I have used the cheaper stones from Baileys and need more just wondering what the feedback is on all the other types.The cheap ones wear down pretty fast so is the carbide or diamond worth the money?Do the Oregon brand last ten times longer then the off brand from Baileys?Any info. would be great thank you,Victor
WOW not one person has any input???70 people viewed.Thanks anyways,Victor
Sorry, I dont use a grinder or Id try to help ya out.
Vic,which grinder do you have,some of the small cheaper grinders just don't have wheels of good quality.Diamond grit wheels are good but very costly more of a commercial high volume thing, I have never used one. Frank C.
CBN wheels are worth the cost. Low mtce., low heat, and out last other wheels.
Later,
My fault I miss lead you all I use the small dremel stones for my chains.I don't have a need for a big machine sharpener yet so the hand dremel tool works great.The $1.79 stones from Baileys work well they just wear out fast.Any advice on diamond/carbide/or brand would be great.Thanks everyone,Victor
I gave up on trying to use the dremel stones for sharpening. Didn't last very long at all (and were diamond as I recall).
Found a sharp hand file faster and did a better job sharpening. But did try nearly every gimmick known (except grinder system) and ended up liking the hand file the best.
I have a Granberg grinder which uses the same small rotary stones as on your Dremel type tool. I used only Granberg stones until I saw that Bailey's had some that would fit, and they were a lot cheaper than from Granberg. The Bailey stones use a coarser grit than those from Granberg and, consequently, don't grind quite as smoothly. That said, the surface is still very good. I have found two things improve the life of the stones. Most important is to not push/pull the end of the stone on and off the tooth. If you do, the stone gets tapered in a hurry. I start the stone onto the tooth as close to the shank as possible and then pull/push the stone back and forth, being careful not to go off the end of the stone. Second, I use Granberg's "Cool Block", or something like that. It's sort of like buffing compound, you just press it against the stone, and it leaves some kind of graphite type compound in the stone, which helps extend the life of the stone as well as keep the tooth cooler during grinding. Doing all this, I can sharpen a 93 tooth chain about 4 times on one stone. Oh yeah, I never use the stones I sharpen with to grind the depth gauges. I either use a nearly worn out stone or do it by hand with a gauge and file.
Don't feel handicapped not having a big grinder. It's easier to keep the teeth length uniform with one, but you can do a lot of damage in a hurry as well. You just can't do as much harm with the Dremel type tool. I also like the fact that you can sharpen the tooth with a curved face just like with a hand file, and you can adjust the angle of the curve by how high you set the top of the stone in relation to the top of the tooth. At least you can with the Granberg sharpener. This allows you to change your set up for different conditions. With a wheel grinder the face of the tooth is always flat and the only thing you can do is change the tilt angle.
Try a machinist supplier. Most of these wheels are available through Gesswein,
Foredom, Grainger, and MCS.
You need shank dia., stone dia., lenght of stone,and type material.
There are dozens to pick from.
I sharpened my chain with a dremel for years, went to the bench mount, and finally to hand file. The bench grinder gathers dust now and the dremel is somewhere. Any way, nothing wrong with the dremel. I ordered stones by the dozen (3 sizes) from granberg. When you order that many at a time they discount them (years ago, don't know if they still do) and they were the most cost effective I could find. jteneyck had a good description on method of using that tool.
Later and happy grinding,