A reader wrote me a long email last week after noticing my chainsaw post and had a couple questions regarding how I sharpen the chain/blade on my chainsaws. I really had not giving it that much though since my sharpening technique is probably not expert or appropriate advice. So reader be warned.
Over the years I’ve pondered buying a cheap electric chainsaw grinder, but always suspected the low cost ones were "janky" (Ha! I’ve been looking for the appropriate post to incorporate that word!). The other downside is in heating up the tooth and losing hardness … besides how often do most of us really need to sharpen the chainsaw?
So I do it the way most homeowners have for years … a round chainsaw file (kit on Amazon). My dad had a special guide tool that I sort of which I would have inherited, but then again I’ve always taken the chain off the saw and filed it in a bench vise.
So here’s the method in 5 short steps:
Remove the chain and put the guides in the vise. Measure the angle of the grind and add a couple guide marks on your vise (see photo below).
Mark your starting tooth and use a "flat file" to knock down the depth tooth using the gauge (see Amazon link above) or so that the "bite" of the chisel tooth is about 1/32-1/16 inch (more for bigger saws … less for lightweight trimming or smaller CC saws as well as electric saws).
Use the round file to stroke the gullet keeping the file level and in alignment with the marks on the vise. I don’t sharpen often, so I may file more than most just to be sure each tooth is equally sharpened (if not, the saw will not cut straight).
Flip the chain and do the other side the same.
I use my finger to check "hook" sharpness and often use the non-knurl part of the file to bend back the burr on the sharpen edge, then take a couple more light strokes to clean up the edge.
Although most of use probably use Twitter on our phones or tablets, there are times users check out the latest Tweets on "the bigger screen." If you use Twitter as your news (or "fakenews" feed), try a few of these power-user shortcuts.
If God created turkeys this ugly as protection from predators … it didn’t work … because 46 MILLION TURKEYS still ended up on some “thankful” American’s plate.
Happy Thanksgiving.
With all the “food fixing” going on, how about a little humor …
Last summer I bought a 50-piece set of router bits to use in my woodshop and so far they have been great … that was up until I may have push the limits on a 3/16" straight cut bit a little too hard (possibly???). I only say "may" because the bit was mounted in my router table and it is easy to set up a jig and feed a tad to fast … but I really don’t think so? It sheered off at the base which had me wondering if the quality of the workmanship or Chinese steel was sub-standard?
I wrote a note to the company’s eBay sales page to see if there were any other complains or at least what it might cost to add a replacement. We’ll see how well they stand behind these lower priced carbide bit, for now I’ll be a little more gentle.
One of my first rifles is still one of my favorites, so after repairing my Marlin 1894 last month I thought it might be time to upgrade a couple small parts. This .357 chambered lever action rifle is now 40 or so years old and after a fair number of rounds, suffered the bent extractor and weak ejector spring issue. The easiest fix would be just another "spring steel" component, but since this will likely be a pass down rifle, it deserves a couple stainless steel components that are true upgrades.
First is the tiny ejector with a stronger spring … it’s job is to force the spent shell casing out before sliding the next tube magazine feed round into the chamber. The Ranger Point Precision Extractor Claw is a totally different design and utilized a self-contained coil spring rather than the easy to break original spring steel part (below). The cost is about 3 times as much, but if you appreciate engineering, the new part is impressive. In all likelihood I’ll never need to replace either spring again.
It looks like at least some sharks enjoy the taste of rubberized, synthetic fabrics like Hypalon, PVC or Polyurethane used in inflatable tenders and RIBs! (8 second video snippet below)
I have a perfectly functioning iMac and against my better judgement spent this morning upgrading the OS to macOS High Sierra(release about 1-1/2 months ago). Hopefully that was enough time for quick fixes because I’ve upgraded Macs too many times over the years and have often regretted the decision. Usually software and hardware requires upgrading or retirement, but so far so good a few hours in with this 10.13.1 upgrade.
The upgrade took about 1 hour and after a couple restarts (some my own and related to Parallels) and it "seems" to be ok? All the normal software, and desktop look I’ve become accustom to, looks pretty good … maybe High Sierra is a winner?
Since I mentioned failures for Apple operating system upgrades over the year, I’ll mention the big fails … at least for me upgrading. The first big frustrating upgrade for me was Apple OS 6.5 to 7 … what a struggle. The second was OS9 to OSX … oh that was a whopper of a change for me. I recall sticking with OS 9 for years as the change was such a monster. Looking back … the refinements have been amazing and not all that different than the personal computer competitor, Microsoft.
A few of the late fall repairs to go along with splitting wood for winter is to keep my “collection” of old chainsaws running. Although I gave away my small old tiny McCulloch trimming saw from the 1980s, I still reluctantly use my bigger (translate = heavier) 20″ McCulloch Pro Mac 610 (PDF manual) with a square cut professional chain for larger trees and logs. More often than not though, I pick up my upgraded 16″ Poulan since it is newer and lighter … and sadly almost of disposable quality (they don’t make them like they use to).
Nevertheless, all three of my saws (even the tiny electric pole saw) needed their chain blades sharpened … I used a file but considered buying a grinder sharpener … and would have if all the chains would have been the same size!
The rain came again so I checked off another item Brenda put on my list of chores to do before winter … painting the old outdoor furniture with Rustoleum – a difficult job, since I put the wicker in storage. She wants them on the front porch during winter (yes I thought it crazy too — who sits on the porch in the winter?) I argued that we didn’t need anything on the front porch during the winter … but decided it wasn’t worth wasting my breath – we all know who wins when it comes to “aesthetics” vs “logic.”
While I’m at it, I can’t resist archiving and posting my sister-in-law’s video snippet of Jerry felling a tree … thankfully he still has all his limbs! (13 second video below)
technique is probably not expert or appropriate advice. So reader be warned.
