I learned from my Uncle back in the stone age. We have a logging company so sharpening chainsaw was how we started the day. He would be on one side of the tail gate and me on the other. We would sharpen the saws drink the morning coffee and lay out the plan for the day with a couple dirty jokes thrown in. Miss those days.
I had no concept on how to sharpen a chainsaw prior to 2020. That's when I started watching Buckin! Now I'm quite good! I use 20" bars and chain! Roughly 10 minute both of my saws are ready to go! Thanks Buckin
Us folks in Aus lean towards 5.2mm files, then down to 4.8mm later down the chain. I like seeing these videos with the big differences, makes life worth living. Good on ya mate, bloody lovely!
I worked in the woods for many years, I’ve been out of it for awhile, now I only cut firewood on my property, and I just wanted to say I like this channel, and I have learned many new things, it’s never too late to learn something new. I like the content on here , straight up no b/s look at me and all of the equipment I have like some of the other “wood cutting” channels on RU-vid. Thank BBR for passing on a wealth of knowledge and insight.
I’m a job shop machinist of over thirty . I come here for knowledge . Thanks for giving me something else to do. My saw was free and you’re showin me how to do it. Thanks so much from Wyoming !!
I have learned so much here in a few weeks, Been using a saw for years and always enjoyed using a new chain because it was super sharp compared to the ones I had sharpened. Now all my chains cut like new or even better! Thanks Buckin
Buckin’ love the spirit you have. I watch you with my morning coffee before work. The best part of your show is there is never any negative energy, it’s an inspiration! Great episode!!
I’ve learnt so much by watching your filing videos. I use a small stihl ms210 saw. My brother is so impressed how that saw works and it’s all due to the filing of the chain. Thank you. 😎👍
Your filing videos, and the better understanding of chain profiles, raker relationship to the tooth, reasons for gullet, angles, all of it…has me sharpening chains that my buddies say “Wow” when they use them. Gotta love that! 😊
Yep, have your own experience. Great words of wisdom. Since watching a lot of your sharping videos I started playing with file sizes. Carry two files on the belt 7/32 and a 3/16 or 13/64. I bounce back and forth depending what I am doing or if I nick something a quick 1 or 2 swipes between tanks depending on what the top plate looks like. Even started doing some square grinding by hand to recover teeth if they get rocked kind bad. I have always been able to get a chain to cut good pre Bucken Saw School words of wisdom. But after all the years of watch your content. Back in my younger days I would get compliments like “that’s a good cutting saw” now I get “what is that thing a light saber”
As a tree business owner, hand filing for chain sharpening is an art. It takes time and patience but it’s so worth it when u get it right and cut into that first piece of wood. Even just doing hand filing when out in the back forty makes it worth it till u can get back to the shop and get down and dirty with it.
I've been doing something somewhat similar to this for years. When the cutters start getting short on a 3/8" chain I go to a 13/64" file. Same principle I'm just not dropping all the way down to 3/16". On a .325" pitch chain when they start getting short I go to an 11/64" file. I find those to be the sweet spot personally
I respect Veteran Tree Service. I'm not a member to him, nor guilty. Your my only membership. I appreciate the way you talk. Your so down to earth. What a man you are, I look up to you Billy. I'm 50 years old, and I'm still learning. Never quit.
With this video you have brought chain sharpening up to chain sharpening 2.0. I have watched all of your videos on chain sharpening now and this is where they all come together. All questions answered, now lots of practice. Thank you. Hope everyone is ok out there. ...Ed
An old logger used 13/64 on Saws under 80cc, and 7/32 on Saws over 80cc on 3/8 chain. When tooth is down half way or more switch to 3/16. Im going to try this approach. I was terrible at Sharpening chain until I watched Buckin's videos, now I class myself as good and using Chainsaws is much more enjoyable now. Thanks Buckin'
The top plate is very sharply angled on the Stihl new chains. Filing with a 7/32 for the first time blunts that angle a lot, but it still cuts just as well. Their shops recommend 13/64
Stihl chain teeth are a little bit smaller than Oregon. I use 7/32 on the first half of Stihl chain until it’s about half way back and then I switch to 13/64
Glad you mentioned Australia. Gum wood is bloody hard at times, and rough on teeth. Not to mention that most of the time the core is filled with dirt/soil by termites and the wood is already seasoned by the time you get to cut it. Completely different ball game mate. Semi chisel is the go here. Anyway, love your videos mate, watch it all the time.
Once again Buckin a excellent video. Informative as always. Got to say my saws have cut better in the years since I started following your filing advice. Thanks mate eight years of sound advice and counting. Cheers from HB NZ
Most of the time yes, but I’m currently using the “West Coast Saw” raker gauge and it’s got some added benefits that the Husky doesn’t. It’s got a very specific way that it fits on chain yet because of that, it’s got it own L&R areas that the raker fit into to make filing easier. It’s made out of some type of material similar to spring steel that A file just will NOT touch. I can’t explain exactly how happy that I am with mine ☺️
This is the way. No counting strokes, stop when the tooth is sharp. love it, no need to stop five times a day to file if you start out with a sturdy top plate and dialed raker you can cut all day. Thank you for passing on your experience!
