Sharpening Chainsaws

[20x]

Ive got a X bull chinese chainsaw, starts and runs ok.
I sharpen the teeth on the right angle but for some reason it only cuts to the depth of the blade.
Is it because I need to file down the raker teeth or something?

 

[Rockhunter62]

Probably.

Cheers

Doug

 

[aussiefarmer]

Ok
Cut a bit of wood in my time and i sharpen with file and a electric sharpener.
1st thing buy a new chain to test with as it doesn't hurt to have a spare anyway.
Put the new chain on and see if it cuts properly.

When you take old chain off hold your bar and slide your finger nail up the flat sides of the bar to where the chain runs, if you feel a lip or ledge where the chain runs that can be enough to jam the bar.
If no lip and new chain gets it cutting properly its your sharpening, it can take 10 years to learn how to file a chain correctly as its a art to do it right and the tiny little errors will be enough to make life hard.
Simple fix is to get the farm produce or saw shop to sharpen 3 or 4 chains for you each time you go or buy a electric sharpener as that way every tooth is identical.

If there's a lip on the bar a flap disc on a grinder will fix that but don't use pressure as heat will bugger the temper in the bar.
Cheap saws have cheap bars and chains if you haven't used it much and there's a lip spend $120 and get a good brand bar and chain to match the saw.

The guides or rakers on the chain adjust the speed the chain cuts by making bigger wood chips, for general wood carting you won't need to lower them as chain will be rooted by the time its slow and if you take more than a mm off them you will stall or make the saw dangerous by increasing the risk of kick backs.
If you hand file you need to have more up pressure than down otherwise the very top of the tooth won't get sharpened, you will see a dull edge at the front of tooth.
The biggest tip for file sharpening is to get the next bigger sized file than is made for that chain , this ensures the whole tooth gets filed perfectly.

There's a million tips I could give , 15 years ago when farming was tough we were carting 160 tons through winter and 3 of us would cut and split 6 ton in 4 hours.
Good chains , bars , files and sprockets were the secret , plus maintenance, blow the saw out with an air compressor as you service and sharpen , grease the clutch bearing and roller tip on bar every sharpen.

See if that helps and let us know.

 

[RockRat]

Sounds like you have a burr along the bar where the chain sits.
You can de-burr with a bastard grade file.
https://youtu.be/6WU4eBtejA8

 

[Mr Magoo]

Aussiefarmer has pretty much nailed it. I felled and cross cut timber full time for ten years and I reckon it took me over six months of sharpening a chain five times a day before I got it close to right. It's a practice makes perfect scenario.
Rakers only need to be adjusted if the teeth have had many sharpening's. As mentioned, control the bite of the teeth.
Although towards the end of my forestry days the guys on the processors would have me sharpening chains brand new out the box, yep you can get them sharper. Definitely an art that takes time and can get very frustrating and I doubt I would still be able to pull it off today.
A well maintained chain should last until the teeth snap off.

 

[wiley coyote]

After you've removed the burr on the bar, and it still doesn't cut properly, turn the bar upside down as it may never have been turned ,so may be in better nick than the top. As when they're cutting, all the weight of the saw is on the bottom of the bar wearing it faster.

 

[Guest]

Ive got a X bull chinese chainsaw, starts and runs ok.
I sharpen the teeth on the right angle but for some reason it only cuts to the depth of the blade.
Is it because I need to file down the raker teeth or something?

