Chainsaw blade sharpening, how often?

[Dale Gregory]

I finally got around to picking up a used stihl 16" chainsaw, I put a new blade on it and started cutting up a 3' pc. of Maple about 14" in diameter (freshly felled green wood). I first cut it into 3-1' sections then turned them on their sides and started to half them for bowls. Cross cutting went fast, but cutting the pieces in half was much more difficult (cut on the bark side, not from the top).I only got two cut before the blade was so dull it would cut anything. I was thinking you cut up a whole tree before you need to change or sharpen a blade. Is it typical to need to sharpen the chainsaw blade that quickly?

Thanks, Dale

[Scott Loven]

Is your oiler working properly? IE you should have to refill your oil reservoir when you refill your gas. Heat will kill a chain quick. I think that you should sharpen the blade every three tanks of gas.
Scott

[Jim Becker]

"Rip" cuts are rough on a chain as well as a small saw...touching up with a file frequently will help. Be sure you're also supporting the work off the ground so no dirt comes in contact with the chain. Also be sure that your chain oil lubrication is working properly. You may also want to talk with your chain supplier about what you are cutting so they can provide you with a chain format that is efficient for combined cross- and rip-cutting.

[Tim Martin]

I finally got around to picking up a used stihl 16" chainsaw, I put a new blade on it and started cutting up a 3' pc. of Maple about 14" in diameter (freshly felled green wood). I first cut it into 3-1' sections then turned them on their sides and started to half them for bowls. Cross cutting went fast, but cutting the pieces in half was much more difficult (cut on the bark side, not from the top).I only got two cut before the blade was so dull it would cut anything. I was thinking you cut up a whole tree before you need to change or sharpen a blade. Is it typical to need to sharpen the chainsaw blade that quickly?

Thanks, Dale
Hi Dale, did you take a good look at the cutting teeth before you used it? It might have already needed sharpening.

If there was any kind of dirt in the bark, or you touched the bar in the dirt once or twice, that will dull the blade very quickly.

What sort of wood are you cutting up, and do you have a file kit to sharpen the chain?

[Dennis Peacock]

What I've been taught about chain sharpening...is to "touch it up" every other tank filling. Your standard chain is designed and built for crosscutting and is very effecient at it. While we aren't really milling lumber, which would require a ripping blade, our standard chains will serve well enough for wacking up bowl blanks. Rip cutting will be slower and since you'll have more blade stuck in the wood doing it's cutting work, just make sure you are getting and keeping enough oil on your chain. You really need to use an oil that has an "anti-sling" additive in it, Stihl has this and it's only about $1 more than the Wal-Mart brand bar/chain oil. What good does the oil do if you sling it off the chain? Nuttin'. And the oil IS the life of your bar and your chain...so it will pay you in the long run to use good bar/chain oil. I learned that one the hard way. :o

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Yup..........Just like saw blades used in your table saw...they make ripping chains that are more efficient at ripping with the grain on logs. My local hardwood pusher has one of each type of chain on his saws.....I hack at it with my usual chain on mine.

[George Tokarev]

What kind of chain makes a difference. I find "safety" chain much less capable in ripping than chisel, which is less so than skip chain, which can make a bumpy crosscut. Safety tends to pack and heat, slackening the chain and dulling it as it scrapes.

Cut to the dirt not through the dirt. Roll you dirty side toward you so you're busting through rather than dragging through. Of course, some trees carry enough in their bark from the wind, much less the bark, as to make this moot.

Sharpen when you cut slow or can't get shavings, only dust, just like your gouges. Often as required. One or two passes with the file is usually good enough, unless you've taken a rock.

Just as with all tools, a dull one is more dangerous!

[Pat Salter]

this may not answer your question about the blades but I've built a platform for the wood like shown here: http://www.laymar-crafts.co.uk/tip33.htm
It keeps the logs up off the ground so you won't hit the dirt and also you don't have to bend over so far.

[Matt Haus]

Dale,

The chain should make shards of wood not sawdust. That's the key for me.

[William Fourness]

If the chain is sharp to start with, you should not actual have to sharp one, just the touch ups when you take your rest from cutting, unless the saw blade hits the dirt or wood has dirt or mud on the section your cutting.
We long grain alot of stock here, crotches, burls and some moster blocks. I good sharp chain to start with, a couple touches through out the day and I can cut as much as I want to.
Not only do you file the cutting tooth, but you need to keep the raker with the tooth as well. I would suggest you buy a guide for this till you get you the feel for this. I raker guide about $5.00 no biggie. And bar maintance is a good thing to keep in mind as well. Keeping the burs filed down and rotation on the bar is a good habit to do as well. Each new chain, check for burs and flip the bar.
As for chains if you talk with your local saw dealer let him know what types of trees your cutting, sure if fix you right up. But like with most saw if your doing alot of cutting you want do some homework. We buy standard chains here, no special long grain chain. But we do make use of the difference between full chains, semi skip and full skip chains.
Cutting softer woods all day long you don't need all them teeth pulling through, actually bogs things down, so a semi or full skip can be used, depending on how soft the wood is.
Also with time and knowledge you can change the degree of the angel of sharping a bit to get more aggressive cutting of the types of wood your cutting as well. You should never have to work a saw, it should do all the work, and you just support and control it. When it gets dull thats when you notice your working and not the saw. Good luck on your cutting project. Need to know more about saws drop me a line.

Bill

[Jason Roehl]

Like others have said, dirt and heat are the death of chains.

