saw chain grinder

[poorfarm]

anyone ever had any luck with a good saw chain grinder? i can file fine but every once in a while i hit something would be nice to grind it back for fresh start.took some bad ones to local lawn&garden dealer they sell husky and jonsered got them back not impressed..

[MJD]

I use one(bench mount) and it does a good job, the problem with taking them to a hardware store is they seem to have a kid grind them or someone who burns the cutter by removeing to much at a time and its rare that they take the rakers down. I always used days that I could not work in the woods to sharpen my chains, always found it faster to put a sharp chain on then to sit and file while I could be dropping trees. One thing that has worked great for me is to put a new chain in the grinder and profile my grinding wheel to match the profile of the new chain, this works good the 1st couple sharpings then the tooth starts getting shorter.

[poorfarm]

huh. I had it done at a big dealer (kubota equipment) then when i filed them they were hard file wouldnt touch them.

[pineywoods]

I get bad mouthed about this, but I use a cheap harbor freight grinder with good results.. BUT, there is a learning curve. IT's NOT a machine that you put your chain on and it comes off sharpened..And yes, you can use it to take a few thou off the rakers, but again, there is a learning curve...and you will mess up a chain or 2 learning to use it...

[westyswoods]

MJD,

You sure not alone with your opinions on saw chain sharpening. I gave up years ago with commercial sharpening services. Purchased a bench grinder, although the shear speed of the grinding wheels still heats the chain too much. Fast forward to learning how to hand file and discovering a fiber grinding wheel for the bench grinder which does not generate the heat other wheels do. Use it only when saw chains need to be balanced. Also purchased a Timberline which works well albeit slow and a costly purchase.

[blades]

I sharpen close to 1000 chains a year maybe more, so all I use are the machines. learning curve as with any machine, Brown wheels are called resinoid vs vitrified which are the pink/ruby ones. Oregon's are ok Mole Mabs are a tad hard, Fire....... can't remember the name are very good at 1/2 the cost of Oregon. these 3 are are all vitrified types. Quick taps a little bit at a time down the face of the tooth will keep from burning/overheating. Do not try to hog off a badly dulled chain better to do multiple passes. Most of the units are generally ok price difference is in the motor.
I use a caliper to get the left and right cutters the same length. The units will not always grind the same length per side.  Keeping an eye on the wheel profile is also necessary as it wears down, so on long chains you will need to re-profile the edge of the wheel. 

[Solomon]

MJD: My friend and neighbor has an exelent chain grinder that will do the rakers too but won't take the time to do'em right.   Exactly like you said he is way to heavy handed , turns the cutters blue and grinds the rakers down to far so it grabs the log and kicks back.  Forget about cutting from the underside of a branch or log with the top side of the bar.  He ruins every chain he touches and I can't tell him anything.   Other than that, he's a stellar guy.   

[1270d]

This is what usually seems to happen.  Folks have a bad experience or two with a grinder and it sours them.  Can't blame eme though. 

The biggest gain with a grinder is consistancy. But you have to put forth the effort to earn it, using a caliper as mentioned is aa good idea.   If you really want to get into the science of it square grinding is a little more advanced. 

Also, putting a little blue on the tooth isn't the end of the world.  Just touch the face one more time with the wheel to cut off the hard surface.  We also use diamond crusted steel wheels.  While they are much much more expensive, they never change in diameter and never lose their profie.  Also they do cut a bit slower than a fresh stone.   

Custom tailoring each raker to each cutter also helps make the cut smoother.

I know I know. You all can sharpen just as good or better with a file in half the time and all that, but this is just my opinion

[1woodguy]

Years ago Worked a a small engine shop and sharpened lots of chain with a silvey
After a while lots of the tree guys only wanted me to sharpen for them
Boss said I spent to much time on them
Ended up leaving when I was sick of his pay promises that never came through

Bought a maker breaker and rolls of chain and to start a  harbor freight sharpener
For own use
Before long the tree fellas were asking me to sharpen for them,sold them chains
And was repairing saws
Some guys sharpening never used a chainsaw   Don't care cause ain't making enough off it  or  some were never showed how to do it right
Some may as well be deaf cause lots of Sawers tell them how they want it done and they do it their way anyway
The shop I worked in I was the only one who bothered with the rakers
other guys didn't touch them unless someone said something

Had several Sawers who wanted the rakers down a little low for my taste but they were the ones cutting with them so I did as they asked

The guy I quit working for told folks I was stealing his business away
After he taught me everything I know :D
Never learned anything that I know of from him. What I learned was from working on my own stuff Relatives and friends and started fixing  some of his former customers stuff they  brought to me and asked me to look at
that was why he hired me to start with
Listening to customers helps
Especially the ones that use the tools for a living

[sealark37]

I sharpen my own saws with a Granberg 12 volt hand-held grinder with the appropriate size abrasive bits.  I have tried the bench grinders and files, but this method works best for me.  If i want to sharpen in the shop, I put the bit in my Dremel tool.  Regards, Clark

[captain_crunch]

Send ur chains to woodsguy ifn he still has the silvie grinder ;D ;D Most people don't know what a sharp chain is. when I fell timber we would not run a brand new chain till it was ground. hard to belive how bad mass produced chain actually is. But when trees are this size you need sharp chain

been long time back but Peter DiPaolo standing in pic was 5' 4" tall

[1woodguy]

Hey Captain can I get you to email me afew of those logs??

  Your right about a lot of the new chain. I usually touch it up before using
I have a brother in law that bought a cheap junk saw with safety chain that was such high quality that it took him minutes to cut each limb on his peach trees
I stopped by there and watched him for a bit
Asked him if he wanted me to fix it he said nope he said it was slower but safer
Brand new it threw powder and tiny chips couldn't believe they sold garbage like that
Guess they figure lots of folks cut twigs once a year and saws are made to wear out after first tank of fuel

[John Woodworth]

I have a round file and chisel grinder as well as a bar mount 12 volt for in the woods, generaly every 3 to 4 filings I'll touch them up and the grinders are wonderful. I use a diffrent gullet and 30 degree angle and my round filed will cut with chisel. Use lots of WD40 on the stone for lube it works better than the lube sticks an light on the cuts.

[shawnr]

Just bought the cheapo harbor freight sharpener for $25 and set it up this morning.  Seemed to work slick as long as you go easy.  I balanced a few chains and it didn't seem to heat up the teeth at all.  I went easy and took off the material in 2 passes.  I normally file my chains by hand ( for 30 years) and decided it was time to try the grinder.  A buddy of mine bought the Harbor Freight one some 10 years ago and he sharpens all of the chains for the Dept. of Parks and Recreation in our County and he swears by the little machine.  Heck, for $25.00 you can't really go wrong to give it a try...
Shawn

[beenthere]

shawnr
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Will be interested in what your long-term feelings are with the chain sharpener. ;)
Which chain(s) are you sharpening?

Where are you located (maybe update your bio) ?