I was under the impression that the size of the teeth (cutters) was irrelevant, as long as they were sharp and the rakers were filed down to the correct depth relative to the teeth. . . . I was wondering if the fault was in those anti-kickback fins....
There are a lot of opinions that people try to push as facts on-line: trust mine and ignore the others (!)
The '
tooth length does not matter' crowd are usually using a progressive depth gauge tool, not the standard offset one that you are probably using. If that statement needs explanation, you should stick with keeping all your cutters close to the same length. It is what manufacturers like STIHL and Oregon recommend, and they only have 75+ years engineering this stuff. As the
length of your cutter changes, so does the
height and the
width of the kerf. If all of your cutters are the same, you will get a smoother and more efficient cut. If adjacent, or sequential cutters differ in height or width, the chain will cut, but not as smoothly.
A lot of guys also like to declare their disdain for '
safety chain' and make all kinds of comments about reduced kickback features like bumper tie straps (which you have) or bumper drive links (newer chains). Some blame these features for global warming and ethanol in gasoline. On long bars (say, greater that 24")
fully buried in the wood, these bumpers can reduce chip clearance and slow cutting. If you are bore cutting with the tip, they can slow cutting (but still work).
From the photos of your chain, I doubt that either of these apply to you. But with skip tooth chain (which you appear to have) they will give you smoother cuts on smaller diameter branches.
Seriously, I have seen guys win chainsaw races with low kickback chain, due to good cutting technique over magic, super secret chain filing. They cut fine.
Again, curved cuts are almost always due to unequal cutters, unequal depth gauges, or sloppy bar grooves. Unless you are really close to Area 51.
Philbert