chainsaw sharpener

New Avon Arms
Unless u have very long bars and need to be precise (is milling or ringing big butts) they're not really worth the hassle
I bought 1from Lidl a few years ago and it just sits under the bench, even the 3ft bar just gets done by hand. Wasnae dear so u don't mind as much.

For hobby users probably worth buying the Stihl file holder that keeps the rakers at the right height all the time too
 
Don’t waste your money, learn how to do it properly with a file. The electric ones are awful, they blue the chain making it hard and brittle.
 
The cheap ones are not very good. One of the few good ones is the Stihl USG, but it is almost £700. You can buy a lot of chains for the price of one.

Filing is the best way to do it and when the chain hits something hard and is badly damaged throw it away and buy a new one
 
Tom D said:
Don’t waste your money, learn how to do it properly with a file. The electric ones are awful, they blue the chain making it hard and brittle.
Click to expand...
Yep. I just use a file. I saw is a Husqvarna and I have the roller guide that came with it when I bought it, but quite often I have to buy a Stihl chain when I can't get the correct Oregon and Stihl chains have a different set so the Husky guide doesn't work.

Chainsaws are quite easy to sharpen free-hand. Use your eyes and the correct size file..
 
I learnt to grind lathe tools,twist drills, shaper tools, milling cutters from a young age. So running a file at the same angle as the one you have just done is a simple task.
A nice fine file and turn it a 1/3....

Tim.243
 
Finch said:
Yep. I just use a file. I saw is a Husqvarna and I have the roller guide that came with it when I bought it, but quite often I have to buy a Stihl chain when I can't get the correct Oregon and Stihl chains have a different set so the Husky guide doesn't work.

Chainsaws are quite easy to sharpen free-hand. Use your eyes and the correct size file..
Click to expand...

Never knew Stihl make chains to fit husky saws. Usually they run on different guage/drive link thickness. But off a pain really
I thought them rollers should work with any chain. Got 1 plus a flat guide that they used to recommend onchainsaw courses but tends to make chains hooky thou.
Tend to lie at bottom of saw crap drawer.

Easiest way is just learn how to sharpen by hand.
With a grinder by time take chain off and set up grinder u could probably have sharpened it free hand quickies
With the dremmel type u still have to get it angles rightfree hand
 
On new chains for a while I use the file and angle bar to keep the correct angle to get the the best life out of the chain cutters, after a while I give the cutters a spruce up over a brew with a file and that’s it, when the chips come out like fine dust I send them over to my brother who is the maestro at sharpening them and bringing them back

He shouts and throws curses in my direction, back leg of Roe sorta calms him down :tiphat: And they come back like razors

I think if I had a power file I would be going through chains three times as fast. :doh:
 
I'm a hobby chainsaw user and couldn't get to grips with the file so I bought a sealey chain sharpener. I find it quick and easy, once you set it up right and go gently with it. You don't need to butcher the chain, just a gentle spark coming of it is fine. The other benefit of using the electric chain sharpener is you have to remove the chain to do it and and at the same time you clean out all the debris from the guard that can stop the oil getting to the chain (I saw that on a YouTube channel so now I am an expert. :lol:) I only cut about 10 cubic meters a year for my woodburner so I'm not a big user in the grand scheme of things.
 
I use the Stihl 2 in 1 easy file, which sharpens both the teeth and rakers in the one go. (can get them online)
Very easy and fast to use with a bit of practise. (Best clamping bar in vice while sharpening.)
My brother in law just bought an Oregon electric chain sharpener, (circa £150) which seems quite good.
Couple of things I don't like about it are:
You've got to take your chain off the bar to sharpen it.
The electric sharpener only seems to do the teeth and not the rakers.
You've got to start with the shortest tooth, otherwise as you move along the chain you are sharpening fresh air.
 
+1 for a decent file kit. The electric jobies seem to take too much off, shortening chain life. A mate swears by using half a file in a cordless drill...... but I don't.
 
countrryboy said:
Never knew Stihl make chains to fit husky saws. Usually they run on different guage/drive link thickness. But off a pain really
I thought them rollers should work with any chain. Got 1 plus a flat guide that they used to recommend onchainsaw courses but tends to make chains hooky thou.
Tend to lie at bottom of saw crap drawer.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on which Husky you've got. Mine is a 365 SP and Stihl certainly make a chain that matches the gauge and length as printed on the bar and those seem to fit my bar and sprockets perfectly but the teeth are a different size, or at least they're cut differently. The Oregon chains use a 5.5 mm file but the Stihl is 5.2 and if you use a 5.5 on a Stihl chain, the teeth quickly end up with no throat and a vertical cutting edge instead of a nice curve and they won't cut butter. The Husky roller guide does work for filing Stihl teeth (with the correct file) but the raker plate doesn't. I can't get the Stihl rakers to line up with the guide holes in the Husky plate so I assess mine by eye and file them freehand counting the number of stroke.

It seems to work. I've used at several Stihl chains now with no issues whatsoever. Being a hedge layer my work is hard on saw chains. Lots of rubbish to cut and a lot of it very close to the ground. Dogwood is murder on cutting edges. It's like cutting a block of hard dense plastic so I run my chains to the bitter end and I manage to keep them sharp and running sweetly. But I do know of people with other Huskys who say Stihl chains don't run in the bar properly.
Maybe the 365 - which Husky don't make any more - has a different gauge bar to their current saws because I always seem to struggle to find the correct Oregon chain at dealers now, hence having to rely on Stihl.
 
I too have the 365sp (which I found covered in chicken sh#t in a customers shed and bought off him)...cuts like a dream. I sharpen my chains freehand, both flat and round file, occasionally checking angle with a filing guide. Little and often unless you hit something. I have had a bit of practise over the years though.
A lot of chains come with a guide line on top of the cutter which makes things a bit simpler.
Depending on experience, the specific file, guide and raker guide should be enough to get most saws cutting ok. You just need to file equally on both sides and keep it out of the ground, which beginners find difficult.
Practise, practise......
 
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