Chainsaw chain sharpening blunt teeth
Correct use and care significantly affects the quality and performance of the tool. For comfortable work, you need to sharpen the chain on time chainsaws Calm... A blunt chain can be attributed to specialists or you can sharpen it yourself, especially since the whole process is not particularly difficult. It is only necessary to acquire a certain skill, since the teeth on it have an unusual shape.
When to sharpen and how to find out
Problems that may arise due to untimely chain maintenance:
- curves cuts;
- huge pressure;
- increased fuel consumption;
- faster wear of the leading parts of the chainsaw and a reduction in its service life.
Signs by which you can find out that the chain is dull:
- the tool tries to escape from the hands, gets stuck;
- small shavings are poured, almost dust;
- the saw deepens only with great effort;
- cutting time increases.
In addition, blunt teeth can simply be examined carefully. Signs of dullness will be visible even to the naked eye.
The earlier the chainsaw chain is sharpened, the less metal is grinded, which means it can last longer.
How and how to sharpen the chain teeth
The saw chain teeth are non-standard. They consist of a base, a blade and a depth gauge. The blade has a vertical blade and a horizontal blade that falls at an angle. It is thanks to these blades that the chainsaw cuts wood. They work on the principle of a plane, cutting off pieces, and the limiter adjusts their thickness (the difference in height between it and the horizontal blade will be the thickness of the chips). You can sharpen the chainsaw chain manually or using a machine.
Sharpening kits
One of the most common methods is with a set of round and flat files, a holder, a stop template and a hook used to remove sawdust. For the correct positioning of the holder, special markings are applied to it, allowing you to determine the correct angle for sharpening. It is installed on the upper part of the tooth and the stop, while the round file remains under it and is located just next to the blade. Thanks to the holder, the file is at the correct height, or more precisely, protrudes 1/5 above the blade. For sharpening the cutting tooth, only round files are used, since the contour of the tooth is rounded.
Kits must be purchased based on the chain pitch. You cannot use the same sharpening kit for different chains.
Before you start sharpening the chainsaw chain at home, the tire must be secured in a vice or with a clamp, the main thing is that the saw does not move during processing. Having installed the holder according to the markings, they begin smoothly and without too much pressure, move the file strictly away from you 2-3 times. Similar actions are repeated with all other teeth. The file must be turned over from time to time so that there is no one-sided wear. The force of pressure and the number of movements for all should be the same, this is necessary for uniform sharpening of all teeth.If they are different, then cracks may form in the chain, which will lead to its breakage.
To work more conveniently, the teeth are first sharpened on one side, and after them the saw is turned over and the teeth are aligned on the other.
Start sharpening from the smallest tooth, so that the length of all the others is the same with it. After the work on processing the blades is finished, they move on to the limiters. A template from the kit is installed on top of the chain in such a position that the stopper is in the hole. The protruding part is grinded with a flat file.
The video shows an example of how to sharpen a chainsaw chain with a file:
There is another set, which, instead of a holder, has one template, both for sharpening the blade and for grinding the stop. Install it so that the chain falls into the holes. Then the round file is placed on top of the rollers and fed under the blade. During sharpening, you need to make sure that it is always parallel to the side faces of the template.
There are 2 separate holes for the stopper, labeled Soft for soft wood and Hard for hard wood. The protruding part from the slot is grinded with a flat file.
Sharpening is carried out only from oneself and with smooth movements, the number of the latter should be the same for all teeth.
PowerSharp System
This system allows the chain to be sharpened in seconds without even removing it from the bar. Includes PowerSharp chain, abrasive bar, guide bar and sharpener. In order to sharpen the chain with them, you need to take the following 3 steps:
- install the PowerSharp bus and chain;
- fix the bar inside the sharpening device, after which it is installed on the tire;
- the end of the chainsaw is pressed against an object and started for a couple of seconds.
The video below shows in more detail how to sharpen a chainsaw chain with your own hands using this system:
Manual and electric machines
If the teeth are severely worn and the cutting blade has lost its shape, it will take a long time to align them by hand. In this case, a manual machine or an electric one with a sharpening wheel is usually used. The first type of device is in the form of a bow saw with a round file. The machines are stationary and mobile, which can be installed directly on the tire.
To adjust the necessary parameters, start with the smallest tooth. After all the teeth are sharpened and aligned, the round file is replaced with a flat file to sharpen the stops.
The advantage of electric machines is that the disc is fed directly under the blade to be sharpened. In addition, the quality of sharpening in this case is guaranteed and all teeth will be the same size.
The video below shows an example of sharpening a chainsaw with your own hands using an electric machine.
The blades are always sharpened first, and only then the stops.
The sharpening angle can be changed - it depends on the purpose of the application. A smaller angle is used for sawing hardwood, and a larger one for soft. In any case, it should be between 25 ° and 35 °. The 10 ° angle is used for chains intended for longitudinal cutting.