Which Cuts Faster – Hand Filed VS Professionally Ground Chain
Hey it's Brock here from Rock Hill Farms And today I want to do a head-to-head Comparison between chainsaw chains that Are professionally sharpened and chains That I sharpened Myself by hand and I Think this is a really relevant Comparison because if you're like me and You do a lot of cutting that means you Also need to do a lot of sharpening and I don't mind doing it but it is time Consuming and there's a place just down The road that will sharpen chains for Seven dollars I can drop them off and They'll have it ready an hour later Or drop several off and get them the Next day or whatever the case is and If they get them sharper than I do That's an appealing option so once the Tractor's warmed up I'm gonna go grab a Log and we're gonna do a head-to-head Comparison should be a lot of fun [Applause] Thank you [Applause] Thank you [Music] There's no such thing as a perfectly Controlled experiment but I try to set The conditions up to be as Fair as Possible and I do a lot of these Chainsaw comparisons normally between Two different saws and for those I Always use brand new chains today I've Got two chains that I bought to compare
My 500i to a 661 and a 462. the two Chains we're using today were both Bought brand new for that test I've used Them both twice I used them on Milling With the chainsaw on the logo saw and Then I used them on cutting that big Stump down so these are not old chains That have been sharpened or Miss Sharpened 100 times they're almost new But they were both dull yesterday so This one was professionally sharpened For seven dollars just down the road and What I'm gonna do now is take this log That has very little taper and I'm gonna Warm my saw up let it warm up for about A minute so it's it's good and ready Then I'm gonna make three consecutive Cuts and see how long it takes to make Those three cuts Then I'll go sharpen the chain and do The exact same thing with the other Chain [Music] [Music] So that took 30 seconds for three Cuts That's 10 seconds per cut now let's go Up and sharpen this chain One more note on the way I conduct these Tests is that I am not trying to get This to cut as fast as possible I'm Putting almost no down pressure on the Saw I'm just letting it pull itself Through and the reason for that is it's Not about how fast I can go it's about
Recreating the test under the exact same Conditions I was planning to take this up and put The chainsaw in the Vise in the shop but I've got everything I keep everything That I need to sharpen chains in the Toolbox on the tractor So we've got a stump Vise and a hatchet To knock it in with This little stump Vise is 18 dollars Can't beat that I'll put the Amazon link If anyone's interested in getting a Stump Vise pretty good little value as a Way to hold your saw still so you can Sharpen out wherever you happen to be Now the chainsaw is held still I can go Ahead and sharpen the chain now when I Said I was going to hand sharpen this With a file some people will see me use This tool and say I need to learn to Hand sharpen chains it's the same thing Most people who use a single round file Put it in some kind of a holder but Whether you do or you don't this is just A holder for a round file and a holder For a flat file the only difference Between using this And using those two files separately is You only have to go around your chain One time and this establishes a Consistent height between your filing on Your tooth and on your raker Very simple and it's really no different Than any other way to hand file
Just in case I have trouble finding it On the way back around I'll go ahead and Put a mark right here to show which Tooth I did first usually you can just Spot it by the shiny spot on the raker Even if it looks like it I am not filing In both directions file Lift up just slightly and pull it back Without taking the file out of the tooth If you're new to chain sharpening the Most simple tip I can give you that took Me a little while to figure out is that You don't have to put very much pressure At all on the files for it to sharpen Really just letting the file do the work And you want to be as consistent as Possible with the way you file So that means the same amount of Pressure and the same amount of Strokes Per tooth I normally do about five With filming and everything I probably Had this off for about 30 minutes so I Will let it warm up just a little bit Again before cutting Um [Music] [Music] All right so I set this timer where I Can see it and as soon as it crosses one Minute I start the saw and then I can Still see it when I finish the cut The professionally sharpened chain it Took me 30 seconds with the one I just Hand sharpened it took me 28 seconds
It's a marginal difference the question Is Does it matter and even if we just say That's variation in it and they were Equally sharp does which one makes more Sense And that's going to depend on you and Your specific situation but I can give a Few thoughts on it So Number one about grinding a chain versus Filing it I know for a fact that when I File a chain it doesn't get hot And in any way affect the steel soften It or remove more material than Necessary I think I'm removing exactly the minimum Amount of material that you can remove And still get the chain sharp so I think Hand filing is the best way to sharpen I own a chain grinder it's the kind That's like a chop saw you bring it down At the right angle and it just removes a Little bit of material Either that machine sucks or I suck at Using it because when I use that If I get enough material to do the job It removes too much material and you can See where it's been too hot I've been Told that I could get a better quality Grinding wheel to put on that and get a Better result But I don't want to mess with that I'm Not going to grind my chains I'm either
Going to file them or I'm going to pay Someone to grind them Now whether those people are experts and They can grind it without heating it I Have no way to say that and honestly if I did it doesn't matter because what About the place that's next to your House are they good at it so let's just Assume that they're not damaging the Chain but it's something to think about Now we're thinking it costs seven Dollars to have that chain sharpened and I've got a bunch of extras that I can Drop off at my convenience when I'm Already leaving and going that way and It's really not costing me any time to Just drop them off and pick them up so Seven dollars a chain say it takes me 15 Minutes to sharpen a chain Then figure your times worth something It's about a break even So I think everyone who cuts a lot of Wood should know how to hand sharpen a Chain should keep the tools with them Because if you've only got one sharp Chain and you hit some dirt or a rock You need to be able to sharpen it right Now to finish what you're doing But I'm kind of leaning towards taking My big bucket of chains I've probably Got 50 chains because I have Six different chainsaws in each one all But only two of them use the same chain All the rest of them all use different
Chains and I've got four or five chains For each one so literally probably 20 25 Chains up there I'm gonna take them all I think and have them sharpened You know I say that but so what is 7 Times 25 that'd be a hundred and seventy Five dollars but then I would have I Wouldn't have to sharpen a chain for a Long time So let me give us some more thought what Do you guys think about hand sharpening Your chains versus having them sharpened For and and what about seven dollars What do you guys pay near you what are People charging to sharpen a chain So I know it's not great that I didn't give Some definitive answer but all these Things I think are conversations that Have nuance and it's an open discussion In my mind I am glad to see that the way I've been sharpening a chain gets it at Least as sharp as One of these ground chains and it feels Like it's as sharp as a new chain So anyway I appreciate you taking time To watch the video I'll put links on the Screen to a couple more of our videos And I'll see you next time
