Husqvarna is a Swedish company and is a producer of various outdoor power products. One of its best-selling products is a chainsaw, and these can be used for a longer time due to large fuel tanks and low fuel consumption. The chainsaws by Husqvarna are at a competitive price and have a longer warranty. The performance, power, and design of Husqvarna chainsaws enable the user to meet all his needs.
When the chainsaws are used for some time, it is observed that their blades get dull. This is the time when it needs a service for sharpening its blades. Instead of taking it to the service center, you can do it at home only with the help of a chainsaw sharpener. Husqvarna chainsaw sharpeners are well-known in the market and sharpen the chainsaw chain easily, which ensures you get a clean cut every time you use a chainsaw.
How To Sharpen a Husqvarna Chain
Like any other chainsaw brand, a Husqvarna chainsaw needs to be sharpened periodically so that it has a proper performance. A chainsaw causes high fuel consumption and suffers from excessive wear if its chain is dull.
A dull Husqvarna chain needs to be sharpened regularly and correctly. Below is a detailed description of the method of sharpening a Husqvarna chain.
What is required to file the chain?
Certain chainsaw sharpening tools are required to keep the chain sharp, and these are round file, flat file, stump vise, and file gauge.
It should be noted that there should be different round files and gauges for different types of chains.
Filing angles
Depending on these angles, the cutters should be filed-
- Side plate cutting angle
- Top plate cutting angle
- Depth gauge setting
- File down angle
Different types of the chain have different angles, but the correct angles of the cutter can be restored by using a filing gauge. With this, there is no chance of getting a wrong angle, and thus, the result is always good.
What should be the frequency of filing of a chain?
Even if the chainsaw is not used to cut the objects that reduce its sharpness like rock, its sharpness reduces with time, and its chain becomes blunt.
If a chainsaw is used for a longer time in a day, the chain should be sharpened appropriately with a file every time the chainsaw is refueled. With a sharpened chainsaw, the work becomes more effective and precise.
How to file the chain?
To get the best filing results from a Husqvarna chainsaw, it is advised to sharpen it with a Husqvarna file gauge. For this, first, it is required to find the shortest cutter. Later on, the filing on all the other cutters should be such that the length of all cutters matches with the shortest cutter. The steps in filing the chain are –
- The filing gauge is to be placed on the chain, and arrows on the filing gauge should be in the direction of rotation of the chain. While doing so, it should be ensured that there is contact between the gauge and the chain.
- A round file is used, and it is placed at 90 degrees to the rollers on the filing gauge. Both hands should be used while filing. On both the rollers, the file should be made to rest. While giving smooth strokes during filing, the cutting tooth should be made away from you.
- Now, each tooth should be filed one after the other so that all of them become sharp. The length of each teething tooth should be equal.
- Once all the cutting teeth on one side are filed, the vise has to be loosened, and the guide bar needs to be attached from the other direction. In the same way, the cutting teeth in the opposite direction need to be sharpened.
- If filing is done in an open field like a forest, a stump vise is required. In this case, a stump or log is attached, and the guide bar is secured like a normal vise.
The setting of the correct depth gauge
The depth gauge setting helps to know how deep the cutting tooth will cut. The tool takes a small amount of wood if the setting of the depth gauge is low. On the other hand, the cut made by the cutting tooth into the wood will be too deep if the depth gauge is set high. Due to this, high vibration can occur as it results in an aggressive cut. Even the risk of kickback increases, and the chainsaw has to withstand stress.
While sharpening the chain, the depth gauge cause should be checked frequently, and if there is excessive wear of the chainsaw, it should be checked more often. The depth gauge tool and the flat-file should be checked to check it, and then height can be corrected. The gauge has some stamps like ‘soft’ and ‘hard.’ ‘Soft’ refers to softwood-like conifers, and ‘hard’ refers to frozen or hardwood-like leaf trees.
If there are cracks in the chainsaw chain or the longest portion of the cutting tooth is less than 4mm, sharpening the chain would not be helpful, and it is time to replace the chainsaw chain.
How to Maintain and Service Your Chainsaw
A chainsaw is a tough tool, and it requires maintenance and service at a regular interval to keep it in working condition. Its maintenance is easy and straightforward, and thus, the user can spend more time using it to cut the woods. There are some steps required in its maintenance and service.
1. Cleaning
With the use of the chainsaw, debris from tree sap and sawdust get stuck to it. It should be cleaned to improve its efficiency. Each part of the chainsaw needs to be cleaned differently. When the chain gets dirty, it should be removed from the chainsaw and soaked in the mixture of water and ammonia for about half an hour. Then, the chain should be scrubbed with a soft brush until no debris is seen on it. Now, it has to be rinsed with clean water and dried.
The carburetor should also be checked for any residue clogging it. If it is present, there can be trouble starting as the flow of fuel to the engine can be blocked. For this, the compressed air or fuel additive is to be sprayed onto the carburetor.
2. Chain tensioning
The tension of the chainsaw chain should be correct. The chainsaw can be damaged if the chain is slack, and it can cause injury to the user as well as the slack chain can jump off the guide bar.
On the other hand, if the chain tension is excessively tightened, the wear of the guide bar can be excessive. It should be noted that when the chain is properly tensioned, it should not be held under the guide bar.
When the chain is in contact with the underside of the guide bar, the tension of the chain is correct. In this case, it is easy to pull it around by hand.
It is advised that before adjusting the tension in the chain, it should be allowed to get cool. The chain shrinks as it cools off.
3. Lubrication of the chain
The chain suffers from premature wear if lubrication is poor. Every time the chainsaw is refueled, the chain should be checked, and the chain oil should be refilled.