G'day

The rakers are to prevent the chain tooth from biting into the wood too deeply and making the teeth bog down, as the teeth are angled from the front to the back and as you file the cutting edge down it lowers the height of the cutting tooth, if you don't file the rakers down to suit you will just find that it will cut poorly and can cause some of the problem you are having, you can get a gauge to place over the chain which exposes the raker tip so that you can using a flat file, you can then file the tip of the raker to the correct height, also you need to be sure that you take the same amount of metal off both he right and left cutting teeth so they all remain the same length, people tend to take more of one side than the other when hand filing the chain, so its best to count the stroke per tooth on one side and then when you file the other side do the same amount of strokes, if you do this correctly with a new chain from the start you will get a longer run out of both the bar and chain,

You might find that also your bar could now be worn out in the guide groove too much, and the chain drive links are worn as well, this combined wear will allow the chain to lay over to one side or the other, as the chain teeth cut into the wood it will cut in on an angle and not straight as it should, it bogs the bar into the wood as the bar can not follow the chain in on an acute angle, if the bar is too worn it is better replaced, if the chain when in the bar can be moved a fair bit from side to side slopping in the bar groove then both the bar and chain need to be replaced, lack of cleaning out the bar groove and oil holes at the mounting bolt end of the bar can lead to premature wear as the lubricating oil can not get to where its needed, also using engine oil instead or correct bar and chain oil can allow it all to wear prematurely as well, bar and chain oil contains polymers to make the oil tacky and so that it is sticky and will stick to the moving parts and not be flung off at high speed and not staying there to do the job.

The guide bar also needs to be maintained as well, when you remove the chain from it you will see particles of wood remaining in the bottom of the bar groove, these need to be cleaned out, as like I said the build up will stop the oil from getting to the drive teeth, you can do this with a piece of hooked wire or piece of hack saw blade to scrape the stuff out, also pay special attention to the oil holes at the bar mount end, clean them out as well, if you have a compressor you can blow it out to make sure it completely clean as well, the bar can be also ground along the guide groove to keep it square and also along the outer edges to remove burrs, also if it is a roller tip bar you can get a small grease gun to lube the roller bearings that are inside the bar tip, you can see two small holes for this, one on each side of the nose sprocket, if you don't have a set up to dress the bar then most small motor shops can do it for you, same as correctly machine sharpening the chain as well.

cheers

stayyerAU

 

[sand surfer]

summed it up aussie,
when i was cutting fence posts for a living, i always gave the chain a touch up at every fuel up ,that way it kept it razor sharp,
and gave me a chance to have a durrie :lol:

 

[user 12139]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url...ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKiz9qi98vACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI

these are brilliant!

I run my chains through one after every 2 or 3 tons cut, just a quick lick to take the burling off, takes about 3 mins

 

[Redfin]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url...ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKiz9qi98vACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI

these are brilliant!

I run my chains through one after every 2 or 3 tons cut, just a quick lick to take the burling off, takes about 3 mins

I have had a Timberline for years, and agree, but you still have to file the rakers manually.

 

[brendomac]

Have you thought of trying the two-in-one chainsaw sharpener? A link to an example is below (first google link that came up for me is below, there are other brands available)

I bought one and it seems to work well. I am a total newby to chainsaws and could not get my head around the chainsaw sharpening kits or using the file and thought I'd try it.

I believe this does the raker and the tooth at the same time.

Happy for other people thought's on these.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3024506...14jOrzx_kNCCnnetowOK-EW1FHraBNJAaAp44EALw_wcB

 

[PabloP]

Have you thought of trying the two-in-one chainsaw sharpener? A link to an example is below (first google link that came up for me is below, there are other brands available)

I bought one and it seems to work well. I am a total newby to chainsaws and could not get my head around the chainsaw sharpening kits or using the file and thought I'd try it.

I believe this does the raker and the tooth at the same time.

Happy for other people thought's on these.

As a W/E warrior, I have and use these, but not cheap. I have 2 sizes for the different chain sizes on the saws.

Rob P

 

[Smoky bandit]

Have you thought of trying the two-in-one chainsaw sharpener? A link to an example is below (first google link that came up for me is below, there are other brands available)

I bought one and it seems to work well. I am a total newby to chainsaws and could not get my head around the chainsaw sharpening kits or using the file and thought I'd try it.

I believe this does the raker and the tooth at the same time.

Happy for other people thought's on these.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3024506...14jOrzx_kNCCnnetowOK-EW1FHraBNJAaAp44EALw_wcB

These are great.
Just make sure you do the same number of strokes on each side.
I also got an electric bench sharpener, thats a handy tool as well.