Yes correct cuz, a lot of round and semi chisel 3/8 chain in Oz & NZ for hardwood timber & 7/32 still works ok to keep the top plate angle a little blunt.
Im running 254 husky An old saw. Sharpening 3 saw Doing expérimental filling . And ! A fresh filled saw cuts! The corner is more important than whe think . Hello billy Ray
Yep, you know the teacher, you know the lesson...AND, if the teacher repeats the lesson in greater detail... well then the knowledge becomes embedded deeper into the ole cranium. I sit in the back of the class and look out the window at the trees and lose focus on most words spoken.. But I'm coming around and starting to grasp some of the details. But i still got a long way to go. 🌲🌿🍀💚
@@jirusjirus9322 Hello friend! I'm so glad that he is still teaching us... I'm more of a visual/hands-on type learner, so I really appreciate his videos and close-up detail... obviously I don't cut trees for a living, but who doesn't want a nice sharp chain when they do need to cut a tree down or buck up a log?👍 I don't know where you live, but if you can make it to the Paul Bunyan show in Ohio this October it sounds like it's going to be a pretty intimate setting with some hands-on sharpening tips and other things. It sounds like it's gonna be a good time 😊
Have you ever heard of sharpening the drive links? I bought an Echo 303T Top Handle this morning off market place used and met the guy at Homedepot to get it. I got it home and looked up the manual and it says that the rounded part of the link that runs in the bar should be sharpened at 30 degrees. Called the drive link and says it helps to more efficiently clean saw dust out of the bar. I had never heard that in all my years Buckin Billy!
Well, another great filing video to add to the ole memory bank!! Ya make it super clear on how to get a long lasting top plate. My filing game has completely changed since your videos sir, thank you!! I no longer have any of those snappidy diddly doo dads anymore ta do it for me haha!!! Thanks for what ya do brother...P.S...nice shot on those sussys 😊😊 lookin sharp brother❤ much love from the Barth family💪💪🪓🌳🪵🩷🙏
Hey buckin' the confusion of your viewers comes from not knowing what size chain they have. A lot of people are new to chainsaws. They go to the hardware store and get a chainsaw with a 14 inch bar and don't understand how small the chain size. compared to your professional chains. I've made the mistake myself before I learned the difference. Just trying to help clear up any confusion in the buckin' community. 💪
When you are filing (like at 18:21).....do you apply force/push horizontally (i.e. parallel to the floor).....or do you push upwards (i.e. towards the ceiling) a bit? I ask because I have discovered over the years that if I don't push up a bit (especially as the tooth gets worn).....the file wants to dig into the chain link. Thanks.
BBR, have you ever considered using one of those small six sided “triangle” files for cutting? You just have to be sure to NOT rotate the file as you use it. When “I” use that style of file, it cuts better for a longer period of time. Just try it and I’m certain that you’re going to be surprised in a VERY positive manner. ☺️
Thank you so much for the sharpening videos. Like I’ve stated before what I’ve got here on your site I have not found anywhere else. The clarity and explanation are awesome. Does anybody know what kind of files Buckin uses? Thanks
Hi Buckin! I've been looking all over for a model of a cutting tooth that is about 5 to 10x life size to help when teaching the youth to sharpen. Have you ever heard of such a thing?
Hello buckin! ❤ I’m in Melbourne Australia would u be so kind to maybe get a semi chisel chain and do a video or two on this subject?? File it and cut etc I mean I’ve learned to sharpen exactly the same as u and my chain rips through our hardwoods but I would like to see it done in ur woods🤔 please😊
I converted my Farm Boss to 3/8 full skip so I could use a 7/32 file. Got sick of constantly sharpening 325 chain. 325 works good for whackin the shrubs around the ranch. Not for cutting firewood all day long.
I’ve watched all of the sharpening videos and I still suck at it. My chains always end up worse than when I started. I won’t quit though. I’m determined to get it right.
when you talk about sharper top plate ya really gotta also talk about the wood you are cutting. I am guessing it's mostly all green but is it hard or soft wood? Hard wood is full of silica and it should be really rough on the finer edges.
I'm not a novice chainsaw guy but certainly not a professional. I learn new stuff about cutting trees all the time. I hope maybe you or one of your subscribers can help me out. I can have my chain sharpened to the max but when I go to make my angle cut for my notch it doesn't cut worth a damn. Even on soft pine! Just fine sawdust. But when I do my bottom cut and my back cut it does just fine. And then cutting up the felled tree into manageable logs it cuts great with big chips. Does anyone else have this problem and what am I doing wrong? Thanks!
