I'm building a house and cutting a lot of trees down on my property with my Poulan chainsaw and it sure seems like I go through the blades fast. I've been buying the Oregon 18" twin pack blades at Home Depot for $32 and it seems like the blade is dull and burning the wood at the end of the first day. Most of the trees are oaks which is a pretty hard wood, but I would think the blades should last longer than that. I know they have files to sharpen blades but after a full day of chain saw work at 55 years old I don't have much energy left to even pick up a file. Does anyone know if other blades will last longer?

A days work will dull a chain.Why not pick up a sharpening kit?

File chain every second tank just a quick touch , Remember never sharpen a dull chain. Maybe you are using to small of a saw ? How big are the logs ?

Chainsaw service shops will generally resharpen your chains for ~$5. If you tell them what type of wood you're cutting they can adjust the angle of the cutting lip to help out (most chains are 35 degree, for hard or aged woods 30 degrees does better).

Sears had/had a file guide that you can set to maintain the angles. By files by the 12 pack, the price will only go up. Don't forget to flip the bar every 2 sharpenings to even the wear. BTW, bars don't last forever.

If you're hard core, there are carbide faced chains meant for commercial logging. May be the last chain you'll buy, but be sitting down when they tell you the price.

Oregon are top ends chains. You are just cutting hard wood and dulling them.
When I was major wood cutting, I used a 12 volt unit, I hooked to the truck battery sharpener. It had a hard rotary cutter and would put an edge back on the chain.
After several days of this touch up procedure, then I would take them to a professional sharpener.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

My middle name is "wood monkey.

Wow, you can go all day on one chain? Great! I've had wood cutters that will whip out the file every fifteen minutes.

Me: I keep a spare chain and swap them. I let the hardware store sharpen for $5.00.

I sharpen my own. I have cut, split and stacked between 15 and 20 cord of firewood this year.



I do get some help from my friends.



But Little Bear is my best helper!



I have one of the cheap electric sharpeners from Harbor Freight. I can resharpen a chain in 15 min. and sharpen them 20-30 times.

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren

One darn good looking crew you have there! By the way the last picture shows what looks to be the toughest dude.

I have a buddy who works for Omark and he was telling me about this product that really impressed him. I believe that you need to replace your bar and have the special saw chain.
Oregon PowerSharp Bar-Mount Chain Sharpening Kit For 18in. Chain Saws, Model# 541662 | Bar Chain Combinations| Northern Tool + Equipment

Pick up the file and save yourself a whole lot of pain.
Just do it.

First, the effort will save you a lot of exertion.
Second, sharp teeth reduce engine load. Your saw will run cooler and last longer.
Third, there are commercial grade chains. However, even in a commercial logging environment, the chain might go a week, with regular sharpening.
Sharpening a saw is the first thing you learn right after starting the saw in a professional environment. The thing you learn just before sharpening, is chainsaws are not for cutting rocks.

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it just needs more voltage

Make sure the chain NEVER touches the ground. Dirt will dull a chain right now.

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In dog years I'm dead.

But I like the idea of being able to sharpen the blades while out in the woods. With a mechanical sharpener the time you spend sawing with a dull blade (more work) outweighs the time and work in sharpening it (less work). That would keep me from saying, "I feel the blade getting dull but I'll cut a little bit more.
Hand sharpening is slow and is work in itself running that file back and forth on a few dozen teeth.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Man, that is as neat as the proverbial beet. If I do any more chainsawing I'm getting one of these first!

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Electric is the way to go. Buy 3-4 extra chains and keep the boxes they come in so you can place the sharpened chains in a clean spot. Carry one or two of them with you when you go cutting and simply swap to a sharp one when the other gets dull. Depending on the length of the loop 3-5 min swap out and 10 min at your leisure to resharpen.
Larry

You don't even have to take the chain off of the saw. I like tinkering but not while I'm sawing trees. I think it's better than taking extra chains, though that is a good idea if you don't have one of these.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

BTW, your question was about sharpening, but having an extra bar and chain as well as a couple of wedges and a sledge is insurance against a stuck saw. Sooner or later while felling, you're going to pinch a bar and be stuck. Being able to remove the stuck bar & chain and install the spares will keep you going and allow you to free the problem.

Or discover the tree is particularly evil, collecting saws like lost souls till it looks like an industrial strength pin cushion.

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it just needs more voltage

i have 3 extra blades for my saws one 18 inch and foe my pole saw i have been droping them off to get sharpened. but dont work at it full time i did like that tool from northern tool to sharpen chains

Reminds me of that joke...

This old-timer goes into this hardware store to buy an ax to cut some wood. The hardware salesman comes up to him... tells him it would be so much easier to use a chainsaw. Salesman says... "You can cut and stack 'bout 6 ricks easy in a 8-hour day... 'bout two cords worth... easy as pie."

The old-timer says... "Sounds good"... and buys the chainsaw.

'Bout three days later... the old-timer comes back to the hardware store and confronts the salesman. The old guy says to him... "I shouldn't have believed you when you told me how much wood that chainsaw would cut. It took me all of two days just to cut one cord of wood! I want my money back."

