Sharpening and Maintenance
of
Saw
Chain
Description
of
chains
The
illustration
on
the right shows the component parts of
a STlHL saw chain. Every chain manufactured by STIHL
features the OiJomatlc system.
Apart
from the three basic
types (Rapid, Topic and Picco), there
are
three different
versions whose names denote the cutter shape,
i.
e.
chip-
per tooth
~
Standard, semi-chisel
~
Micro and full chisel
~
Super.
The
main
size
measurement
on
a
saw
chain
Is
the
prtch.
It
is detemnined by measuring the distance between one ri-
vet and the next but one and dividlng'the measurement by
two. The resutt is the pitch which is generally specified
in
" inch
("Ar
~
9.32
mm).
Like any other cutting tool, the saw chain
is
subjeclto
nor-
mal
wear and
tear.
A properly sharpened chain slices
through wood and requires very little infeed effort, For this
reason alone you should never
attemplto
cut with a dull or
damaged chain. There
are
a few crucial angles which must
be observed
in
order to obtain good resutts when sharpe-
ning a chain. They
are
explained below.
Filing angle
The
filing angle for Rapid-Standard, Rapid-Micro and
To-
pic-Micro chains is 35'; these chains
are
sharpened to this
angle before leaving
\he
factcry. However,
ij
you want to
use the chain primarily for cutting hardwood or frozen tim-
ber,
it is best
to
sharpen it to
an
angle of
3~'.
Rapid-Super
and Topic-Super chains
are
always sharpened to
3~'.
tt
Is
essential to ensure that the filing angle is kept exactly
the sarne on
all
cutters. Irregular angles will cause the
chain
to
run
roughly and unevenly as well as accelerate
the rate
of wear and increase the risk of breakage.
Top:
Component parts of
an
Oilomatic
chain
Bottom:
Measuring
chain
pitch
"tft
.
t·t
39
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