Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Chainsaw cutting crooked

  • 18-01-2012 3:13pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 76 ✭✭


    I bought a chainsaw sharping device,its a special chain
    that sharpens by putting the point of the saw against a stump of a tree......the only thing is after using it a
    few times the chainsaw is cutting crooked and gets
    jammed......did this happen anyone else
    Thanks in advance


«1

Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    It's sharpening more on one side than the other, as in every second blade (say right side) is getting sharpened more than the other side. Is it set up right.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    It could be that you hit something (grit, pebble, nail or wire) and damaged the links on one side and that now when it sharpens, it does so unevenly.
    I'd advise going to someone in the know about powersharp chains and sharpeners and gettingh their opinion. It may need to be ground down evenly.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,735 ✭✭✭lakill Farm


    is the powersharp bar chain and stone any good? I saw them for sale at the ploughing the last 2 years. I dont know how to file the chain and i do have to bring it to local huzty chainsaw man.

    if there €79 e how long do you get from the chain and stone ? 5 sharpenings? 10? 15?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    is the powersharp bar chain and stone any good? I saw them for sale at the ploughing the last 2 years. I dont know how to file the chain and i do have to bring it to local huzty chainsaw man.

    if there €79 e how long do you get from the chain and stone ? 5 sharpenings? 10? 15?

    I'm sure the powersharp is good, especially if you don't know a lot about sharpening chains. I'm no expert myself, but I have been trying to train myself to sharpen chains properly over the last few months - mostly by viewing youtube videos.

    I have an electric sharpener but I feel that it takes too much out of the chain and reduces the life an awful lot. I only use it now to grind down chains that have several hand sharpenings. I have recently invested in hand files and holders for both saws which have the filing angle displayed on them. I practiced quite a bit on old chains and I think I can saw with reasonable confidence that I know how to properly hand sharpen a chain. I have a 14" Hysky 236 and i can sharpen it in under 2 minutes. The 20 inch chain takes a bit longer, but is still manageable. I don't see the need for the extra expense of the powersharp when I can do it myself and I'm not tied to buying the more expensive powersharp chain every time I need a new one!


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,735 ✭✭✭lakill Farm


    i must check youtube for chain sharpening instead of silage cutting the next time :D. Did you buy the files off the hysky dealer? i might even ask my local dealer to show me how to sharpen it,



    reilig wrote: »
    I'm sure the powersharp is good, especially if you don't know a lot about sharpening chains. I'm no expert myself, but I have been trying to train myself to sharpen chains properly over the last few months - mostly by viewing youtube videos.

    I have an electric sharpener but I feel that it takes too much out of the chain and reduces the life an awful lot. I only use it now to grind down chains that have several hand sharpenings. I have recently invested in hand files and holders for both saws which have the filing angle displayed on them. I practiced quite a bit on old chains and I think I can saw with reasonable confidence that I know how to properly hand sharpen a chain. I have a 14" Hysky 236 and i can sharpen it in under 2 minutes. The 20 inch chain takes a bit longer, but is still manageable. I don't see the need for the extra expense of the powersharp when I can do it myself and I'm not tied to buying the more expensive powersharp chain every time I need a new one!


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 6,141 ✭✭✭colrow


    I was taught by an old boy,this is how I do it, you need the right size file for the chain, and a vice.

    Clamp the bar in a vice so the chain runs freely, put the brake on, mark the tooth where you are going to start.

    Get the file at the right angle, put slight pressure on pulling it back to yourself, and stroke the file from inside to out in one fluid motion, do this three times and move on to the next tooth, you can do a few teeth before you have to let the brake off and pull the chain round, until you have done all the teeth on one side of the chain.

    I slacken the vice and turn the saw around to do the teeth the other side.

    I was dead chuffed the first time i got it right

    hth


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    colrow wrote: »
    .....
    That's exactly how I do it. Only slight difference is I give 2 heavy goes of the file followed by a very light one. I also give the height gauge a slight touch to bring down it's height. Like a hot knife through butter after that.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,376 ✭✭✭O.A.P


    colrow wrote: »
    I was taught by an old boy,this is how I do it, you need the right size file for the chain, and a vice.

    Clamp the bar in a vice so the chain runs freely, put the brake on, mark the tooth where you are going to start.

