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Chainsaw Sharpening

Moisture Meter Guide

The complete moisture meter website

As with all gardening power tools, the petrol chainsaw is no exception and requires regular maintenance.

Taking care of most gardening power tools involves keeping the equipment clean, ensuring correct fuel mixture and that the fuel is free flowing.

Other aspects of garden tool maintenance include the air filter, the spark plug and how to store the tool.

With the chainsaw there is additional maintenance required with the actual chain bar. The chainsaw chain bar must be kept sharp at all times in order for the chainsaw to give you optimum performance at all times.

The blade on any chainsaw can be blunt very quickly in use, especially when it comes into contact with such things as soil, rocks or metal.

If you are familiar with using a chainsaw you will know just by "feel" that it is blunt.

The tell tale signs are that you will find that you need to use more force to cut with the chainsaw and whilst it is operating in your hands it is not as stable as usual.

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But by far the best indicator of whether your chainsaw is blunt is that when small chips that come off during a cut. They resemble sawdust. The teeth on a chainsaw chain are designed to cut wood by biting into the wood. On the front of each tooth is a depth gauge which measures the bite depth and accurately determines how much of the wood you cut with each pass. When the chainsaw is at its optimum working level it will basically control itself and will follow the guide level that the depth gauge gives into the wood with very little pressure from the operator. But if the blade is blunt it will not feed itself and the operator will have to apply more pressure to the chainsaw to achieve the same cutting results. Besides "feeling" in this case, the operator will also see small flakes of sawdust being cut instead of the large square chips that result from a sharp chainsaw.

Sharpening The Chainsaw Chain

To sharpen the chainsaw chain is actually a very simple task. Make sure that the chainsaw is turned off and the engine is cold. Always wear protective gloves to protect your hands from the sharp edges on the chain. Place the chainsaw on a flat well-lit surface, such as a sturdy workbench, and place something like a block of wood under the chainsaw bar itself to ensure that the blade will not move all over the place when you start filing.

It is important that you check the chain.If the chain is too loose it will move from side to side and this is not conducive to accurate sharpening. So make sure the chain is tight enough not to move around when you file.

For the correct sharpening of each tooth there are three procedures you must perform on each tooth.

1 - File the top plate at the right angle. Now these angles vary and ranges from 25 to 35 degrees and is marked on the meter. Most guides are for 30 - 35 degree angle.

2 - File the side plate to the right angle. Most chains have an angle plate at about 85 degrees.

To Care Is To Share

So if you have found that the chain of your petrol chainsaw is blunt then you can either take your chainsaw to the local tool repair shop and have them sharpen or replace the blunt chain with a new one, or actually re-sharpen the current chain yourself which is the most economically viable option . To sharpen the chainsaw chain yourself, you will need a sharpening kit that can be purchased from most chainsaw dealers. The picture here on this page gives an indication of what a sharpening kit will consist of. Companies such as Bosch supply them. A chainsaw filing kit will usually consist of

1 - A chainsaw file gauge that you use to monitor and control the cutting angles on each tooth of the chainsaw chain and also check the cut length and

2 - A round chainsaw file that is the same gauge as the chainsaw. This file is the one you will use to properly tighten the chain.

3 - A flat chainsaw file that you use to set and correct the depth meter to the height and profile as required on each tooth of the chainsaw blade. What you must remember when buying a chainsaw sharpening kit is to buy the correct one for your chainsaw. What you need to be aware of is that the files in each kit have the correct angles marked on it for a specific brand and model of chainsaw. Once you have the correct chainsaw sharpening kit, then you are ready to perform the actual sharpening process.

Sharpening

3 - On the front of each tooth is the depth gauge that you use to get the right size for you to get the correct bite when using the chainsaw.

When you have completed all these tasks properly, what's left for you to do is actually sharpen the teeth. The part of the chain tooth that does do the cut is the top part and this is the area that you really need to focus on. To grind, first take your chainsaw file gauge and place it over the tooth to determine the angle you need to work on.

Next get your round file and place it against the tooth while adapting it to the gauge markings. So with the right gauge readings press the file steadily against the tooth. If you do this correctly you will feel resistance when the file is filing and taking metal from the tooth. On the return stroke you should release the pressure on the file and then do another stroke.

You just want to sharpen in one direction. Repeat this process for each tooth on one side of the chain and when you see a thin clean chrome edge then you know that the chain is sharp. When you complete one side, change the guide angle and repeat the whole process again on the other side of the chainsaw chain teeth.

Then set the correct tightening level of the chain and you are ready to work with your chainsaw again.