Just playing with chains

[Rich Fife]

When I started filing my chains by hand... I followed the recommendations... annnnd after a couple cold ones I thought to myself why not file double angles/reliefs... kinda like what we do when we sharpen our Carbide cutters in the shop...
The 1st 2 pics are the standard round file... the 3rd pic is the double cut/relief filed tooth... I gotta say... that 3rd pic, that tooth cuts very well! Good enough to where I modified all of my chains like that... for harder wood I reduce the amount of angle/relief... so far, so good.

What's your thoughts on pic number 3?

 

[IffykidMn]

why such a steep angle on the top plate as shown in pic #2?

 

[Rich Fife]

why such a steep angle on the top plate as shown in pic #2?

I was Trying different things and checking to see how it cuts in hard woods and soft woods...

 

[ZERO]

Nothing wrong with that my friend.
As long as the saw can pull it
Aggressive angles dull faster, but not a problem when you can touch up on the saw.
We do the same on square, gullet cleaned out to releive chip flow.

 

[Rich Fife]

Nothing wrong with that my friend.
As long as the saw can pull it
Aggressive angles dull faster, but not a problem when you can touch up on the saw.
We do the same on square, gullet cleaned out to releive chip flow.

Yessir.

 

[davidwyby]

Looks kinda like Xcut but sharper/more delicate.

Fast to cut, fast to dull.

 

[Rich Fife]

Looks kinda like Xcut but sharper/more delicate.

Fast to cut, fast to dull.

Absolutely. In soft wood its a beast... for hard wood I reduce the angle etc.

 

[davidwyby]

Oregon chain ground like that, I made the mistake of trying it in dry hard eucalyptus, rounded cutters off in one cut

 

[Rich Fife]

Oregon chain ground like that, I made the mistake of trying it in dry hard eucalyptus, rounded cutters off in one cut

Ouch. I'm taking it that eucalyptus is hard?

 

[davidwyby]

Ouch. I'm taking it that eucalyptus is hard?

Specially after it dries in the desert for 20 years…got some dust/dirt/sand in the cracks too…

 

[TreeLife]

It was seldom I ventured away from a 25° top plate. Nice deep gullet with a slight upsweep, kept the saw loaded, chain sharp when cutting nearly everything, and effective as long as I did my job. Some smaller chains I increase the top plate angle to 30 or even 35° approximately.

 

[Jake Dykstra]

pic 3 is what I like to do. Small round file to cut the gullet way back and the then square file the tooth for hard or soft wood.
I've tried a 3 (round) file profile starting with a 1/4 picco file. It was a 4 hour exercise in futility. But it was crappy weather and the garage was warm! Lol It was very sharp and very grabby. It sucked in hard wood as the top plate was way out ahead of the side plate with round file. By the time I got it back to good with square it didnt look much differnet than number 3.

 

[Rich Fife]

pic 3 is what I like to do. Small round file to cut the gullet way back and the then square file the tooth for hard or soft wood.
I've tried a 3 (round) file profile starting with a 1/4 picco file. It was a 4 hour exercise in futility. But it was crappy weather and the garage was warm! Lol It was very sharp and very grabby. It sucked in hard wood as the top plate was way out ahead of the side plate with round file. By the time I got it back to good with square it didnt look much differnet than number 3.

I have a couple of chains that I'm going to practice square filing... I've been eyeballing people's chains and have read a decent amount on square ground chains.

 

[HumBurner]

Fast to cut, fast to dull.

I love the idea of really fast, aggressive cutters, but longevity is the aim for my end result. I'd rather drop the depth gauge a little and have a tooth capable of taking big bites with a wide side-plate and only sharpen every couple of tanks. I also don't generally have a lot of hook.

There has to be a happy medium.