauge (sometimes called rakers, the kurf clearing and depth regulating bump in front of the cutter edge) exactly the same, and hence provides the best cutting experience.

I would be surprised of you can find a shop with a bench grinder or anyone who even knows what that is in Thailand. I may be wrong, but I never saw it. So it would be good for you to review a Stihl or Husqvarna chain saw manual or info you find online for DIY. Practice makes perfect. Well, as perfect as you can get with hand filing. A bench grinder gets it closer to perfect.

But half the game is learning not to dull your chain by hitting the dirt, rocks, or nails and other hardware in the wood. When you cut through the wood and hit the dirt, the chain dulls instantly. It takes discipline to stop short of cutting all the way through, and turn the log instead of trying to cut clear through.

The other option is if you have the budget, to buy up a supply of chain loops and just switch them out instead of filing too many times. I may be wasteful in some peoples opinion, but time is money and if I hit a rock or hardware and need to file 20 strokes or more, I just switch the chain out with a new loop, and take the damaged one back to the bench grinder, or just discard it. Oh yeah a new chain cuts soo good.

Clean the air filter daily, run with a sharp chain, use good quality high octane gasoline and oil mix, and your chain saw will perform better and last longer. I'm a die-hard Husky fan and used my new 20" XP 550 yesterday. Oh so sweet, so screaming fast with a brand new .325 gauge chain. 91 octane, Husqvarna 50:1 oil mix.

And I always remember what my foreman told me years ago first time he tied a chainsaw on my rope to take up in the tree: "Remember Don, it doesn't care what it cuts"

[cooked]

I offered a chainsaw grinder very cheap here some time ago and there were no takers, I eventually sold it for ฿200.- including disc. I used to use one of these

which files the depth gauge at the same time as the teeth. Using a grinder to take the depth gauge down is very difficult to get right.

I would only use the grinder when the teeth were obviously going to give too much work to do by hand, and still finished them off by hand in order to get the depth gauge right.

In all my years in forestry and tree work I could never get anyone to even try to use a Pferd file, even though the results were demonstrably better.

(edit) ... and having two chains is useful.

Edited June 27, 2016 by cooked

[riceyummm]

I offered a chainsaw grinder very cheap here some time ago and there were no takers, I eventually sold it for ฿200.- including disc. I used to use one of thesepferd.jpg

which files the depth gauge at the same time as the teeth. Using a grinder to take the depth gauge down is very difficult to get right.

I would only use the grinder when the teeth were obviously going to give too much work to do by hand, and still finished them off by hand in order to get the depth gauge right.

In all my years in forestry and tree work I could never get anyone to even try to use a Pferd file, even though the results were demonstrably better.

(edit) ... and having two chains is useful.

Is Pferd or anything comparable available in Thailand? I assume different diameters of file are necessary for different sizes of teeth?

I sharpened it with just the file and it cut a lot better, unfortunately I cut out a stump today and there was a lot of dirt on the roots so I might as well sharpen it again right now.

Thanks for all the replies Gentlemen.

Here's something interesting for chainsaw aficionados:

Edited June 28, 2016 by riceyummm

[drtreelove]

Yes on file size differences, there are four standard sizes of files for round filed chain saw cutters, 5/32 and 7/32 are the most common. 5/32 is for most small saw chain, 7/32" files the most common chain that is 3/8 pitch. Then there is an in between size, 3/16" file for the .325 pitch chain. Then there is 1/4" pitch chain for some big saws. There is also square filed chisel chain that is used by some loggers. This is all American info 'cause I am one; adjust for regional variations and metric measurements.

The size of the file is important because too small for the cutter and you will create a deeper 'hook' that will dull easier or break. Too large a file and the angle of the cutter bevel will be too square without a good cutting edge. A file guide that holds the file and regulates the depth and indicates the angle is useful. The Pferd file guide that Cooked shows is a good way to go for hand filing. http://www.pferdusa.com/products/201b/201b01/index.html

[cooked]

Yes on file size differences, there are four standard sizes of files for round filed chain saw cutters, 5/32 and 7/32 are the most common. 5/32 is for most small saw chain, 7/32" files the most common chain that is 3/8 pitch. Then there is an in between size, 3/16" file for the .325 pitch chain. Then there is 1/4" pitch chain for some big saws. There is also square filed chisel chain that is used by some loggers. This is all American info 'cause I am one; adjust for regional variations and metric measurements.

The size of the file is important because too small for the cutter and you will create a deeper 'hook' that will dull easier or break. Too large a file and the angle of the cutter bevel will be too square without a good cutting edge. A file guide that holds the file and regulates the depth and indicates the angle is useful. The Pferd file guide that Cooked shows is a good way to go for hand filing. http://www.pferdusa.com/products/201b/201b01/index.html

I had a chain saw gauge that told you what size file to use in accordance to the distance between rivets. A rough guide would be to take a file that is one fifth higher than the the tooth when placed in the space next to the tooth. Handy when you are working in the forest and have more than one saw.