Pics of my chain sharpening results

[rumatt]

I'm trying to learn how to sharpen chains using my Oregon 620 grinder. If it's cool I'll post pics here to get feedback on what I'm doing wrong and how to improve. I've gotten good results on new-ish chains but I'm still struggling with chains where the cutters are well worn.

Here's an old 325 green safety chain that was rocked so I'm practicing trying to bring it back to life. I have it to the point where it cuts reasonably, but it's a little finicky

1. It doesn't self feed as nicely as I'd like. If I put no weight on the saw it doesn't cut very quickly.
2. If I put a tiny (tiny!) amount of downward force (very slight!) and it rips through the wood quite nicely
3. But it has a narrow sweet spot - if you push just a tiny bit too hard, it bites too much and the saw (Stihl 261) gets into the low RPMs.

My first thought to solve #2 was to lower the rakers, but I think that will make #3 even worse? So what do I try instead?

Here's pics of a bunch of random different teeth. I noticed the one right-hand side cutter isn't nearly hooky enough. But most look pretty decent?

 

[Spladle160]

What did you go off of to set the depth of your rakers? I'm probably the least qualified chain guy on here but to me it looks like you rakers are much too low.

 

[rumatt]

I used the stihl guide shown in one of the pictures.

They look low to me but if you see the picture they are near middle / bottom of the guide.

I read somewhere that as the cutter gets smaller you need to lower the rakers a bit. It's possible I went way to far? And possibly angled them too much.

Would rakers too low cause the saw to not self feed though?

 

[huskihl]

http://opeforum.com/threads/self-feeding-issues.15250/

 

[Mkinslow]

It looks like you dont have enough hook on top corner to me,that I believe won't let It self feed.

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[rumatt]

It looks like you dont have enough hook on top corner to me,that I believe won't let It self feed.

Even though this is RM chain? There won't ever be a point there.

 

[Mkinslow]

Even though this is RM chain? There won't ever be a point there.

I would still put a little more hook in it and see.

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[a. palmer jr.]

The third picture from the top looks like the raker is way to low, it looks like it would grab in the cut...

 

[Clemsonfor]

Rakers look low to me, but looks can be deceiving sometimes. Not enough hook will cause it not to self feed as well.

Rakers too low will not cause self feeding issues it will cause it to take huge bites and be grabby and try to rip out of your hands.

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[andyshine77]

Depth gaguges may be fine for how small the tooth is. When the tooth gets that small the clearance needs to be grater, this is why a progressive death gauge is a must with a warn tooth.

Definitely not seeing enough hook. If you're having a hard time getting the file low enough when the tooth hight is reduced, use a smaller file, like a 1/4 file.

 

[sawmikaze]

Depth gaguges may be fine for how small the tooth is. When the tooth gets that small the clearance needs to be grater, this is why a progressive death gauge is a must with a warn tooth.

Definitely not seeing enough hook. If you're having a hard time getting the file low enough when the tooth night is reduced, use a smaller file, like a 1/4 file.

This.

 

[junkman]

Those safety rakers don't help self feeding either. A little more hook will bite harder like was said already.

 

[friendlywithbears]

I can't stand safety rakers. Annoys the heck out of me whenever I use my ms180 with it's pmm chain.

When you guys say hook, you mean cut deeper into the belly of the tooth to make more of a "cresting wave"?

 

[~WBF]

You only have 1, 2 and 3 scenario.
You are missing all the decimals in between. ...And there shall lay your answer.

 

[junkman]

I can't stand safety rakers. Annoys the heck out of me whenever I use my ms180 with it's pmm chain.

When you guys say hook, you mean cut deeper into the belly of the tooth to make more of a "cresting wave"?

The deeper you set the grinder the grabbier the chain will be ,too deep though will bog the saw ,what angles are the grinder settings on ? You can speed up or slow down the chain speed by doing different angles on the top plate ,25-30 is standard and will feed faster ,if the chain is grabbing too hard you can slow it down and go 15-20 ,when milling this angle is normally 10 for a nicer finish , if an oregon grinder 50-60 works good on the wheel tilt angle ,if a usg 40 works good on that angle , leave the vise tilt at 0 till you find angles that cut good for your saw ,then play with that after you get it cutting good ,try 10-15-20 ,this will make the side angles sharper/ steeper.

On the raker/ depth guages,i like.025 for a smooth chain,.030 will bite a little harder and bog the saw more , that's another trial and error depending what wood you are cutting.

 

[old guy]

Most of those cutters in the pictures look dull to me.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

I agree on the not enough hook, with this shallow of a hook it doesn’t get your cutting edge sharp enough to feed well in my opinion. Kinda like sharpening a knife at a real shallow angle.

 

[junkman]

here are 3 examples i did a while back ,first is a slower chain ,less hook less top plate
this one has a little more hook and top plate angle to it so will cut a little faster

This one was pretty grabby ,so there is a limit of how much hook you want ,so you can tune the chain to the powerhead with some trial and error ,also when cutting in dirty wood ,the less top plate you run the stronger the outer corner will be so will stay sharp longer .

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Middle picture looks similar to a factory grind, plus we can get away with more hook like the bottom one on the mostly soft woods in my area.

 

[rumatt]

Thanks for all the tips.

I don't understand why I'm having so much trouble getting a decent hook. I bought a 5/32 diamond grinding wheel because it seemed perfect for 325

I guess I have to use 1/4, then do a second pass to clean out the bottom portion?

I'm starting to question whether the grinding wheel is any faster then hand sharpening at this point!