Chain saw sharpening

[dacjohns]

Know most of that. Putting it all into practice is the art I haven't mastered yet.

Cutting left, which teeth are out of whack? Please don't just say left or right. What I think are the left teeth might be you are calling the right teeth.

As you are looking at the saw from the operator position as you are cutting a log, your saw is pulling to your left, correct?

If so, the left hand cutters are sharper than the right hand cutters. If it pulls left, even with a new chain or one that has been sharpened properly, then the bar guides are different heights from side to side. That will cause the chain to rock to one side and pull to that side. You may have to have the bar resurfaced.

One more thought......You might have the wrong size chain on the bar. If you use an 0.058 chain on an 0.063 groove bar that will rock the chain the same as worn bar groove.

Looking at it from the operators viewpoint.

Feeling dumb here. Bar guides?

Which are the left hand cutters? Looking at the top of the bar. The cutters that have the point or leading edge on the left side?

 

[SKR8PN]

Bar guides are the "sides" of the bar, on either side of the slot that the chain runs in. If you remove the bar from the saw, and stand it on edge on a flat surface, it should stand by itself. By stand I mean stand it just way it is if your cutting with it. Those two edges on either side of the groove should be perfectly even and the same height.
You know you can flip the bar over when it gets worn on one side, right?
The left hand cutters are the ones shaped so they throw the chip to the left side of the bar, looking at it as though you are cutting.

 

[dacjohns]

Yeah, I've flipped bars over before.

 

[SKR8PN]

I should have said that the bar would stand SQUARELY by itself. If you stand it up and it leans to one side, then that may be your problem.

 

[dacjohns]

SKR8PN,

The left hand cutter explanation worked. I''d been trying to figure out what cutter was cutting deeper and forcing the curve. I was upside down. Problem fixed. Thanks

 

[SKR8PN]

Glad you got it fixed!

 

[THEFAN]

The old chainsaw headache. I was one of those who would just buy a new blade or getting it sharpned at the local small engine shp. after getting my new chainsaw this spring and having a lot of fun with it I decided to get the chainsaw file and angle holder. I found it to work great. The holder tells you what angle and holds the file inplace. About a half hr later I had a nicely shrpened blade. Worked for me but I cans ee others frustration but to me the idea is about saving money . Hopefully the wood is free. I was just given 2 acres of woodlot to cut for free. LOTS of harwood. I feel I am ahead of the game and fileing my own blade is worth the small time. Just my 2 worthless cents. Don

 

[Beekissed]

I use a file guide and it seems to do the trick. I've also been known to rotate two chains....one getting sharpened professionally for the big price of $5 per while one is on the saw, then switch. At least that is what I did before I got the file guide....

 

[sylvie]

I use a dremel drill with the chain sharpening stone bit.
I was not happy with the file and holder. When a guy told me about the dremel, I tried it and never looked back. It has saved me $$$. Each chain blade has a small engraved slash impression of the angle right on top of each tooth, at least with Stihl chains. Hold the stone bit parallel, follow the mark and it is a no brainer. I've used this since 2004, cut 4-5 cords per year and don't let anyone else use my saw, EVER.