Stihl MS 311 Instruction Manual page 33

27 Maintaining and Sharpening the Saw Chain
With varying cutter lengths, the cutter heights
also vary and cause rough running of the saw
chain and chain breakage.
► All cutters must be filed down equal to the
length of the shortest cutter – ideally, one
should have this done by a servicing dealer
using an electric sharpener
27.7 Depth gauge setting
The depth gauge determines the depth to which
the cutter penetrates the wood and thus the chip
thickness.
a Required distance between depth gauge and
cutting edge
When cutting softwood outside of the frost sea‐
son, the distance can be increased by up to
0.2 mm (0.008").
Chain pitch
Inches (mm)
1/4 P (6.35)
1/4 (6.35)
3/8 P (9.32)
0.325 (8.25)
3/8 (9.32)
0.404 (10.26)
27.8 Lowering the depth gauges
The depth gauge setting is lowered when the
cutter is sharpened.
► Check the depth gauge setting after each
sharpening
1
0458-542-8221-D
a
Depth gauge
Distance (a)
mm (Inches)
0.45 (0.018)
0.65 (0.026)
0.65 (0.026)
0.65 (0.026)
0.65 (0.026)
0.80 (0.031)
2
► Lay the appropriate file gauge (1) for the chain
pitch on the saw chain and press it against the
cutter to be checked – if the depth gauge pro‐
trudes past the file gauge, the depth gauge
must be reworked
Saw chains with humped drive link (2) – upper
part of the humped drive link (2) (with service
mark) is lowered at the same time as the depth
gauge of the cutter.
WARNING
The rest of the humped drive link must not be
filed; otherwise, this could increase the tendency
of the chain saw to kick back.
► Rework the depth gauge so that it is flush with
the file gauge
► Afterwards, dress the leading edge of the
depth gauge parallel to the service mark (see
arrow) – when doing this, be careful not to fur‐
ther lower the highest point of the depth gauge
English
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