With the help of Husqvarna chain oil, the chainsaws get good lubrication. To check the lubrication in the chain, first, start the chainsaw and hold the saw on a stump and rev up the engine. If a line of oil is left on the stump, lubrication of the chain is proper.
4. Bar maintenance
If there is improper chain tensioning, faulty working techniques, or less lubrication, problems related to chainsaw bar develop. The underside of the bar is the area where most wear occurs.
This is the place where most of the cutting is done. To prevent this, some steps should be taken. Every time the chain is changed, the guide bar should be turned due to which even wear can occur.
Also, there should be regular cleaning of the guide bar groove and oil inlet.
The bar should be replaced if the deepening of the bar groove is not enough to hold the drive ink. Also, it should be replaced if, in the groove, the chain is not kept straight.
5. Sharpening of the blades
If the chainsaw is dull, cutting would not be precise. In regular chainsaw maintenance, the sharpening of the blades is also included. Certain signs indicate the need for sharpening, like when it causes sawdust instead of saw chips.
For sharpening the blade, the chainsaw has to be clamped to the vise and use a sharpening file.
6. Using new gas
The gas inside the chainsaw gets finished if it is not used regularly. When it is not used for a month, the gas in it starts breaking down and residue plugging can occur in the carburetor leading to its dysfunction.
Thus, enough gas should be put in it so that it lasts for at least 30 days
Check: Best Chainsaw for Cutting Firewood
How to Use the Husqvarna Sharpforce Chain Sharpener
The Husqvarna Sharpforce chain sharpener can be used to sharpen a chainsaw of any size.
It can be used to sharpen the cutters as well as the depth gauges at the same time.
It is possible to remove both the round file and the flat file. When the opposite side of the teeth is sharpened, files are not required to be removed.
On one side of the sharpener are the round file and the actual file, which are meant for filing. There are two guard rails present in the Sharpforce sharpener.
First, the right teeth are to be sharpened, and the sharpener is moved in the forward direction to do so. For the left teeth, the handle and the flat file have to be reversed.
In the first step, the guide rails are opened by pushing on the plastic clips present on the ends, which unlocks the flat and round files on the back. It is necessary to match the arrow of the flat file with the direction of the teeth which have to be filed. After the file setup, the guides have to be closed back.
While sharpening, the angle of the file should be matched with the angle of the teeth. The sharpener should be placed on the chainsaw in such a manner that the round file fits into the cutter teeth itself. At this point, both the large bar and the smaller guide bars should be resting on the stops. It should be ensured that the angle is consistent while filing, and the guides on both sides should be parallel to the bar.
It is indicated that only three strokes are required to sharpen a tooth perfectly. After this, move to the next tooth to sharpen it. This process is continued until the entire chain is sharpened.
As you proceed, move the chain and work within the area of the bar taken for sharpening. Once one side of the teeth is sharpened, the files are swapped over to the opposite side to file the next set of teeth in the opposite direction.
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How to Sharpen the Chain on a Chainsaw
As the chain becomes dull, it becomes difficult to cut the wood, and you have to apply more pressure to it.
At this point, the chain on a chainsaw needs to be sharpened. With the use of the right tools, the chainsaw can be sharpened easily, and it can get back to normal working conditions.
Setting the file
For this, first, the bar of the chainsaw has to be clamped on the work surface. A vise or a tabletop clamp can be used for this purpose. With this, during the sharpening process, the saw will not shift, and thus, a more easy and consistent sharpening process can be achieved.
The next step is to find the tension adjusting screw, and it is generally perpendicular to the direction of the chain. The chain needs to be tightened, and for this, a screwdriver should be used.
Select the first tooth to be sharpened and mark it with a marker so that the point of start of the sharpening process can be tracked easily and the same section is not sharpened twice. You can even look for a unique link of the chain if you do not want to mark the chainsaw. There may be no teeth in this unique link, or it may be of a different color.
There are teeth of different sizes in different chainsaws, and therefore, these require different sizes of the files. The size of the saw chain is usually indicated in the manual or is available online.
The next step is to set the file in the notch on the front of the cutter, the angled tooth. In this notch on the tooth marked, the tip of the file has to be placed. It should be ensured that about 20% of the file diameter should be above the top of the tooth.
The angle at which each cutter can be filed has to be found, and this is given in the owner’s manual. A file holder is used to hold the file at the appropriate angle for the chainsaw, and this should be kept the same for the rest of the chain. Normally, 25 to 30 degrees is the angle of filing for most of the chainsaws.
Sharpening the cutters
The file should remain flat on the top of the chain, and it has to be pushed through the cutter with one smooth motion. In this lot of pressure is not required and applies that much pressure only with which the file grinds against the cutter. The file has to be lifted out from the cutter and then at the same place and the same angle. It has to be reset.
The same motion has to be repeated 3-10 times until the cutter becomes shiny and appears sharp. Each cutter should have the same sharpness consistency and thus, count the number of times the first cutter was filed, and then each subsequent cutter has to be filed for the same number of times.
Once the starting tooth is completely sharpened, the chain has to be rotated so that a new tooth comes closer. For this also, the same motion, the same number of times, and the same angle should be used. Repeat this process till you come back to the starting point.
Filing the rakers (bumps between the cutter in the chain)
First, the height of the rakers has to be examined as it should be at the right height. For this, a depth gauge is used. The depth gauge has to be put on the chain near the starting point and then push it until it presses against a raker.
Check the top of the depth gauge for any bump. If there is any present, file it down, and if not present, you can move further.
Once the entire chain has been filed, loosen the adjustment screws and release the chainsaw. The chainsaw is sharpened properly, and you can use it.