I used the wheel grinder tonight!!!!

[Colonel26]

On my chainsaw chain!

Maybe I’ll get another little bit out of this one before I have to break down and get another. They sure don’t give em away around here.

Oh, and I know it’ll be asked, so this is a mixed marriage of sorts. An old Husqvarna 55 Rancher slinging a Sthil chain!

[cody6268]

Granddad has one of these. It's not even been out of the box.

Stihl chains are really expensive, but great. Stihl comprises of almost all the gas power tools around here. They're the best! I have a 1980s 011AV that was handed down to me when it got replaced as the small saw (still runs as good, if not better than the new ones--and the Chinese carbs used in the MS250 are crap and tend to flood) Cut great, until I hit a rock under the fallen tree I was cutting up. D'Oh!!! And that was a roughly $30 chip breaker chain--definitely, a lot more than an Oregon found at most hardware and farm supply stores. I'm going to try that new electric sharpener/vertical grinder to see if I can't dress out the rock damage (chipped at least a couple of teeth in the chain). And it's not even the oldest Stihl saw I've used. I've used my great-granddad's (currently residing with one of my Granddad's nephews, not me). It's from like the early '70s, and German-made (long before they opened up the Virginia Beach plant). It starts with just a couple of pulls! I've pulled the MS250 as much as 50 times before it would start--my 011AV 4-5 at most. It's just anti-vibration and quick-stop technologies (and auto-oiling chains) didn't exist then.

Even the case hasn't managed to fall apart. This one actually has metal hardware, which the one that goes to my Granddad's 12-year-old MS250 does not. And room for my wrenches, extra chains and spark plug, felling wedges and oil mix.

I have an old '70s Homelite (all metal) that offers just a bit bigger bar than the Stihls we have, as well as an old-school, but small McCulloch I found in a barn. They're rough, and I'm not paying to have them fixed, so guess that's a summer project. There are three that haven't been used since the '90s (including one that got squished by a track loader); so I have a decent stock of parts. These little saws are fairly lightweight, but the heavy amount of plastic parts make them feel really flimsy to me. An MS170 replaced this saw, and it feels (and looks) like the toy saw Stihl sells for little kids to play with. I want something with a probably closer to 18" bar for cutting the larger trees, and new Stihls this size are EXPENSIVE. I've got to contend I've got a buddy of mine who does tree trimming work that wanted firewood (which we use also), and he's helping me out with getting rid of a gigantic (close to 100 foot long, 5 foot diameter) roughly century-old tree that fell on a fence in an upper field a couple of weeks back. He used to run a logging outfit and has some decent-sized Husquvarnas for the job. These 10-12 inch bars are great homeowner saws and have done most jobs around the farm, but I keep finding them too small for what we handle around here.

[Colonel26]

This little sharpener is the harbor freight flavor. It does a good job. I don’t remember what it cost when I bought it, but it wasn’t much. I figure that what the shops charge to sharpen a chain, it would pay for itself in just a few sharpening and I wouldn’t have to run into town.

[kootenay joe]

Colonel, is your set up much faster than sharpening the chain by hand while it's on the bar ?
kj

[Colonel26]

Colonel, is your set up much faster than sharpening the chain by hand while it's on the bar ?
kj

It’s a lot faster and more accurate. You can’t set every tooth to the same angle and get rid of any nicks. I touch it up with a file every time I refill the gas. But after awhile it needs to be dressed up.

[Eye Brand Man]

Make sure you file your rakers down too. You can have the sharpest chain ever, but if your rakers are to high or uneven it won't cut very good or straight!

[Eye Brand Man]

Here’s what I use to hand file rakers . An old base from a grinder that bit the dust. I use an Oregon.030 raker guide.

[Eye Brand Man]

This is the grinder I use. CBN wheel. And a shot of my band blade/ sawchain sharpening area.

[kootenay joe]

Eye Brand Man, it looks like you do a lot of chain saw work, or maybe you have a sharpening business ?
kj

[Eye Brand Man]

Eye Brand Man, it looks like you do a lot of chain saw work, or maybe you have a sharpening business ?
kj

I have a sawmill/lumberyard business. I sharpen all our band blades and saw chains. When we get in loads of logs there all tree lengths, so we have to buck them all into logs. (8’,10’ etc) . So we have a lot of chainsaws and saw chain to maintain.

[Colonel26]

Oh Yes, I file those rakers down for sure. Nothing worse than a saw with sharp teeth that won’t cut because the rakers are too high. I knock them back with a guide every time i touch up the teeth.

[Eye Brand Man]

Oh Yes, I file those rakers down for sure. Nothing worse than a saw with sharp teeth that won’t cut because the rakers are too high. I knock them back with a guide every time i touch up the teeth.

Just thought I’d mention it. I’ve had a lot of customers say they sharpen a chain razor sharp but it still won’t cut. When I mention the rakers they say oh I’ve never touched those

[cudgee]

Eye Brand Man, it looks like you do a lot of chain saw work, or maybe you have a sharpening business ?
kj

I have a sawmill/lumberyard business. I sharpen all our band blades and saw chains. When we get in loads of logs there all tree lengths, so we have to buck them all into logs. (8’,10’ etc) . So we have a lot of chainsaws and saw chain to maintain.

Sawmill/lumberyards are disappearing over here, especially small family run businesses, were very common when i was a kid, good to see your business being successful. A bit off topic, but my brother was a builder/carpenter and my father just a handyman, but both were always cleaning and looking after their tools out in the tool shed. I can remember them sharpening their hand saws with a saw tooth tool that realigned the teeth then using a file to sharpen the teeth. Then rubbing down the blade and polishing it with lard/dripping from the fridge in the kitchen with a bit of oil from dads oil can, different times my friend, different times. Now most people buy a cheap saw from a hardware chain and just throw them out when they won't cut anymore.

[Colonel26]

Oh Yes, I file those rakers down for sure. Nothing worse than a saw with sharp teeth that won’t cut because the rakers are too high. I knock them back with a guide every time i touch up the teeth.

Just thought I’d mention it. I’ve had a lot of customers say they sharpen a chain razor sharp but it still won’t cut. When I mention the rakers they say oh I’ve never touched those

I completely understand! Matter of fact, that’s how I learned to always file the rakers down.

We have several small saw mills around here. Most of them are Amish or Mennonite, some aren’t. I have a couple of trees that need to come down and I’m hoping a can get a couple of decent logs to take in and have sawn for some later woodworking projects.

[Colonel26]

Eye Brand Man, it looks like you do a lot of chain saw work, or maybe you have a sharpening business ?
kj

I have a sawmill/lumberyard business. I sharpen all our band blades and saw chains. When we get in loads of logs there all tree lengths, so we have to buck them all into logs. (8’,10’ etc) . So we have a lot of chainsaws and saw chain to maintain.

Sawmill/lumberyards are disappearing over here, especially small family run businesses, were very common when i was a kid, good to see your business being successful. A bit off topic, but my brother was a builder/carpenter and my father just a handyman, but both were always cleaning and looking after their tools out in the tool shed. I can remember them sharpening their hand saws with a saw tooth tool that realigned the teeth then using a file to sharpen the teeth. Then rubbing down the blade and polishing it with lard/dripping from the fridge in the kitchen with a bit of oil from dads oil can, different times my friend, different times. Now most people buy a cheap saw from a hardware chain and just throw them out when they won't cut anymore.

I’ve never sharpened a handsaw, I don’t have the tools to set the teeth, nor would I know what I was doing if I had the tools! That’s some thing I need to investigate. That’s about a lost skill in my part of the world.