    Get the file at the right angle, put slight pressure on pulling it back to yourself, and stroke the file from inside to out in one fluid motion,

    hth
    So you sharpen it in to yourself if I understand it right. I have always sharpened away from me and it seems to work anyway but I have one of the guides that clip over the bar and chain, a great help almost fool proof really


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    You should sharpen from the Engine out to the bar & chain, in that direction.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    If your dealer doesn't handsharpen the chain then you have no chance of handsharpening it after. The heat of a sharpening stone will temper the metal and make it too hard to sharpen with a file.
    The depth gauge on a tooth shouldn't need to be lowered much during the life of the chain. If you lower it too much then the chain will become too aggressive.
    Get a proper oregon branded hand sharpner for the correct size file.
    An oregon round file with last about three sharpenings on an 18 to 20 inch bar.
    .325 chain uses a 3/16 file
    3/8 chain uses a 7/32 file.
    Sharpen your chain on the saw in a vice.
    If the chain is cutting crooked then consider increasing the gauge of the chain assuming you are using 3/8 chain.
    keep the file high on the tooth. the bottom of the tooth isn't exposed to wood so no point sharpening it.
    Good luck finding a dealer who knows their stuff.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    i must check youtube for chain sharpening instead of silage cutting the next time :D. Did you buy the files off the hysky dealer? i might even ask my local dealer to show me how to sharpen it,

    Yea, The files are branded oregon and were bought off the husky dealer. €10 for the file and holder, the depth gauge and the flat file. He was also good to give me advice on how to do it. As others said, sharpen from the inside out. The file holder is useful to help to get the right angle.

    Its not rocket science, but does take a little practice to be able to have the chain 100%.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    pakalasa wrote: »
    I give 2 heavy goes of the file followed by a very light one.

    Similar here. Except I would give the first stroke light, as sort of a cleaning stroke, and then 3 working strokes.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,905 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    Eleganza wrote: »
    If your dealer doesn't handsharpen the chain then you have no chance of handsharpening it after. The heat of a sharpening stone will temper the metal and make it too hard to sharpen with a file.
    This is incorrect, what actually happens when a chain is sharpened by a grinder is that the steel loses its temper and it becomes softer.
    Metal is tempered is if its quenched in oil or water while its red hot.
    If you see a tooth that has turned blue its likely to have been annealed by heating and then slow cooling.
    If you use a grinder to sharpen a chain it shouldn't throw sparks if it does too much pressure is being applied.
    Different chains are harder than others, Stihl chains are harder to sharpen than Oregon, Carlton or Windsor.
    That said a good sharp file is still the best way to get a sharp chain and keep the temper of the teeth.
    The cutters need to be the same length or the chain will cut crooked.
    If you hit a stone or nail/wire make sure all the cutters are sharpened to the same length not just the damaged ones.
    If the bar groove is worn and the chain can rock side to side more than 1-2mm it can also cause crooked cutting.
    When you file file forward and every three strokes tap the tip of the file on a hard surface like the vise, this clears the swarf from the file and lets it cut cleanly.
    A handy tool is the Husky roller file guide, it has a depth gauge built in for the rakers.
    My preference is to sharpen 4-5 chains at home in the vice with the sharpener that clamps to the bar and has a fixed angle.
    Bring them all with you and change them during the day rather than touching them up during cutting.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,376 ✭✭✭O.A.P


    A handy tool is the Husky roller file guide, it has a depth gauge built in for the rakers.
    .[/QUOTE]
    Thats the one I have makes it much easier to put an edge on the teeth definately. I cant work out how to use the depth gauge for the rakers though it only lines up correctly for either soft wood or hard wood , I cant remember which. It cuts away fine anyway but if I could sort the rakers out properly it would have to improve though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    CJhaughey wrote: »
    This is incorrect

    That is so wrong. Stop misleading people. You are doing them a dis-service.
    Of course grinding tempers it; It heats something again which was previously tempered in the factory. It may not be controlled heating but it is a form of tempering.
    Filing doesn't heat the tooth in the same manner and the tooth retains the characteristics the manufacturer intended it to have originally.

    Grinding stones are the work of the devil and chains are impossible to hand sharpen after. You'd be lucky to get a single sharpening out of a good quality file on a chain which has been ground before.

    Countless Customers would come in to us asking for a hand sharpening after other cowboys used grinders on their chains.
    We had grinders and they remained under the bench and never used.
    It's quicker and more profitable to sharpen chains for Customers with a grinder but the Customer suffers.
    In the same way as a lazy barber asks you what number blade you want after you ask for a scissors cut some dealers will grind your chain irrespective of what you want yourself.

    Temper dictionary definition:
    Metallurgy . to impart strength or toughness to (steel or cast iron) by heating and cooling.

    You are telling people here than grinding doesn't cause a chain tooth to heat up and cool down.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    O.A.P wrote: »
    I cant work out how to use the depth gauge for the rakers though it only lines up correctly for either soft wood or hard wood
    In softwood with a short bar on a powerful saw you can file down the depth gauge and fly through trees but at the expense of potentially savage kickback if you hit the nose of the bar off a solid object.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,716 ✭✭✭1chippy


    I dont like those electric sharpeners at all. definately a far superior job to sharpen them hand by someone who knows what they are at. There was an old guy one time who told me he would never use the same file twice said it wasnt as good. id be slightly more miserable so mine get well worn.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,905 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    Eleganza wrote: »
    That is so wrong. Stop misleading people. You are doing them a dis-service.

