TWO FINE CHAIN SAW SHARPENERS

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Whatever the means used to control the angle of the teeth, a good chain sharpener also needs some mechanism to prevent the file, stone, or bur from digging too deeply into the cutter's gullet or (worse yet) into the tie strap. This happens all too often to chains that are hand. sharpened by amateurs. The telltale sign is teeth that are formed like breaking waves at the beach. A chain that has been "hooked" in this fashion not only is structurally weakened, but also will dull quickly and pull and jerk when being used.

Furthermore, there's another angle that must be taken into account when sharpening a saw. Some types of chain have their cutters ground at other than horizontal. For such chains the filing device will typically be set to point uphill at a 5 or 10° angle.

In addition, after months of evaluation, we're convinced that an effective chain sharpener must include a provision for controlling the amount by which the cutters are shortened (unequal teeth are a major cause of curved sawing) . . . a mechanism to grip the chain during sharpening to prevent it from deflecting . . . and the ability to deburr and smoothly finish the edge. And with all that testing under our belts, we've come to prefer two sharpeners to all the others evaluated, simply because they both come closest to meeting the criteria listed above. However, depending on the type(s) of saw(s) that you own, one of them may to be the better choice for you

GAMN': $24.95

The Gamn' sharpener is a newcomer to the market, and works quite differently from conventional file-type sharpeners. It hones with a carbide bur that the operator turns with a crank (instead of employing the reciprocating motion common to file sharpeners) . . . consequently, the manner in which the Gamn' removes metal from the chain is also different from that of a file sharpener.

There are a couple of advantages to the Gamn' approach. First, because the blades on the bur are moving parallel to the direction of chain travel, any irregularities produced in the tooth's steel surface (which might be caused by chips of metal, for example) will be aligned with the cutting action. Thus the gouges will be much less prone to plugging with wood resins than would be the case with a device that trims metal perpendicular to the direction of chain travel. In addition, the clockwise rotation of the car bide bit won't leave a raised burr on the finished edge of the tooth.

Moreover, the Gamn' sharpener is solidly constructed (it's made from aluminum), clamps rigidly to the saw's bar, is equipped with a cinch nut to hold the chain while sharpening, has an adjustable stop for setting the cutter length, and holds its rotating bur accurately to 35° (and horizontal). A newcomer to sharpening can get the hang of using it quickly, and a practiced operator should be able to sharpen a chain faster with the Gamn' than by any other manual method.

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