Does Stihl square ground suck?

[mdavlee]

Stihl doesn't make square ground classic chassis chain anymore (L and K). They still sell chain by those designations but it's not really the old style cutter chassis, it's the regular rapid, kicked out raker chassis. So even when you ask for RSLK you just get RSL. The pictures on their website even show it this way. But I did see they kept the classic cutter for round ground full comp (RSK).

If I can remember I'll raid my dealer for the real RSK.

 

[Al Smith]

From my perspective square is faster than round .However I think it might be better suited on the west coast soft woods than the hard woods on this side of the continent .Square will fly but it also dulls faster and is a royal pain in the buttocks to refile .

Depends on what you want it to do I guess .

 

[Mastermind]

I've got my swingarm set to a happy medium. I can grind Stihl or Oregon 3/8 without changing stone angles. Is it perfect? Not really, but it's good enough. Off the roll? What's that?

 

[MustangMike]

From my perspective square is faster than round .However I think it might be better suited on the west coast soft woods than the hard woods on this side of the continent .Square will fly but it also dulls faster and is a royal pain in the buttocks to refile .

Depends on what you want it to do I guess .

It is all in the angles. The West coast prefer the steeper angles for cutting soft wood faster. If you stick with 45 & 45 degrees, it will cut hardwood faster than round file and last just as long. Also, once you get the hang of it, I can had file it just as fast as hand filing round chain.

 

[mdavlee]

From my perspective square is faster than round .However I think it might be better suited on the west coast soft woods than the hard woods on this side of the continent .Square will fly but it also dulls faster and is a royal pain in the buttocks to refile .

Depends on what you want it to do I guess .

I get longer life from the square than round chisel with the fragile corner. It works fine for hardwoods even milling. I'm probably the odd ball that square files milling chain but it's way faster than semi and leaves a better finish. I've milled oak, cherry, ash, and chestnut with it.

 

[skippy]

I use nothing but square anymore.
Stihl square sucks to sharpen . And it's usually very irregular

 

[skippy]

I use nothing but square anymore.
Stihl square sucks to sharpen . And it's usually very irregular

And this is due to Mr Lee teaching me ! Ty mike

 

[skippy]

I can't wait to see if I have corrected some of my issues . Especially in the cutter lean

 

[hseII]

I get longer life from the square than round chisel with the fragile corner. It works fine for hardwoods even milling. I'm probably the odd ball that square files milling chain but it's way faster than semi and leaves a better finish. I've milled oak, cherry, ash, and chestnut with it.

How long are you gonna be close?

And can you square file left handed?

 

[mdavlee]

How long are you gonna be close?

And can you square file left handed?

Not sure.

Yes

 

[Fairways_and_Greens]

It is all in the angles. The West coast prefer the steeper angles for cutting soft wood faster. If you stick with 45 & 45 degrees, it will cut hardwood faster than round file and last just as long. Also, once you get the hang of it, I can had file it just as fast as hand filing round chain.

Do you have a good picture of that so I can try to duplicate?

 

[Fairways_and_Greens]

I use nothing but square anymore.
Stihl square sucks to sharpen . And it's usually very irregular

Min is all over the map. LH cutters are between 20* and 30*. RH cutters are between 10* and 20*. I should have took a picture before I took a file to it.

 

[skippy]

Min is all over the map. LH cutters are between 20* and 30*. RH cutters are between 10* and 20*. I should have took a picture before I took a file to it.

No quality control

 

[MustangMike]

Min is all over the map. LH cutters are between 20* and 30*. RH cutters are between 10* and 20*. I should have took a picture before I took a file to it.

I cheat a bit. I almost always try to file on a wooden box that has 45 degree lines drawn in both directions, put a stump vice on your bar and keep your files parallel with the line and you are just fine. Once you get used to it, you should feel the file almost just drop into place, with the corner of the file aliened with the corner of the tooth, and the tilt just right to be flush with the top. Then, just make sure your stroke is straight.

Based on Mike's advice, I too now mill with square, but at the standard 45/45 angles. With a sharp chain, the finish on the wood is great!

I will have to have my wife (or someone) take a pic of what I do. I move each tooth to the same spot (I don't move down the bar) and keep the tooth locked in place with a paint stirrer in my opposite hand (on the back of the tooth). It goes fast once you have it down.

I drew the lines on the wood box cause my angles were drifting.

 

[hseII]

Not sure.

Yes

Sold, Mr. Chain Miyagi.

 

[Cracker Boy]

I like the rslf full skip and rslh half skip although it dulls quicker it dirty wood new its very fast i have found its pretty tough to beat the regular rs chain as all around chain the rsl series is great for noodeling though i have found just my 2 cents

 

[MustangMike]

I think RSL will beat RS hands down, and is a good deal faster than half skip.

 

[junkman]

Well i just sharpenef an rs to square and it took twice as long to sharpen than rslf

 

[mdavlee]

Well i just sharpenef an rs to square and it took twice as long to sharpen than rslf

You're just slow[emoji12] skip is 1/3 less cutters than full comp. I haven't counted a semi to see.

 

[Red97]

Semi is some odd stuff. Just picked up a loop yesterday.

Figure a good start learning to file square. Less cutters and all. Plus they didn't have full comp.