 

[20x]

I can wobble the chain side to side there is about 5mm play?
Raker teeth are barely 1mm lower than the tops of the cutting teeth?

 

[20x]

Got this old thing?

 

[aussiefarmer]

Those jigs can be good , just make sure the top front tip of the tooth is getting filed and you haven't gone under it.

Flip your bar over and see if there's any difference, just be sure to clean the oil hole on the other side as you do.

Off the top of my head guides are usually 1.35 lower than tooth tip , if you want to trim them , lock and saw in vice clamped by the bar close to saw, then use a flat file to take the hig tip off , will only need 2 strokes with a nice new file, they will be hard but you really only want 0.5 mm off if you go to far you will need your big boy pants on to use it.

 

[20x]

Those jigs can be good , just make sure the top front tip of the tooth is getting filed and you haven't gone under it.

Flip your bar over and see if there's any difference, just be sure to clean the oil hole on the other side as you do.

Off the top of my head guides are usually 1.35 lower than tooth tip , if you want to trim them , lock and saw in vice clamped by the bar close to saw, then use a flat file to take the hig tip off , will only need 2 strokes with a nice new file, they will be hard but you really only want 0.5 mm off if you go to far you will need your big boy pants on to use it.

I don't understand the shape of the raker tooth, why isn't it hooked forward like the cutter teeth, is that coz it grabbes to much?

 

[RuddyCrazy]

I only run Stihl chainsaws and back in '03 when we bought the farm I bought a farmboss 390 chainsaw, it's still going today and I tune it myself too. Now for a few extra dollars one can buy a bar which doesn't have the roller on the end and the depth of the running groove is 3 times deeper than a standard bar. Also the runner type sprocket on the drive end is much better than the standard one.

I also bought a 170 and found the chain it came with was useless I just switched to using 3/8" chain with it and no joke it has changed that chainsaw 100%, I can cut well seasoned rum gum using the full bar to cut thru and by just letting it cut without too much pressure it cuts just aswell as my 390.

Now for sharpening one can buy a file sharpener jig from any place that stocks chainsaws and the on bar Stihl is the one I use, like it has been said use the same amount of strokes on each side to keep the blade balanced and use the correct diameter round file.

I went away from using an electric sharpener years ago as the grinding wheel quickly bogs up and if not dressed it only creates heat on the teeth which WILL cause the teeth to lose their temper and ruin the chain.

 

[20x]

I only run Stihl chainsaws and back in '03 when we bought the farm I bought a farmboss 390 chainsaw, it's still going today and I tune it myself too. Now for a few extra dollars one can buy a bar which doesn't have the roller on the end and the depth of the running groove is 3 times deeper than a standard bar. Also the runner type sprocket on the drive end is much better than the standard one.

I also bought a 170 and found the chain it came with was useless I just switched to using 3/8" chain with it and no joke it has changed that chainsaw 100%, I can cut well seasoned rum gum using the full bar to cut thru and by just letting it cut without too much pressure it cuts just aswell as my 390.

Now for sharpening one can buy a file sharpener jig from any place that stocks chainsaws and the on bar Stihl is the one I use, like it has been said use the same amount of strokes on each side to keep the blade balanced and use the correct diameter round file.

I went away from using an electric sharpener years ago as the grinding wheel quickly bogs up and if not dressed it only creates heat on the teeth which WILL cause the teeth to lose their temper and ruin the chain.

The file size on the jig only sharpens the outer round edge of the tooth, do I need a bigger file so it sharpens the top flat edge to?
Some of the top flat edges of teeth are curled up?

 

[aussiefarmer]

There's your problem, the flat top of tooth does 90% of the cutting the round side just keeps the groove wide enough for the bar.
What size chain is it ?

Each tooth cuts strip's of wood basically, the guides are purely a depth gauge to keep the strip's or chips of wood the right size to not bog the saw. Take the guide away and the tooth becomes a chisel that will just go deeper and deeper.