The salesman was terribly embarrassed... and says... "I don't understand it... you should be able to cut a lot more wood than that. Here... let me see the chainsaw... there could be something wrong with it." Salesman takes the chainsaw... sets it on the floor.. and immediately pulls the startin'-cord. The chainsaw starts up loudly... and the salesman winds up the revs to a high pitch.

The old-timer looks at the salesman...and hollers above the racket... "What's that loud noise!"

You can also use a battery powered dremmel with a stone matching your chain & buy a gauge for the rakers .

Don't forget that tree bark can collect a lot of grit and dull chains quickly. I'm no expert but got a Stihl file sharpening kit with I bought my first new saw. It has a guide on top of the file with angle marks. This helps me greatly with consistency. Another advantage of the guide is to maintain proper gullet depth so you keep a proper hook edge on the cutter. Without the guide it is too easy to cut too deep into the cutter and screw up the chain.

+1 on sharpening after every second fueling. Doesn't take long at all to do touch ups by hand. When I rock a chain, I'll break out the cheap HF electric grinder to get all the cutters back to the same lenght. I've read too many horror stories about shops butchering chains by taking way to much metal off and taking the temper out of the cutters.

If you have an adjustable chain oiler output, turn it up to max.
You want as much oil going down that bar as you can get!

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I have the same file guide and use the same procedure. A sharp blade will cut faster, you and the saw will not work so hard. I can sharpen a 16" bar in a couple of minutes.

How big of saw are you using & what are you cutting ?

I sharpen the saw chain every time I gas up the saw. I make one or two passes on it with a file.
On the smaller power heads keeping the saw chain razor sharp all the time matters.

Depending on what size chain your running, example;

375" / 3/8" chisel chain.

I use a Oregon file guide with a 7/32" file. First I open up the arc in each tooth with a 1/4" file. This opens up the tooth with a larger radious for chip clearance. Then I sharpen the top cutting edge of the tooth with the 7/32"
file in the file guide. The 1/4" & 7/32" double file cut I do cuts faster plus its easier on the saws power head.

I do the same double cut file thing with 325" saw chain and the 404" saw chain. Using different size files of course.

Chisel chain cuts faster but will dull quicker if you hit dirt in the bark or the ground. Chisel chain has a sharp point at the outside edge.

Chipper chain has a rounded cutting edge so it's more forgiving. It stays sharper longer.

When cutting logs at the landing to log length chipper saw chain is used. Because of the dirt in the bark.

How long a saw chain lasts is up to you. I use chain saw round files. I have a chain grinder but I only use it when a damage some teeth on a fairly new chain due to eye bolts or pipes inside the wood. I have the chain repair kits. Once I change the bad teeth I then grind them all to the same size. The 404" saw chain on the 42" bars gets expensive.

I had a full time and part-time firewood business for three decades. My son's still cut today.

Use Oregon plastic wedges when felling trees. When cutting the knotch cut on the trunk of the tree do the wedge cut in the direction of were you want to fell it. On your back cut install a plastic wedge if the trunk is big enough. Now you can also steer the tree while it's falling too. More back cut on the right side looking from the back of the tree will make it go to the left side of your front wedge notch. More back cut on the left side will make it go more to the right. This really helps when the tree as its falling isn't going in the direction of the wedge knotch. Knowing about which side to cut the back cut from as it falls allows us to steer the tree exactly the way we want it to fall.

Using plastic wedges allows us to back cut safely if we need to put the saw near the plastic wedge it will cut the plastic without damaging the saw chain. Using steel wedges for felling is a no- no.

Pick up the correct Oregon file guide for your size saw chain.
If you can't find one locally search online that's were I get mine.
Your saw chain will last longer if you file them. Chain saw files are cheaper by the box of 12 shop around for the best prices.

Do not let anyone sharpen your saw chain with a grinder. He will grind off too much. With two or three grinding your saw chain will need to be replaced. Of course the guy sharpening your chain with a grinder will gladly sell you a new chain too.

If you need help finding a place for files, bars or saw chain loops email me.

Go to Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more

Search,,,, Oregon file guide

The file guide setup I use will come up. Pick the correct one for your size chain.

Your saw chain will last a longtime.

I was cutting 100 cords a year on two 3/8" saw chain loops and one 404" chain loop per year.

I keep the right files handy and normally give the blade a quick tune up at the start of a new job or sooner if I deem it necessary.
I do what I do by hand and after 40 years for the most part all works well. I spent my life working cutting & adjusting metal and have used files frequently and feel comfortable doing that.

I have a few chains and always keep a brand new one in the tool box for a serious emergency. Every so often I will take a few of the more used chains to the dealer and have him use his equipment to sharpen.

I live at the end of a 1/4 mile driveway with trees on both sides and you never know when a tree or a big branch will crash down and need to be removed. Cutting firewood also keeps the saw busy .

I use a 18'' Steihl. The power head will handle a 18'' or 21" bar so I use the 18'' as that sort of makes that a magnum, or like a Corvette engine in a much smaller car. That gives me very good power and RPMs and makes the job easier and quicker.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!