On-saw sharpening vs off-saw sharpening - do you do both?

Hi Al! :)

I hand file my chains on the saw, bar clamped in a bench vice. Just an Oregon file and a handle.

I imagine someone could get good at machine sharpening, but I haven't seen a machined chain that holds a candle to hand filed.

This thing looks cool...

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I've never seen anything like that .It looks to be a pain in the buttocks .On occasion I use an Oregon style guide just to keep the angles in check .I also take a bare file and open the gullets down to the tie strap .It doesn't make the chain get more bite but the gullet holds a bigger chip . The overall results is it makes it a little faster .
 
There is nothing that is better than a good file in a experienced users hand.
I found nothing that do it faster and better than me, so I stick to filing.
Filing vertical makes a lot of difference.
 
Upgraded from the Chicago Electric off-saw sharpener station to an Oregon. Definitely a nicer unit, producing some nice sharp chains. Should be getting spools of chain for all our saws in next week. Probably stick with loops for the 880, since it's lesser used -- maybe get the 59" bar and a fresh loop for it so we have both the 41" and 59" options.
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Interesting thread, I’ll add my limited experience. When I first started out I followed my father’s example, run that bitch until it won’t cut, put on a new chain and do it again. My first saw was a Husky 350 with 18” and chains were cheap, still have a ton of them. A buddy had a hookup with a CNC grinder, I’d rock out 5 or six, send them in and still have spares to keep going. The CNC grind was every bit as good, or better, than a factory grind. When I bought the MS390 w/25” chains weren’t cheap so I bought the Harbor Freight grinder, the 2x4 in a bench vise is the only way to go. I had to learn to go through the chains and find the long tooth, then work them all, gently, back to the shortest tooth. That doesn’t work harden the teeth, but takes a lot of time, and patience, but creates a good chain. Not factory, but it cuts decent. You also have to work both sides of the chain back, evenly, if you rocked one side worse than the other, you’ve got to work them both back or it cuts to one side. It works, but you’ve got to do your part.
When I got the 046 with a 36”, things got really expensive, I got some file guides in a deal and learned to use them, but not well. Yes, they work, but they are very tedious to setup and use.
After reading lectures from Jeff (fishhuntcutwood) and Gary (Gasoline71) about how easy it was to handfile, I figured I’d try. There’s a few caveats with this, don’t rock out the chain, as soon as it slows down, STOP! Sharpen the chain, it’s so much easier to follow what’s already there than to rely on muscle memory to get your angles correct. If you hit something and rock it out, grind it out even then hand file it. I’ve never been able to handfile a rocked out chain to cut evenly in a timely manner.
Use your old bars! Yup, cut them down a few inches longer than your vise and clamp it in your vise for a guide. This gets you at a comfortable work height and helps with muscle memory, file a tooth, move the chain and hit the next one. It sounds silly, but it really helps.
No more than I cut anymore, last time I checked my saws wouldn’t even start (I need to fix that) I just file on the saws.
 
I've got a silvey sdm4. Learned on dad's which is the same. I usually have 3 or 4 ground up each morning and change em when they get dull. Usually run 3 chains every 2 days, but always have an extra or 2 in case I screw up and run one in the dirt. Never file anything but rakers. Ground chains will out cut new chains every day of the week, and all but the very best filled chain. For clarification we're talking square ground chain here, round wont compete.

I honestly would've thought most guys on here doing lots of work would have grinders. Don't know a single faller around here who still files. :)
 
I have a logosol robot chain - grinder that I fire up when doing customer chains ... https://youtu.be/VF88_qFLrkA , I also file by hand with the Saw/bar in a vise but have had excellent results with the STIHL 2 in 1 sharpener ... The tool sharpens the teeth and rakers/stops simultaneously ... Used in the field with a stump - vise I can get my 20” b/c 72drivers chain ripping again in about 5 minutes ... only drawback is that the “raker” file is a bit expensive to replace - a “file card” helps extend its life as does an overnite “soak” in vinegar ...
 
Our new Oregon chain grinder is a HUGE improvement over the Chicago Electric model. Chains are noticeably more even and sharper, cut way smoother like butter. Probably a good bit of that is the dedicated raker wheel that came with it, so the rakers are all perfectly flat and evenly ground. We now have spools of chain for all of our saw types, so are spinning all our own chains (apart from the 880 loops, which will be more rarely used -- once a month or so). Still using the same Harbor Freight toolbox organizer, keeps everything straight and clearly labeled. No in-field sharpening in a loooong time now, so less crew downtime at critical moments.
 
Have you filed any of the chains twice with that Oregon grinder yet? I had one and found it not very useful myself. If a chain was brutalized and needed a lot of filing/grinding you had to go slow enough not to heat and harden the tooth. And if it wasn't brutalized I found I was faster just to hand file it on the saw in a vise.

The key to handfiling in the field is having lots of sharp saws. Multiple backups. So there never is any filing at critical moments and there's always something for someone to do during a slow period for whatever reason. Touch up the saws.

It's interesting how different systems work for different people. I honestly gave that same grinder away after it sat bolted to the workbench in my shop unused for a few years.
 
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