What took me so long....sharpening chainsaws...

[dyount]

I typically cut 6 or so cords a year, most of it by felling trees in the PA state forest with permits etc. I'll hand sharpen to keep my chain real sharp but once it's dull I use an Oregon sharpener for one good sharpening and toss the chain after that. One good chain will last through an entire season for me being careful not to ground the saw especially on frozen ground.
With the last chains I bought through a forestry supply company being 3/$50 for a 20" 72 tooth chain it's not all that worth it to deal with sharpening. Also chains are never as sharp as a new factory no matter how well I do the teeth or the rakers.
When I'm out to drop and cut up a 30+" 60' tall chestnut oak it'll be down in 5 mins and in the truck/trailer in a hour and ready for step 2 of splitting (with a hydraulic)
Cutting safety is kind of an oxymoron but learn cutting/felling techniques, always wear chaps/eye protection/NEVER cut alone. Where I cut there's no cell service, I get cut/I die is always always on my mind

[dyount]

Just for fun here's a tree felling story I'll title "My brother has been trying to kill me since we were kids and I'm still here"
So my brother and I are going to cut a 36" Red Oak that's got an ant farm in it at the base that's leaning towards my dad's cabin. It's big and tall at like 50' or more and dead. Toss a line up into the tree and get a rope up in it cause we're gonna persuade this thing to go in the opposite direction. My brother makes a notch in the tree while I'm attaching a chain ratchet to a tree like 50' away or so
I start getting tension on the rope with the ratchet and just can't seem to get good tension.... I keep on pulling and pulling but this is a big tree and my rope is 20' up in the tree I'm pulling. I'm down in bottom land with limestone boulders and scrub trees using a 24" or so White Oak and an anchor.
Bro yells--" Hold on and let me cut a trigger in this bzztch" which is basically a plunge cut through the tree that you would then wedge that leaves a "trigger" that you can cut quickly to release the tree to fall. While he's cutting I'm still ratchet doctor just pullin away.
Not 10 seconds into his work the ant farm base just snaps and guess where said tree in now heading... yep towards Dr. Ratchet standing in a boulder field who can't possibly outrun a falling tree. I do have time to take 3 steps or so to get behind the anchor tree when the oak slams into the one I'm hiding behind with my arms on top of my head to maybe cushion whatever widowmaker branch is gonna hit me. There are broken limbs literally everywhere and half of them flying around. I peek up to make sure nothing is hanging in the tree above me, sneak my head around the side of the tree and my brother and dad are thinking I'm dead by the look in their eyes and say
"You've been trying to kill me since we were kids and you still f'k haven't"
#goodtimesdidn'tdie

[wdfifteen]

When I worked at the hardware store I was the saw sharpening guy. We had a guy who tried to sharpen his own chains by pushing DOWN (toward the bar) on the file. He kept complaining that our files weren't any good. He completely ruined a chain before he finally let me show him how to pull back on the file.