How to square file

[Hedgerow]

Still a full raker. Probably get a little faster the lighter it gets.

No chassis work either..
Mutt may have his chain.

 

[Deets066]

View attachment 18109
Extra pokey

Tried to copy yours







I cheated though, this came off my silvey. Picco chain

 

[Hedgerow]

Well?
How did it cut?

 

[Deets066]

Well?
How did it cut?

Didn't even get it mounted, how bout your extra pokey chain?

 

[Adirondackstihl]

Dumb question.....

After working a chain, do you guys give them a bath in something to rinse out the abrasives/filings or you just slap em on and run em?

 

[mdavlee]

Dumb question.....

After working a chain, do you guys give them a bath in something to rinse out the abrasives/filings or you just slap em on and run em?

Brake cleaner sometimes. A lot of the time it's let bar oil clean it up.

 

[Cutmaster]

Yea we cut the rakers down .020" only when we need a 36" or longer bar with a big dog saw either a 394/395 or 3120xp.
About 20 years ago I knocked a hole in the oil tank on a 3120xp with a 50" bar felling a huge maple using a square chisel full-skip chain, everything started out fine and then it grabbed like a SOB and bam, bar oil all over, I didn't have a depth gauge with at the time so I guessed long story short I cut a number of rakers down .080" & haven't filed my rakers down past .030" since~!

 

[Sty57]

Teacher I have a question.

I have a few old chains I want to practice on. Cutter length and angles are all over the place on them.

Can I grind them to get them all back to all one size and angle?

What angles should I set the grinder to get them ready to file?

 

[Cutmaster]

Dumb question.....

After working a chain, do you guys give them a bath in something to rinse out the abrasives/filings or you just slap em on and run em?

If I'm in the shop I just blow them off with compressed air, otherwise let 'em fly. I'm not paying my guys to sharpen chains all day! LOL That's why we now use 7/32" Round files, ( 90% of the time ) they are much more forgiving than square chisel chains so a guy can give a round cutter 2 strokes each and be back cutting in just a few minutes. If he's a greenhorn then keeps hitting the dirt with the chain we leave him in the woods as bear food!

 

[mdavlee]

25° is about where I like them.

 

[Sty57]

25° is about where I like them.

What about the down angle?
I would think you don't need or want as much beak or gullet.

 

[mdavlee]

No you don't need much hook at all. You can clean the gullet out with the round grinder.

 

[Moparmyway]

Carefull not to overheat the cutter with the grinder, if you do, that expensive square file will get very dull very fast

 

[Adirondackstihl]

If I'm in the shop I just blow them off with compressed air, otherwise let 'em fly. I'm not paying my guys to sharpen chains all day! LOL That's why we now use 7/32" Round files, ( 90% of the time ) they are much more forgiving than square chisel chains so a guy can give a round cutter 2 strokes each and be back cutting in just a few minutes. If he's a greenhorn then keeps hitting the dirt with the chain we leave him in the woods as bear food!

I was referring to GTG/race chains.

 

[Hedgerow]

Didn't even get it mounted, how bout your extra pokey chain?

Hangin on the 72dl square nail with the others.
I got hedge, locust, mulberry logs in the piles out back. And the only 8x8's I got are oak.
"Not fresh"..
It'll have to wait on some poplar or pine.

 

[Hedgerow]

Carefull not to overheat the cutter with the grinder, if you do, that expensive square file will get very dull very fast

Amen there!

Gotta be careful with that grinder..

 

[Deets066]

Hangin on the 72dl square nail with the others.
I got hedge, locust, mulberry logs in the piles out back. And the only 8x8's I got are oak.
"Not fresh"..
It'll have to wait on some poplar or pine.

Hackberry cuts nice when it's green

 

[J.w Younger]

Teacher I have a question.

I have a few old chains I want to practice on. Cutter length and angles are all over the place on them.

Can I grind them to get them all back to all one size and angle?

What angles should I set the grinder to get them ready to file?

This won't be a fast angle but a durable one and maybe easier to learn with because it splits the difference between vertical.
45 down 45 back with a 45 file tilt gives a 15* top plate angle viewed from the top.

 

[Definitive Dave]

Ok newbie questions and the answer is probably no.
if a guy was smitten with square ground race chain and wanted the ability to produce decently quick square work chain is there certain model of grinder that would be absolutely best - I mean buy it once and not regret having settled for something else later on type quality? New or used? Would that same grinder be able to do regular lgx round chain as well with other wheels attachments or angles somehow?

Now the biggie would that same grinder be useful in getting a chain part way through the process of becoming a race gtg chain, such that fewer hours of hand work would be required?

And if all this exists in one grinder where can I find it and how much $$ is it likely to set me back.

If I head down this road I want to have my brain around it first.
thanks
Dave

 

[Canadian farm boy]

@Definitive Dave I believe the Stihl usg grinder will do both round and square chain. I think there is an special attachment needed to be able to do square. I'm not sure if they are still available to buy new or if you'd have to try and find a used unit.

If my memory is correct @junkman may have one of these grinders and probably knows more about them then I do