Left Hook

There's a lot of criticism within the industry surrounding the ability of chainsaw operators to correctly sharpen their chains. It's not helped by those in the industry who persist in setting out the same old myths that have been around for years. If you want the best performance from your chain then it needs to sharpened correctly.

Incorrect sharpening of the chain can lead to varied problems, from slow cutting performance to a greatly increased chance of kickback. Knowing how your chain should be maintained is extremely important - yes, it's a drudge but it needs to be done.

Here on DriveLink, sharpening the chain was covered in the following posts:

1. Chain sharpening: part one.


2. Chain sharpening: part two.


3. Chain sharpening: part three.

So, let's try and take a closer look at some of the problems encountered when sharpening. Find out more after the jump...

First off, it's important then when using the file that we keep it flat and straight whilst filing. We also need to maintain the correct pressure to ensure that the correct side plate angle is maintained. Now, it's difficult to measure the side plate angle correctly, although Stihl have attempted to make things a little easier with the various markings on their depth gauge tool; instead, when I teach sharpening I tell the students to use the angle specified in the manufacturers literature as a guide to how much 'hook' their should be on the side plate. An angle of 85^o would suggest little hook, whereas an angle of 60^o would show a definite hook in the side plate of the cutter.

The picture here shows a chain where this hook is completely wrong - the cutter actually appears to lean backwards and there's no hook at all. There's two major reasons for this:

• the file used to sharpen the chain was too large;


• too little pressure on the file whilst sharpening caused the file to ride up.

If you suspect the file you used was too large, check it against the filing table for your particular chain. If you use Oregon chain, check out their maintenance and safety manual at the manual - it's full of really useful information.

But what if you used the correct file size? It's likely that the lack of hook on the cutter was due to the file riding up as you sharpened - you'll be able to see this if you look at the shape of the gullet (between the cutter and depth gauge). If there's a ridge starting to form then it's a sign that you should have used a little more pressure - get rid of this ridge before you continue sharpening.

There is another possibility, and that is that you did not hold the file correctly - if you used a file guide, it should rest on the cutter and the depth gauge.

Try to maintain an even pressure on the file - not too much and not too little. Too much pressure results in the opposite problem; i.e. too much hook as the side plate is being filed by a different part of the file, resulting in what is sometimes referred to as a 'birds-mouth'.

Next post we'll take a look at cutter lengths.

The Nuts & Bolts Of Measuring...

Let's take a quick break from chain sharpening - in the last post I mentioned using a nut and bolt to measure how long the cutter was - but tantalisingly didn't say how. Find out how after the jump...

Do you need an infinitely variable, highly adjustable, yet lightweight and small tool for measuring? And you want to pay no more than a few pence for it?.

I give you the humble nut and bolt, or to be more specific bolt and two nuts. This is such a simple idea, cheap and effective that it's wonder why anyone would do it any other way. Let's look at how it's done...

Once you've sharpened your first cutter, you need to make sure that all the remaining cutters are filed down to the same size. Naturally you could use a ruler, or calipers, but for nearly all my teaching I just use a nut and bolt - it's easy to carry out about and if you do lose it out in the woods then it's no big deal to replace it (not that I condone dropping bits of metal in the woods, you understand).

By placing the head of the bolt between the forward edge of the cutter top plate and the depth gauge, as shown in the picture, you can then gently screw one of the nuts up to the back edge of the top plate; left tlike this, the nut will move about as you measure the remaining cutters, so once you have set the first nut, tighten up the second nut to it. That way, it acts as a locknut and it will resist moving about as you work around the chain.

In the next post, we'll get back to sharpening the chain with a look at depth gauges.