Also, you should sharpen the chain (at least "touch it up") as soon as you notice cutting performance start to drop, often, that will be a little bit of sawdust in with the chips. It's much, much easier to re-sharpen a "slightly dull" chain than one that has had the cutting edges totally rounded over because the user kept cutting long after the chain was dull.

As far as I'm concerned, the only way to sharpen is with the miter-saw-style pink grinding wheels. (Like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93213 ) They come with a jig attached so that each tooth is sharpened exactly the same. This is important because a saw chain is a precision cutting instrument running at a very high speed.

Check this site for much info (if they ever get their website back up...grrrr):

www.madsens1.com

[Tom Keen]

My dad taught me how to hand sharpen a chain when I was a kid. I find it easier and faster to use just a file rather than using a jig or power tool. In fact I think the power tools take off to much metal. I, very lightly, touch up my chain whenever I refuel. Very lightly means one, maybe two light passes with the file.

If you look at the Stihl web site. There is a section on how to sharpen your chain for ripping. Id use a second chain for this and keep one sharpened conventionally.

Lastly, most of the smaller chainsaws come with an anti-kickback chain. This type of chain will slow you down but could save your life. I use a very aggessive chain..its fast as h**l and rips well. I dont recommend it unless you have plenty of experience.. but, Ive used a saw for a long time and feel comfortable with it.

[Jason Roehl]

Power tools only take as much metal off the chain as you let them. Over time, hand sharpening will result in teeth that are different sizes, as no one can keep an absolutely consistent sharpening angle and pressure like a jig on an electric sharpener can.

[Matt Haus]

(Like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93213 ) They come with a jig attached so that each tooth is sharpened exactly the same. This is important because a saw chain is a precision


That seems a little extreme. I bought a dremmel attachment. It comes with 3 different stones and an angle guide. the stone is fine and will allow you to make a few slight passes and it renews the metal to a shiny finish. May not be great for in the field work but then again, they make cordless dremmel tools for that. Make sure you buy one where the thumb hold unscrews. The model 770 7.2V multipro come with the removable thumb grip.

http://66.77.255.87/Images/DREMELTOOLS/770_D/WEB_LG/770_lg.jpghttp://66.77.255.87/Images/DREMELACCESS/1453_D/WEB_LG/1453_lg.jpg

[Jason Roehl]

It's not extreme at all. With proper sawing technique, a chain's sharpness will generally outlast me (4-6 hours of sawing depending on temp/humidity). That way, I only have to sharpen the chain between outings. The electric sharpener is very easy to set up, even to the point of just "kissing" each tooth to touch it up. You can also set it up to grind the rakers to the proper depth by using a depth gauge to set a depth stop. Now that I've learned what a truly sharp chain is (I also tend to buy square-tooth "pro" chain), my cutting time is probably about a third of what it once was (part of that is the Husqy 372xp I now have...).

[George Tokarev]

My old buddy, in or out of the woods, does just about all pitches and angles with the appropriate file, which changes as things get down to the short teeth. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48079&cat=1,43072,43086 it may take twelve strokes to equalize left and right after a firm encounter of the rock kind, but worth the money.

[Dale Gregory]

Thanks for all the feedback. It was a new chain, but not a Stihl brand, I assumed it was sharp to start and it was as it was throwing large curls until I started to rip. On the 2nd rip I may have went to far and caught some dirt or a piece of gravel, so it was probably my fault. I got my chain oil from Tractor supply along with the chain (forgot the brand name) so it may not be the best chain oil but it was using it up. Lesson learned, I'll buy a another chain, Stihl oil, sharpening kit, and be more careful when approaching the ground. Thanks again for the good input on proper use and care!

Dale

[Ian Abraham]

On the 2nd rip I may have went to far and caught some dirt or a piece of gravel,

That will be your problem - instant dull chain :o

Personally I prefer to hand file using a simple guide to keep the angles correct. You can sit down on a tree stump and sharpen the chain as needed after accidentally excavating dirt or cutting dirty wood.

Another hint, when you resharpen you HAVE to grind / file back enough of the cutter so that the edge is in clean chrome. If there is any rounding on the outside of the cutter then your edge wont be in the hard chrome, but in the normal steel of the cutter body. It will go blunt again pretty much right away even in clean wood.
If the chain is only just starting to loose the edge then a couple of file strokes will restore it fine, but if you have cut through a nail / fence wire / rock / concrete block then you HAVE to sharpen back to clean chrome.

Cheers

Ian

[George Tokarev]

Thanks for all the feedback. It was a new chain, but not a Stihl brand, I assumed it was sharp to start and it was as it was throwing large curls until I started to rip. On the 2nd rip I may have went to far and caught some dirt or a piece of gravel, so it was probably my fault. I got my chain oil from Tractor supply along with the chain (forgot the brand name) so it may not be the best chain oil but it was using it up. Lesson learned, I'll buy a another chain, Stihl oil, sharpening kit, and be more careful when approaching the ground. Thanks again for the good input on proper use and care!

Dale

Careful of non-Stihl chains if you have the Stihl bar without the grease holes (Oilomatic) . The Stihl brand chains have an extra oil-transporting hole to keep things running smooth. Might want to check that your bar oil matches the season/temps too. Summer stuff barely moves in the winter, winter stuff flies out fast in summer.

I get things off the ground for ripping, easier to see, brace and control at waist level. Crosscutting on the ground is a necessary evil, ripping needn't involve the risk.

[Charles McKinley]

Cross cutting need not be done at ground level. You can get a log lifter. At the very least get a goot cant hook or pevey so you can cut mmost of the way through, roll the log and finish the cut up away from the dirt.

I recommend the jig you clamp on the bar as well for sharpening. Just sharpen the chain you have. while it is on the saw.