Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Chainsaw chains and sharpening

Depends on the application...working saws get round filed chisel chain, semi-skip, rakers around .030". Sometimes square filed, it's better for stump work but harder to touch up on the job.

The competition/hotsaws are square filed chisel, full comp, gullets filed, chassis/rivets ground smooth, tunneled tooth, stoned, etc etc etc. I use a modified Silvey SDM-4 for the race chains.

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I had several square files chains I bought in Washington they would rip in Douglas fir hemlock and such
Here in the Midwest our bark is dirty form farm fields blowing dust I guess the dull in minutes just a few cuts and they slow down
We are best served with round tooth type chain
I like chisel chain for some applications where trees are dead no bark

I run mostly Carlton chain from Bailey's. I sharpen with a Grandberg. Works awesome. Can't say enough good about the system. Chain comes out sharper than new and cuts straight as can be. I use a purpose built powered grinder if some major material needs to be removed, but try to stick with a file most of the time.

As far as full comp chain, as BWalker pointed out, it largely depends on the hardness and cleanliness of the wood you're cutting. For logs that have been dragged through some mud or gravel before you're cutting them, I generally like full comp as there's more teeth to stay sharp after others have been dulled by ground and small stones.

Similarly, proper raker hight is best defined by how hard the wood is that you're cutting.

For 2 stroke oil I've pretty well switched over to Husqvarna premium. Ran gallons of Stihl for many years, but am really turned off by the smell and aftertaste. It might well be the best oil as far as protection goes, but it really hangs on a guy's clothes for a long time. And it seems to plug spark arresters quicker than other oils. Have a friend who's an engineer for Mercury Marine, and he claims thier multipurpose 2 stroke oil is very high quality and low smoke. Going to run a few tanks if it.

Stihl, Husky, Oregon, Carlton, Bailey's. Have run them all, and some are
made by the others.

20-24" bar, full comp, round filed chisel. Pro-chain, minimal to no
anti-kickback BS. 3/8, .050.

Hand filed. Raker jig usually, eyeball the gap by laying a file across the
teeth in a pinch.


Hand filing is not that hard, don't understand why folks make it so?
I think it's guys who can do it, wanting to be special. Or wannabes,
parroting things they have heard.

Ranier , Is dead nuts on.
Get the point of the tooth pointy, the top plate and side sharp,
rakers close, the bitch gonna cut. Sometimes, surprisingly good
with some ugly teefths.
Kinda like one a them Hollower Women
eatin" a roastin' ear. She shouldn't be able to chew that corn off there
wif dem ugly, gappy teefths.
But bygawd, she's gettin' 'er done!

Several years back I took a chain that had about an hour's use on it to the local shop. Picked it up the next day and they had taken at least half the length off of each tooth. Could not afford much of that over the long run. Been hand filing since but have a reference angle jig clamped to the bar and file within a couple inches of that.

A couple old ProMac's 600-20", 650-24", and a couple Stihl 460's with 32". Oregon Super Chisel mostly in Western Larch for about 3 cords annually. One full skip OEM chain.

I have 3/8, 3/8LP and .325. Have always hand filed cutters and rakers until last year. I bought a Granberg clamp on jig and Stihl/Pferd combo for each type. They all work great except the 3/8LP Pferd.
The Stihl/Pferd units are pretty slick if they fit your chain. Once the cutters get on the short side, it's time to go back to hand filing.

This fellow threatened my life while I had a Mccullah chain saw running, and Son Jake was armed with a piece of firewood. Not so smart.

Running 16" Oregon bar and chain on my Stihl MS 180 C-BE, the local stihl dealer is just a 2 minute ride on my UTV so I rarely sharpen them my self..

Got one just like this. Only way to fly!

I use a Oregon chain sharpener. Works great and is fast. If you take your time you can remove just the smallest amount so chains last a long time. All my cutting is within 1/4 mile of my workshop so when it is time to sharpen the chain it is time for me to go home and enjoy a cool drink.

Those work OK, but they are not repeatable from left to right at all. Hand filing nets better results, is faster and is pretty easy with a round file.

You brought up dirty wood and I forgot about that. When I have to cut logs that have been skidded or are muddy I would use a loop of Stihl RM semi chisel chain. It cuts a bit slower than RS chisel but will stay sharp a bit longer.
Thankfully I have the ability to be a firewood snob now and don't have to cut dirty wood.

I know nothing about saws or how to sharpen them.

I generally run Sthil chains and like they're three in one sharpener for touch-ups. For heavier sharpening granberg jig is what I like to use and do the best job. Followed by the proper gauge for the rakers and filed out. I've got an electric sharpener it does pretty good, but me being of a slightly impatient sort at times tend to put too much pressure in generate too much heat therefore losing temper on the tooth and it won't stay sharp very good no longer. So I don't use it much.
. Sthil 131 pole saw
Sthil 170
Sthil 261
Husky 346XP
Husky 372 XP