If you are at all concerned about working through this process, remember you can easily take your chain to a qualified professional to the sharpening done for you. However, if you are going to do it yourself, here are some simple instructions to get your started. Remember to check the instructions for your particular model and make sure you follow them.

The first consideration when sharpening your chainsaw chain is to take all necessary safety precautions. This includes wearing safety glasses during all sharpening. Make sure your sharpener is securely fastened to a stable surface, and all the pieces are firmly connected.

After you have checked all your safety precautions you want to make sure your chain is securely attached to the sharpener. The way this is done will vary depending on sharpener model, but the key is to make sure it is securely attached no matter what model you are using.

Next you will turn on the machine. You will then lower the grinding stone toward the first tooth of your chain. Make sure you sharpen the tooth slowly and steadily. You want to have an even sharpness across the entire tooth. You can also get more refined sharpening on many models by tightening refining screws.

Once the first chain tooth is finished you will return the grinding wheel to it’s “idle” position. You will then loosen the chain and move the next tooth into sharpening position. A guide is provided to make sure you are sharpening your chain on the appropriate angle.

Go through and sharpen all the teeth angled to one direction first. It doesn’t matter whether they are the left or right angled teeth, but do all one direction at the same time.

Once you have finished all of the right or left angeled teeth go back and do all of the opposite angeled teeth. This is a time consuming process, but it is best to be methodical about it. You do not want to miss teeth, or find some are sharper than others. This will make your cutting more difficult and in fact, more dangerous.

You may be able to find attachments that will help to automate the teeth feeding process, making it go a little more quickly. Whether these attachments are available will depend on what model chain saw sharpener you are using.