I'm guilty of wanting to make those 'banshee' chain, weak top plates that William mentions, I've zero doubt. I'm with someone who included mention of having 'two saws' each with twenty inch bars, and for a while I was that guy until I started to need to work more on bigger wood. Sure, I'll go back to the 20 inch bars now and again (and yes one's chain speed does increase the shorter the length of bar, which is why 'Oregon' talk about semi-skip and skip for twenty-four inch bars and over). I think I did get a little bit lazy about taking better care of my twenty-eight inch chain stock. Somewhere along my journey, and most recently I've discovered I've bulked up on my stock of twenty-four inch chain, a larger portion of that semi-chisel nowadays than used to be the case. Putting on twenty inch bar and well filed 3/8 inch is well and good. But having been around 24, and 28 inch long enough, going down to 20 inch 3/8, it just feels like those trousers that were turned up too much, and the wind in cold climates reaches up inside the pant leg. 20 inch 3/8 inch chain just feels usually like I've short trousers on, when I don't want them (twenty-four inch bars just barely avoid that feeling). But I've grown to despise Oregon aluminium lightweight bars for 3/8. The Husqvarna heavier 3/8 inch bar is heavier, but it feels right for 24 inch working. The Oregon 24 inch bars just don't cut it. And that may account for Billy's dislike of 24 inch, more than anything.
The reason that lightweight bars work suddenly a lot better out at around 32 inch length, is simple. One is not generating the same amounts of chain tooth velocity that you have down at 24-inch length, or even more acutely at just 20-inch length. You try to use lightweight bars at 24 inch, if you're cutting into anything substantial like a hardwood, you're bar is going to have way too much heat (the heavier Husqvarna 24 inch bar can do it, but not lightweight alloy bars). I've veered towards semi-chisel a bit more too at 24 inch (it used to be all full chisel in my 24 inch stock). And the semi-chisel apart from anything is lower profile too, combined with a 24 inch heavy weight bars. One can do some interesting saw work with that set up, the more cc's of engine size you're able to lump around, the sweeter and more reliable that 24 inch set up becomes (down at '372' types of saws I might be with Buck'in, go longer bar and lighter weight bar, if you're only playing around with 70 cc's). The problem with the 85 to 90 cc's as sweet as that experience gets, you just won't have run times that you consistently get from the 372 type saw.
As to the .325 inch chain stock, there are issues with that 'sprocket'. I think the key to 3/8 chain apart from anything else, is the sprocket part of that whole system provided you're willing to swap out worn sprockets. It works. The .325 inch sprockets and chains I have on a 50 cc saw, like the 550 now. That's the part of the whole .325 inch system which lets it down. The sprocket part, is no where near as reliable as 3/8 inch (and I've been running both chain pitches now for a bit). Because for tidying up the floor, sweeping the floor having felled trees or tree branches, I find almost all of the 3/8 inch class saws are too loud, too much vibration and too fuel hungry. For the purposes of basic house keeping, and just trying to sweep the floor after you, so as not to leave an arborist-ic type of mess after oneself. It's tough though being a one-man crew doing that house keeping (and saws that are lighter and have .325 inch chain generally sweep the floor clean quicker and easier than 3/8 inch tools do). Within reason, if you're still chopping off major limbs of trees that are laying down on the ground, .325 pitch chain has no business in anyone's hand. That's where a 562 mark II excels, is with limbing work where sudden tree rolls do pose major risk. Or the 572 type of tool often is what one wants.
That is a point that Billy makes, that is worth the making. That if you have the ability to set aside some kind of 3/8 inch tool in your work flow, that has 3/8 inch chain. And the hooks are a little more aggressive, the rakers more ambitiously low, and one wanted to have that tool available. Just to pick it up to work on the 'smaller' limbs and branches (a tool with a chain that grips more into smaller timber, even if it's top plate is more 'vulnerable'). That could be a significant time saver for a one-man crew situation. In a tree care situation, where it's really the tidying up and sweeping the floor that takes the time and ends up costing you the money, as your own small contractor. Part of the reason (and I've tested this), for having 50 cc and lower saw tools for tree care, where you're not in the bush for real. The 50 cc and smaller tools don't scare the neighbours, it won't shake the ground (if you're the guy sitting in the nextdoor back garden), as starting up a real power saw would. I've been around livestock a lot this year with these tools and the larger saws will make younger livestock go to the opposite side of a field. There is no doubt about the need for the 550 or the 562 tools, but it can also mean peoples' over familiarity with that class of tool means that it can make applies to uses where a larger saw is the right tool. A bit like myself in my 365 days, I understand now it was used a lot in applications it wasn't ideal for. And often with inferior chain and worn sprockets (a few saw dealers though don't care and won't point you in right way).
Whats your thoughts on TUNGSTEN CHAINS... Im forever sharpening chains lol 😂... apparently longer lasting but a special sharpening machine for resharpening ???
Hey buckin! What size is the pipe on your 125, I'm getting mine put back together with new bearings seals and gaskets and want to pipe it. Mine has a single jet carb and is bored .050" over