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I've owned my Stihl MS180 for about a year and a half now, and figured that it was time for an update.
First and foremost, the chain is still getting oiled as it's supposed to. I've had several saws that after about a year or so, the oil pump would just quit working, making the saw useless.
I REALLY like this saw. Yes, it's still a bit underpowered, but knowing it's limitations and working within them help a lot. I have felled a couple of trees that were pretty much the limit of the 16" bar & chain without coming from the opposite side. I think that on the last one I dropped, the end of the chain wasn't quite long enough to get all the way through the bark on the widest section. With that said, it has done everything that I have asked of it, as long as it has a sharp chain. This is absolutely critical!
As I stated earlier in this thread, I had never attempted to sharpen a chain. In the past, I either bought a new chain, or, more recently, have had my local Stihl dealer sharpen it. I have to say, after getting it sharpened at the dealer this most recent time, I wasn't impressed. Honestly, I think that it was sharper before he worked on it. Almost immediately after getting it back, the saw started making a curved cut, which says that one side of the chain is sharper than the other. Unfortunately, it sat for about a week before I found out, and I didn't want to be "that guy", so I didn't take it back to complain. This convinced me that I had to learn how to sharpen a chain.
Having used my fair share of power tools as an auto mechanic, I know how easy it is to overdo things, and how hard it is to be consistent, so I opted to go for the manual route. I found the correct size for my saw, and ordered this "2 in 1" tool.
20200108_085652.jpg
I received the kit a couple of days later, but didn't need it quite yet, so I put the kit away. Yesterday, I decided that it was time to sharpen my chain. Do you think that I could find where I had put my new kit?! Nope. Searched high and low, to no avail. After a couple of hours of searching and cussing, I gave up, figuring that I would find it later.
I went out to my car today, and there was my kit, in the back-end. I'm pretty sure that I had looked there yesterday, but may have been too agitated to see it, it wasn't hard to spot. Cool, time to learn!
I watched a video or two on how to use it, but that's kind of like trying to learn how to swim by watching a video. I then mounted my small vice to the bed of my pickup bed, secured the saw into it, and gave it a go. I gave each tooth three strokes of the file. It probably took 10 minutes from start to finish, and that's only because I was figuring out what I was doing as I went. I would expect that it will go faster next time.
I then tried cutting a 12 to 14 inch log. Almost like butter! Nice big chips again. I'll admit, it's not quite as sharp as a new chain, but not bad for my first attempt. Definitely better than the last time the dealer sharpened it. Now that I have used this tool and understand the process, I think that I might be able to do a touch-up using just a file. I'll let you know if I decide to try.
First and foremost, the chain is still getting oiled as it's supposed to. I've had several saws that after about a year or so, the oil pump would just quit working, making the saw useless.
I REALLY like this saw. Yes, it's still a bit underpowered, but knowing it's limitations and working within them help a lot. I have felled a couple of trees that were pretty much the limit of the 16" bar & chain without coming from the opposite side. I think that on the last one I dropped, the end of the chain wasn't quite long enough to get all the way through the bark on the widest section. With that said, it has done everything that I have asked of it, as long as it has a sharp chain. This is absolutely critical!
As I stated earlier in this thread, I had never attempted to sharpen a chain. In the past, I either bought a new chain, or, more recently, have had my local Stihl dealer sharpen it. I have to say, after getting it sharpened at the dealer this most recent time, I wasn't impressed. Honestly, I think that it was sharper before he worked on it. Almost immediately after getting it back, the saw started making a curved cut, which says that one side of the chain is sharper than the other. Unfortunately, it sat for about a week before I found out, and I didn't want to be "that guy", so I didn't take it back to complain. This convinced me that I had to learn how to sharpen a chain.
Having used my fair share of power tools as an auto mechanic, I know how easy it is to overdo things, and how hard it is to be consistent, so I opted to go for the manual route. I found the correct size for my saw, and ordered this "2 in 1" tool.
20200108_085652.jpg
I received the kit a couple of days later, but didn't need it quite yet, so I put the kit away. Yesterday, I decided that it was time to sharpen my chain. Do you think that I could find where I had put my new kit?! Nope. Searched high and low, to no avail. After a couple of hours of searching and cussing, I gave up, figuring that I would find it later.
I went out to my car today, and there was my kit, in the back-end. I'm pretty sure that I had looked there yesterday, but may have been too agitated to see it, it wasn't hard to spot. Cool, time to learn!
I watched a video or two on how to use it, but that's kind of like trying to learn how to swim by watching a video. I then mounted my small vice to the bed of my pickup bed, secured the saw into it, and gave it a go. I gave each tooth three strokes of the file. It probably took 10 minutes from start to finish, and that's only because I was figuring out what I was doing as I went. I would expect that it will go faster next time.
I then tried cutting a 12 to 14 inch log. Almost like butter! Nice big chips again. I'll admit, it's not quite as sharp as a new chain, but not bad for my first attempt. Definitely better than the last time the dealer sharpened it. Now that I have used this tool and understand the process, I think that I might be able to do a touch-up using just a file. I'll let you know if I decide to try.
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