How To Sharpen A Chain Saw

By Leeanne Utiger
You own a chainsaw, but you are not too sure on how to sharpen it. If you keep reading this article, by the end of it, hopefully you will have learned how to sharpen a chainsaw.

You will know how to tell if a chainsaw does in fact need sharpening due to the way the ‘teeth' of the chain on the chainsaw are cutting into the log or piece of wood you are using the chainsaw on. When a chain is in need of being sharpened, it will not self feed itself.

When you learn how to sharpen a chainsaw, you will first learn that you will need to have the saw placed in a well lit area. You will learn how to also wear protective clothing and accessories for when you are learning how to sharpen a chainsaw. We do not want the chain of the chainsaw cutting you. So make sure, you have on a pair of tight fitting leather safety gloves. You will learn how to place the chainsaw in place for sharpening, so that it remains still, and does not lose its balance and topple over.

You will first learn how to check the tension on the chainsaw chain. If it is too loose, you will not be able to file it properly. But then if the chain on the chainsaw is too tight, you will not be able to move it so you can reach the other teeth on the chain that also need filing (sharpening).

When you look into how to sharpen a chainsaw, you will also learn that you have to purchase the correct sized file for your own specific chainsaw. This is because all chainsaws have varying teeth size on the chain, and varying chain lengths etc. The manual that should have accompanied your chainsaw at time of purchase will tell you exactly what size file you will in fact need to sharpen your chainsaw with.

You are now learning a few things about how to sharpen a chainsaw, so lets move on to some more knowledgeable tips on how to sharpen a chainsaw for your benefit.

You will learn the files you use when you learn how to sharpen a chainsaw in fact only move and file in one direction, so always make sure you have this placed so that when the file is stroked in a filing motion, towards the inside of the chain it is in fact sharpening. You will learn how it is best and more effective to hold the file with two hands as opposed to one when you learn how to sharpen a chainsaw. When you stroke the file on the teeth of the chain, make sure the stroke going inwards holds more pressure than the stroke coming backwards, as it is the inwards stroke that is in fact doing the sharpening.

On learning how to sharpen a chainsaw, you will discover that you need to not only sharpen the top plate, but also a side plate.

You will learn how to tell when you have sharpened your chainsaw effectively, by checking for any left over damages or nicks. If there appears to be some damage to the chain left, you have not sufficiently sharpened your chainsaw. You will also learn how a nice shiny looking chrome chain in appearance after you have sharpened it, confirms a sharpening success. You will learn how to sharpen the teeth on one side of the chain first, before moving on to the other side of the chain to then sharpen those teeth.

Now that you have read and become aware of a few helpful details on how to sharpen a chainsaw, maybe you can now, learn how to maintain other parts to your chainsaw. If you do this in addition to learning how to sharpen your chainsaw, you will provide a longer life expectancy for your chainsaw.

You will learn that knowing how to sharpen a chainsaw sufficiently will make it a whole lot easier when you need to have some firewood sorted for the colder months.

See Also:
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