Do you guys sharpen them yourself, have the sharpened by a professional, or simply replace the chain? I've done all three. I think I have about 4 S-56s hanging in my garage now. My current chain is on the dull side. I probably need to do something before hurricane season. That's when I usually cut the most wood.

I take mine to Plano power equipment, I think it's like $5 for them to do it.

I use a drimmel. They have a shapening stone bit that works great on chainsaw blades. You don't have to take your blade off either. Bit is about $5.00 and it will do about 3 blades.

My dad and I used to cut hundreds of cords of wood a year.
When you cut that much a chain may need to be sharpened two or three times a day.
If you learn how to do it with a file it can be done in just minutes. When I want it sharpened I want it done right now. And I am too cheap to pay someone to do it now.

I used to use a file to sharpen mine now I use the cheap electric sharpner from harbor freight it works great

Same here!^^^^^

I have done all of the above. I normally do things myself for a combination of convience and savings. In this case I would take it somewhere and pay $5 if convient but it is not. I have not seen them lately but if you can find a little diamond tool that fits in a drill then buy one or 2. They are great and easy to use. The ones I have are worn out so I just do it by hand.

I use the same to do mine, and the mower blades.

I circulate 2 blades. I take mine to the hardware store down the street. They charge $5. It's worth it to me considering I don't do a ton of sawing throughout the year.

this works great, used to cut 7-10 cords a yr in colorado and used one of these, 12 volt and super fast. lowes carries them and the bits

http://www.amazon.com/Oregon-30846-12-Volt-Sharp-Sharpener/dp/B00004RA7E

run the chainsaw at 35% throttle and hold it over a soap stone at a 56 degree angle...

trust me, im a profesional

I just keep my chains out of the dirt/ground!

Just messin' with ya. I take mine to my dad about once a year and he uses a file to sharpen them. He's not the quickest, but can get it done in about half an hour and be good as new. One of these days I'll have to have him show me how to do it for myself.

When I hand sharpen in my shop they seem to hold an edge better. Locally I can get it done for $6 if I take it off. Haven't done that in years.

i have files in my chainsaw case, and also have a grinder