Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
chain saw sharpening
John Lucas
>Help. I've lost my Husky chain saw sharpening jig. I must have lost it in the move and need another one. I don't want to buy it from my local folks because they are extremely rude and only want to wait on people spending big money. Does anyone know where I can order one on the net. No one else in town carries them. My searches this morning didn't pan out very well.
Mason's in Blue Ridge, GA
Terry Daniel
>706 632 3778
Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
steve antonucci
>I can say for an absolute fact that my Dremel (handheld) does a much better job than I could do with a file. Ever.
If I was so inclined, I could probably build a quick guide out of some scraps that held the Dremel. I keep an extra bar and two chains to avoid "field" sharpening problems.
Steve
Re: chain saw files *LINK*
Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey
>Go to the link, click on the Husky stuff and then "accessories" then pick out what fits your chain. They also have the double file units that do both the cutters and depth gauges.
Southwest
Re: chain saw files 2 *LINK*
Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey
>
Bailey's
Re: Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
Greg Jensen
>Steve I agree. This is the only job I have found that a Dremel tool does extremely well. I do not even know where my chain saw sharpening tool is anymore.
Re: Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
Jerry Whitaker
>I feel the same way....The teeth will not look perfect as they did from the factory but it sure does a good job and quick too. If you sharpen often, just a "touch" is all you need. I learned this the hard way....if you put a lot of pressure, you will grind away too much metal too fast and burn the cutting edge. I have not counted but I am sure I sharpen my chains at least 100 times before discarding them. Too much pressure will also mess up the grinding surface and even make it fly apart. You also need to use the entire length of the stone to keep it flat and level.
Re: chain saw files
John Lucas
>Mark
That's exactly what I need. Thanks.
Re: Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
John Lucas
>Steve
You've talked me into it, I'm going to give it a try. I do a lot of sharpening in the field however and probably won't invest in a battery powered tool. If the angles of the Husky guide and Dremel match I'll probably use the dremel at home and Husky in the field. We'll have to see.
Re: Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
Greg Jensen
>I have one of those cheap 12v to 110v power converters. Just plug it into the truck and you are ready to go.
Re: Around here Lowe's sells them.
Al Crandall --NE of Indy--
>Try the big blue box. I bought mine there, but I found that it won't fit on a Stihl anti-kickback chain. It does fit perfectly on a regular non-safety chain. Loew's packages the jig with two round files, a flat file and a handle for about $14.
Re: Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
Carole in VA
>Steve, do you free hand with the Dremel or do you use the Dremel guide?
Re: Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
John Lucas
>How do you control the vertical angle on the dremel. I looked at one at lunch and it looks like it only gives you the angle horizontal to the chain. That's a lousy description on my part
Re: Around here Lowe's sells them.
John Lucas
>Al
I was there during lunch and saw them. They have 2 sizes so I need to figure out which size. I think they were marked .325 and .375.
I freehand and eyeball it-
steve antonucci
>my theory is as follows-
A someone who used to freehand and eyeball it with a file, a dremel is faster, and makes it easier to get a sharp chain.
If I was going to make a guide for it (may someday, but not on my list right now), all I would need to do is "clamp" my dremel to a block of wood that was flat on the back to register against the flat of the bar and holds the dremel at the right angle and pitch (relative to the tip of the saw). it would work from either side of the bar, and would probably take less than 30 minutes to make, but I just haven't gotten to it yet.
So if you were looking for plans, here's my vision: Take a small scrap of 2x4 and joint it (if you're that kind of person). Then, cut it at an angle that matches the tooth angle of the chain. this give you a way to angel the dremel, but you still need to figure out the pitch. Take a best guess, then bandsaw the pitch angle. Drill a hole towards the angle side and thread a hose clamp through to tighten down on the dremel.
See my drawing for additional ramblings...
Steve
P.S. I think I drew it backwards... you want the angle piece towards the tip of the saw.
http://www.eze-lap.com/product/chainsaw.htm *LINK*
e
>i use these ... you have to know your chain loop specs ...
http://www.eze-lap.com/product/chainsaw.htm
Re: File sizes
Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey
>What's the pitch of your chain, John? If you look at your drive links, they should have a number stamped on them. On a Husky chain, a number in the 80's usually relates to 3/8" pitch (.375) chain and will often take a 7/32" file, but can be smaller for certain cutter styles. With the number of your chain, the packages should list which chain they fit. You can also go to Husky's site and I think they list and cross reference chains and files etc.
Re: Twice your chain size will equal distance betw
Al Crandall --NE of Indy--
>John, twice your chain size will equal distance between three link pins. Measure the pin distance, (a steel measuring tape is good enough for this), and if it looks like 3/4" then you have a 3/8 pitch chain. If it looks like it measures about 3/32" shorter than 3/4", or about .650, then you have a .325 pitch chain. The 3/8" kit and the .325" kit come with different diameter files, appropriate for the intended chain.
Re: Twice your chain size will equal distance betw
John Lucas
>Thanks Al and everyone else for that matter. I'm going to the shop in a fe minutes and measure so I can pick up a set at Lowes tomorrow. Then I'll look at the Dremel set up again just because I really would like to try it. It worked great for my Dull bandsaw blade. Remember, One can never have too many tools.
Re: Once you go Dremel, you won't go back
Barry Irby
>Carol, I use the little Dremel guide and it works well enough, but I would like to improve on it. Seems like it would be easy to make (or buy) a small gadget that would register against the bar and set the angle in both directions and tend to lift the grinder up under the cutter. It would have to swing from left to right to use it for both sets of teeth, but it might work best if all the sharpening were done form one side of the bar to keep the rotation in the same direction in relation to the cutting edge. That might affect the "burr".
Even with out this brain child of a gadget, I can do a much better job faster with a Dremel than I can with a file.
