Chainsaw Repair

it'll hold up in clean wood.
regardless of hard or soft.
what I found with the atop was it's a great learning tool. expensive yes. but if you have a couple friends chip in on one, it'll pay for itself. it shows you what a square chain needs to look like to cut properly, gives you the basic idea of the angles and it does do a very good job at making the chain faster. it's a very good (but expensive) starting point.
as for 'out of the box' square. what I've found is the gullet needs to be opened up right from the getgo. square is a little more prone to blocking up if that gullet isn't taken out.
i use a 5/32" round file to clean it up before using. makes a big difference.