Sharpening Up on Skills

"If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.  - Abraham Lincoln

I listen to a podcast called "The Art of Manliness."  I'm subscribed to their weekly newsletter and they send me emails.  Of of the things I like is they send a weekly "Skill that Every Man Needs to Know."  Some that come to mind are: How to start a campfire in the rain, How to escape a riptide, How to Whistle with your fingers...  You get the idea.  HERE IS A LINK to 100 skills every man should know.  I was thinking about incorporating this into my life.  

One of the things I don't think is in that list is, but should be if it isn't is:  How to properly sharpen a chainsaw.  One of the things that makes cutting logs difficult is if you've allowed your chainsaw to become dull.  You'll know this because you are working too hard!  You'll also know it's dull if your chainsaw is making sawdust instead of wood chips.

My little $69 electric pole saw was doing just that.  I ordered another chain just to be on the safe side (1 is none and two is one!)  I have more than gotten my money out of this little saw, but it has a lot of limbs yet to cut.

Even though I have a new chain, I wanted to do a good job in sharpening the chain on it and get some more use out of it.  I've sharpened chainsaws before with a little rat tail file, but really didn't know what I was doing.  This time, I figured I would learn and do it correctly.  I purchased a 5/32 circular file with a guide.  It cost me a whopping $9.99.  You'll note it has angles on the guide.

The reason why is that you are supposed to sharpen the teeth at a 30 degree angle.

Pick out the tooth you are starting with and mark it with a Sharpie so you know when you are finished.  You simply line the file up on the teeth, positioning your file and guide with the 30 degree angle and push forward until you are even with the last 30 degree line.  Only go one way.  I did it three times.  Then I moved on to the next one.

Before long I was finished.  I want to show you something crazy.  Look at the directions on the back of the file!:

SHUT OFF SAW MOTOR BEFORE SHARPENING

What type of a meat head would try to sharpen his chainsaw while it was running?  I guess a meat head with missing fingers.  What in the world happened to us as a people?  It reminds me of reading this the other day: 

Car manuals in the 1960s told you how to adjust valve clearances, now they tell you not to drink the battery fluid

Ha!

So with the chainsaw sharpened, it was time to test it out.  There were some live oak branches that had grown to where they are touching the roof.  Time to do some trimming.  I leaned the ladder on the roof and set off to test the sharpness of the chainsaw blade.  

Tricia hates when I do this.  I assured her that my affairs are in order as I headed up the ladder.  I pushed the button and the blade chewed through the limbs like a hot knife through butter.  What a difference it made!  It was so easy to cut, I've gone all around the house trimming branches.  The goats and cows are enjoying eating the green leaves off of the limbs.