Sharpen a chainsaw chain - PEP BB tool.sand.chainsaw

I will allow power tools at this time.   But we also need those closeup pics of the teeth and to be able to see the before and after.   A side profile would probably be best.

To get a good closeup pic, strong light will probably help.

Ok, it's that time of year again...  Firewood time!   Yay!!!

Sharpened the saw with a file.  It was hard to get a good pic but when I let the digital camera pick the mode it wanted to be in, held it more than a foot away, and had a flashlight pointing on it with my finger behind to reflect some light and help the focus, it seemed to work.  Plus I zoomed way in with my photo editor.

Please note the black sharpie mark on top of the tooth to indicate it was the same one...

Okay so my phone does not have the greatest photo quality ability so I did my best to show the work that was done. I tried to pick one that had a chip out of it. I did file all of them. So here we go!

This is an action pic of me sharpening the chainsaw.



This is a really dull tooth.



This is the same tooth really sharp after I sharpened it.

To get such sharp close-ups, I set my camera to Macro...often depicted as flowers since people use macro settings to take close up pictures of butterflies in flowers and that sort of close-up detailed pictures.

I also use a tripod because macro setting must be very stable because of how long the exposure is. You cannot hold a camera steady enough by hand.

Just a word to the wise: I see a lot of photos of anti-kickback chain. By its very nature, this chain is designed to have an extra raker and thus is always dull. It literally is designed NOT to cut.

In my opinion it is much, much better to get rid of the antikickback chain and just run regular chain. One of the most dangerous things a person can do is run a chainsaw while tired, and if the saw is always dull, even when it is sharp...due to the antikickback chain, then it is wearing a person out. There are many safety devices on the saw that prevent kickback injury so running anti kickback chain is not an unsafe practice. Once a person uses regular saw chain they will wonder how they cut wood without it.

But another thing I noted is that people are not filing their rakers down. While this is a task to go gingerly on, it must be done. In fact the chain I buy (Husqvarna chain, still made by Oregon and not out of the new Husqvarna chain factory yet) has rakers that are too high. So for me, not only is the saw chain dull from the factory and needs filing, the rakers need attention as well, and this is new saw chain.

I came, I saw, I sharpened the saw!

I had a difficult time getting a good close up shot of the saw tooth, my phone doesn't have the greatest camera. It be a good idea to review the requirements.

Hard to get a good photo in the shade.

Used the barbed wire detector today and was successful. My, how opportunities present themselves.

Here is my submission for the Tool Care - Sand - Sharpen a Chainsaw BB.

I am so glad I purchased a Stihl!  Last year, I invested in a new sharpening file tool that sharpens the cutting tooth and the depth tooth at the same time.  It requires a little coordination and two hands so the action shot was hard to do (needing a hand for the camera).

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided the following:
 - action pic of sharpening
 - closeup of a tooth that is really dull
 - another closeup of the same tooth - nice and sharp!