Used my saw vice in anger for the first time today at the coppice. Works brilliantly. Didnt even know such a thing existed until I saw one in a Stihl catalogue. Obviously a stihl one costs about £16, but this one was £5 from eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360290226737

It’s the simple things that make the biggest difference. Like you mentioned, got mine from eBay for 6 quid it’s always in my chainsaw bag.

what would you use that for?

It’s for filing, so you can spin the chain and file.

keeping it steady while sharpening the chain.

warton – Member
what would you use that for?

Hold saw whilst sharpening teeth

aah, I thought it would be for using it like some sort of static table saw…. I had visions of stumps where hands once were.

Blimey, STW in general agreement situation 😉

*wonders whether a rubber band will keep the throttle open while it’s in the vice….*

Genius – ordered. That is going to make chain sharpening an even more manly and satisfying experience than it currently already is.

Stoner – I salute you!

*wonders whether a rubber band will keep the throttle open while it’s in the vice….*

That’s what insulation tape’s for, no… ?

*wonders whether a rubber band will keep the throttle open while it’s in the vice….*

Give it a go and report back.

i got sent one of the oregon chainsaw powersharp easy sharpening chains (x2) and kit a while back, never used it just stuck with my file like yours. anyhow decided to fit it on sun and give it a go, turns out they’d send me the wrong size bar and chains.

back to the file for me, and off to ebay for the powersharp set!

Eh, erm been around for years them things..

MrsBouy uses em.

gav – I got that powersharp set for free too. But gave it to a pro mate of mine. But he hasnt used it so has promised to hand it back. Not seen him in the pub for a bit, will give him a shake 🙂

MrsBouy is a pro. Id expect her to know of them. Im just a fettl’r 🙂

dunno why but when i read the title i think of ricky bobby…..

“i am a semi professional racecar driver and AN amateur chainsawrist”

Nah, she’s just a hacker, ok she can turn out an object from a stump, but really deep down she’s just a hacker of wood.

Anyhoos.. Did you go to the Arborist’s show last year at Ragley Hall? There are shows dedicated to Arborist’s run by a company called APF and they tour the county. No show this year but next there is one.. We went last year and it was a excellent show, loads of stuff dedicated to mucking around with wood, and I mean loads.. T’is where she bought her electric chainsaw from.. A Shtil something or other,

Linky..
Forestry Show linky

Your bar looks a bit burred over. 😛

Top bit of kit use mine all the time.

Your toolkit looks unused 😐

nah, on third file now, just keep the kit in my work box so it doesnt get too shabby.

gav – I got that powersharp set for free too. But gave it to a pro mate of mine. But he hasnt used it so has promised to hand it back. Not seen him in the pub for a bit, will give him a shake

I got one free too, funny enough we have been using it on one of ms-170’s

It does not get the chain as sharp as using files, and it also eats away at the teeth quicker, but very, very handy if you want to do a few quick sharpening sessions during the day.

Gloves were comfy too 😉

BTW, just in case you have not seen this, you will love it 😉

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoNDVKdQX_A[/video]

after sharpening, be sure to whip the chain and bar off and clean out the groove of metal filings, i use some 3 in 1 in a spray can, and an old tooth brush. also clean the oil way and turn the bar every time you sharpen.

by the sound of it, ski, that saw needs a sharpen!

We use a simpler stump vise at work. Cut one half moon off the top of the stump to the depth of the bar, cut a vertical slit perpendicular to the first to the same depth. Use a flat wide screwdriver to wedge the bar against one of the remaining quarters having seated the saw body on the shelf you made first. Just do it at a more comfortable working height than the chap in the video.

Cut the stump higher and you won’t have to bend so far thus saving back or if wet save wet trouser knees. Cut stump down low with sharpened chain.

Hasn’t anyone invented some automatic method for sharpening the teeth? Filing them individually by hand seems very archaic!

FFS! you are a cyclist.
Use a toe strap. They work brilliantly on motorbike throttles, lawnmowers that have those stupid dead mans handles, whopping big brushcutters that won’t tick over and I bet Mr Stihl’s finest.