    Temper dictionary definition:
    Metallurgy . to impart strength or toughness to (steel or cast iron) by heating and cooling.

    You are telling people here than grinding doesn't cause a chain tooth to heat up and cool down.
    Calm down.
    I am not misleading anyone.
    I don't think you have understood what I have written.
    In the post above I explained that when a chain is ground using a grinder incorrectly (sparking) the tooth is heated and allowed to cool slowly.
    This changes the structure of the steel and makes it soft

    Tempering is heating and cooling steel fast in order to make it hard.
    Annealing is heating and cooling slowly in order to make a steel soft.

    Ferrous metals (Steel) need to be heated and cooled fast to temper
    To make them soft you heat and allow them to cool slowly.
    The reverse is the case for non-ferrous metals like copper etc.


    What is likely to be happening is when you are using a file after a chain has been annealed is the metal is so soft the teeth of the file just clog, like when you file aluminium.

    I am not arguing that grinding is good, I am saying that it can be used correctly but usually isn't.
    How do you think chainsaw chain is sharpened in the factory?
    Thousands of little Elves using files on every roll?:)


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,905 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    O.A.P wrote: »
    A handy tool is the Husky roller file guide, it has a depth gauge built in for the rakers.
    .
    Thats the one I have makes it much easier to put an edge on the teeth definately. I cant work out how to use the depth gauge for the rakers though it only lines up correctly for either soft wood or hard wood , I cant remember which. It cuts away fine anyway but if I could sort the rakers out properly it would have to improve though.[/QUOTE]
    What chain are you using it on? I don't think it works on Stihl RSC chain very well, Oregon LP is what its designed for.
    The raker height will depend on what you are cutting, If you are cutting mixed stuff like Ash, Alder, and Pine then stick with the hardwood setting which will leave the rakers higher.
    If its all conifers use the softwood height and turn the oiler up to max!


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,141 ✭✭✭colrow


    O.A.P wrote: »
    So you sharpen it in to yourself if I understand it right. I have always sharpened away from me and it seems to work anyway but I have one of the guides that clip over the bar and chain, a great help almost fool proof really

    No the strokes go from the bar outwards to the left looking from behind the engine for the lh teeth, and outwards to the right for the rh teeth.

    I've got one of those easy start sthil saws now, what a treat it is starting


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    CJhaughey wrote: »
    This changes the structure of the steel and makes it soft
    Like fook it makes it soft.
    In practice what happens is you put force behind the file when it doesn't bite in then the file you are holding slips past the tooth and you rip the skin off your knuckles on the chain.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,905 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    Eleganza wrote: »
    Like fook it makes it soft.
    In practice what happens is you put force behind the file when it doesn't bite in then the file you are holding slips past the tooth and you rip the skin off your knuckles on the chain.
    Use one of these guides then, you won't have any more skinned knuckles.
    I use the Oregon version and it works great, not just sharp side plate but an accurate top plate edge as well.
    Doesn't work for square filed chain though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,551 ✭✭✭keep going


    not cutting;)across your very educational talk about sharpening but think it could be the bar thats at fault .seen it happen before if the bar has worn uneven


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    CJhaughey wrote: »
    Use one of these guides then, you won't have any more skinned knuckles.
    My father was using these over thirty five years ago but migrated to Oregon Hand sharpeners since then.
    .. and no they won't make sharpening a chain which has been ground any easier they'll just protect your hand a bit better.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,376 ✭✭✭O.A.P


    When a chain is damaged enough that I cannot file it back to life I bring it to the shop and I get a sharp chain back. Its happens about once a year and I usually give them all my chains when I'm there, so I have no problem with them using the grinder so long as it makes it sharper. I have often put an edge on a tooth that has been through the grinder with a file and it lasts no bother .


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    grand. please yerselves.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,376 ✭✭✭O.A.P


    Eleganza wrote: »
    grand. please yerselves.
    Would you like to prove your point ?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    no thanks. you are all swapping anecdotes from limited experience. I actually had over a decade of experience at the cutting edge of saw maintenance.
    The advice I've given is there for you to accept or disregard as you please. I couldn't care less.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,376 ✭✭✭O.A.P


    WOW 10 years at it. That beats all here :cool:
    Have you used your ears at all over those years or do you know better?


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 230 ✭✭Eleganza


    So you all worked selling and repairing chainsaws in a multi-franchise dealership because frankly what I've read here leads me to believe that most of you have very limited experience with saws beyond being owners of the saws you operate?
    OAP admits to bringing his chains to the shop to get sharpened.


Advertisement