More fall color and a chainsaw sharpening lesson for sidepocket
I have some pics I took of the fall color around our home. It really wasn't a spectacular year this year, yet we have some color. Normally we get more orange and red, but this year it was basically just yellow. I know they say the leaves' colors depends upon the sugars in the leaves. I have no idea what changes that from year to year because the tress are all in the same soil obviously. So it must have something to do with the overall weather while the leaves are on the trees. Some smart person can probably explain it to us.
sidepocket's chainsaw sharpening lesson below the KTK orange doily
Sharpening the chain of a chainsaw is not hard at all. You'll need to do it a few times to really get it down, but don't let that stop you from going for it. All you need to do is buy the right dremel bit. Then you need to sharpen each "tine" of the chain at the correct angle.
In the picture below I waited until the sunlight was at the right angle to create a glint across the top of the "tines" to show you the little line they emboss on them. This line is as far as you can sharpen a chain before it's used up. The line is also the proper angle you should use when sharpening. It's a bit out of focus but you can see the lines.
The next picture below shows a side view of the chain so you can see the "rounded out" areas. When you look closely you'll see they are at a 30 degree angle to the plane of the chain. In other words, the same angle as the line on each tine.
Here's my dremel with the bit for sharpening. You just have to hold the bit against the edge of each "tine" of the chain. You position it to be at the proper angle within the "rounded out area" and with the line on the top of each tine.
To know where I started, I take a sharpie and blacken the "tine" I start sharpening. You sharpen along the top then using gloves you roll the chain around to get to another section. The technique I use is to sharpen all the tines oriented in the same direction (every other one), then turn the chainsaw around and sharpen the ones oriented the other direction. I can sharpen an entire chain in less than 10 minutes. That saves money because you won't have to pay a shop to sharpen your chain and it saves time. You can go right back to work. I'm able to sharpen one chain six times before it is used up.
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