How To Sharpen a Chain Saw Blade? – Complete Guide

Before you put the file to your saw, check if the saw is out of alignment. This condition is indicated when the teeth on your blade are at an angle or pointing inward, causing it to bind with the wood fibers. If you find that your saw needs alignment, remove it from the chainsaw and take it to a professional for this service.

Before you start sharpening your chain saw blade, determine the appropriate angle for sharpening your blade. There are many different types of chainsaw blades, so check your owner’s manual to determine how much space should be left between the top of the tooth and where it meets the guide bar.
In general, a file is used with a flat surface to sharpen chain saw teeth. The width of this raised flat part on a new chain is called a gauge. If this gauge is not set back from each cutting tooth by enough of an angle (called “setback”), there may be too much pressure on one side or another depending on which way it sets back from each cutting edge as shown here:
If your chain needs more than a 1.5mm setback, you can use a flat file. If your chain only requires 1.5mm or less, you’ll need to use a round file instead. If in doubt, use the wider file of the two.
The best way to determine the proper filing technique for your particular chain is to watch it as you are sharpening and listen carefully for any changes of sound. A new chain will cause very little noise while running it’s usually quieter than an average conversation and you should keep the volume up on your chainsaw so that you can hear if anything sounds wrong or out of place. Listen specifically for any increase in motor speed or resistance when filing because this may indicate that too much metal is being removed from one spot on the chain.

Now you’re ready to start filing your chain saw blade! If you are right-handed, grasp the file in your left hand at a comfortable angle (keep pressure on the file using only the middle three fingers of that hand do not use your thumb or pinky) and place it against one side of the first cutting tooth’s flat surface as shown here.
If you are left-handed, do the opposite. Place the file in your right hand and press down with all five fingers (don’t forget about your thumb!). Apply very little downward pressure while you move the file forward and back quickly along one side of each tooth. Do this at least 3 times on each side before moving to another tooth.
The reason you’re filing quickly and lightly is that the teeth on a chain saw blade are very sharp, and this light pressure keeps them from biting or grabbing the file as you go along. If your file catches on one of these teeth, you can break it off (or dull it) very quickly! Not only will the saw vibrate more when this happens, but it could also overheat and even burn out the motor.
Be sure that you work across each cutting tooth instead of directly down its length if you miss a spot, that tooth won’t cut anything until you manually rotate the guide bar to reach your mistake! Also, remember to check for alignment problems as before: if there is a “raised” part of the cutting edge, you’ll need to file it down so that the tooth is even with any adjacent ones.

If your saw has a raised “ramp” or “bump” where each cutting tooth meets the guide bar, this must be filed down as well. To do so, simply rotate the file sideways and continue sharpening as before until those teeth are smooth against your file.
After you have finished this step for all of your cutting teeth, turn the chainsaw off, remove its blade and clean off any metal shavings from these surfaces. You may also wish to use a small hand brush to sweep away any filings from between the links in your chain as well this should prevent them from building up and getting between the links while your saw is running.

If you have a 0.325-inch pitch chain, there will be rakers ground into either side of each cutting tooth within that same ramp area we just filed down. These teeth function like little scoops which prevent larger pieces of debris from accumulating on top of each cutting tooth and slowing it down or preventing it from actually cutting anything! It’s important to set these back so that they don’t meet with the corresponding teeth, but the flat file we’ve been using won’t work for this step because these rakers are so small and narrow. Instead use a round chainsaw file designed specifically for this purpose instead as shown here.
If your chain has a depth gauge, you should also use a round chainsaw file to ensure that the depth gauges on either side of each cutting tooth line up correctly otherwise, they’ll keep your chain from cutting properly! Just push the guide bar forward when filing the rakers so that you don’t accidentally remove too much metal from any one spot and change its depth below where it’s designed to be cut.

Now turn off your saw, add a bit more sharpening oil onto its blade or chain and restart it to test how well it’s working. Be sure to stand clear while running because there are any alignment problems still remaining! If your saw still vibrates too much, you’ll need to go back over it again until it runs smoothly.
Once all of these steps are finished, clean off any excess oil with a rag or paper towel and shut down your chainsaw before locking its bar into place if you leave the chain running by accident, this could result in an injury. And finally, store that file safely away for next time because just like razor blades, you’d have to buy another one if yours broke during use! Now go out there and enjoy all of the work you put into your sharpened blade it’ll make cutting so much easier now!