Not trying to tell my granny how to suck eggs (ok I am, but I’m a professional logger with over 20 years experience) but you’ll find it better if you can position the stump vice nearer the end of your bar, just back from where you can see the nose sprocket rivets. The bar will not vibrate then as the body mass of the saw will act as a damper and you can sharpen more teeth before pulling the chain around. Also remember to file the rakers down when your about halfway through the chain. Stihl chains are sharpened with the file held level across the top but with other chains the file should be at a 10 degree angle from the horizontal (handle down), file roller guides are the best way to get this right. Have fun, be safe.

mucker – no sucking here. Good tip, thanks. Of course, given the design, one is restricted by the dimensions of the stump you’ve wanged the vice into 😉

How far to you file the depth guides down if, say, you’re half way through the teeth?

Depth gauge file guides from stihl or other chain maker. all are .65mm . File too much off and sawing is very fast but grabby with lots of vibrations, also it increases the likelyhood of kickback. When filing them get the depth right then shape the front edge to a profile as similar to original as possible. If you do not file them as the cutter gets smaller the difference between the top cutting edge and the depth gauge gets smaller (less than .65) so the chain cuts less. Hope that I have explained in a reasonable way. There is a company called Madsen’s in the states whose website has some well explained guides for all things chainsaw related

Double post

tbh, it’s not somethign I can do at home – file to 0.65mm depth difference. I guess now and then I could shave a bit off when I get to the back of the tooth, but honestly at £5 a chain, Im not going to sweat it 😀

Oddly enough, I place the vice close to the saw as it supports the weight better and I tend to sharpen close to the saw, file and roll. Not used it for ages though as the twiddly bit has snapped off, so freehand between the knees or wedged on the Land Rover tail gate.

As for your rakers, there is a guide for that too, or about level with tooth entry or a smidge lower to be a bit more aggressive. Chamfer the leading edge with a brush of the file to keep its purpose smooth.

Current chain has no rakers and about 2mm of tooth – moneys worth, probably another sharpening in it.

EDIT: beaten to it by my slow typing again, I even use two fingers to type

Stoner- there is a specific tool which you can use to maintain the ratio between the cutter height and the depth guide (is it not the thing in the middle pocket of your tool roll?) you place it over the cutter and file down the bit of the raker the sticks up through the groove. Or if you’re confident with your filing (and your ability to control the saw), with a new chain give each raker one flat stroke across the top and half a stroke at an angle to maintain the chamfer at the front (file rakers from the same side as you’re sharpening your chain) and do the rakers before the cutter in case you take the edge off the cutter, same when chain is halfway. Probably best not to take more off as the saw may struggle to take such a big cut becoming ‘grabby’, or will cut too aggressively for you to control it comfortably.
I’m a big fan of the roller guides and they have a plate on the underside which you swivel out and it performs the same function re. raker height.
Put stump vice as close to the edge of the stump as possible to give you the maximum support for the saw.
Hope this is intelligible to you, its stuff I do every day but I’m not a teacher.

I purchased one of these a few years ago…

It’s shit.

Well, it takes too long if you just want to run a file through a few times out in the field, as it were. Great when you have the time, though you still have to stabilise the saw. I just built something out of a board and a few blocks of wood that I wedge and clamp the saw to – cheap and now serves the same purpose as the thread item.

I got taught how to file my dads chainsaw for him when i helped him out at weekends in the wood, 10 yrs old wi a chainsaw file sharpening the chain on his Dolmar whilst he watched and had his cup of tea and sandwich, 30 years later and the old dolmar still works and it gets used for firewood for our stoves, it’s probably had more pistons/cylinders and bit’s n’ bobs fixed on it than it has been worth doing but i guess if it still works then there’s no point in changing it.
For my 12 birthday (or was it 11th?) i got a small 27cc Echo chainsaw with a teeny 12″ bar as i used to work with my dad in the wood at weekends and holidays, brashing the lower branches through the clear fell path and he’d come along behind me and fell them one by one and i’d go back to the first felled and start to brash them, bing the pulp, throw the brash into the middle for the forwarder then mark off where the logs were to be cut and write the size down in my little black book. I thought it was fantastic fun and all i wanted to do when i left school was be a woodcutter like my dad and play with chainsaw’s and drive the forwarder, T’was a good job in the summer, terrible in the winter, the resin used to ooze and stick to everything and the smell of a pine forest in the heat of summer still takes me back to my childhood, i had a chainsaw, i was king of the forest 😀 .

Cool story soma.

it’s probably had more pistons/cylinders and bit’s n’ bobs fixed on it than it has been worth doing

+

30 years later and the old dolmar still works

= “Triggers Broom” 😉

Cheers for the tips, mucker & timber. All v useful. Have never tried the extra widget in the tool roll as it didnt have any instructions and I thought it was just a piece of installation art….