Grinders!

tree tipper · July 02, 2007, 11:51:20 PM

Hey all. I am looking to buy a new grinder,and cant make up my mind on the one I want. Im looking at the Pro Sharp or the SDM 4 any good or bad stories that might help me make up my mind.
Thanks
Grant

Sprucegum · July 03, 2007, 12:47:24 PM

The guys with grinders must all be out grinding ???

Hang in there , somebody will show up who knows just what you need.

Raider Bill · July 03, 2007, 01:36:00 PM

I like a good sausage/meatball grinder myself! :D Although some call them subs, hoagies etc. ;D
CAn't give you any advice on metal grinders but on this forum food is always a good topic.

olyman · July 03, 2007, 08:15:10 PM

tree--you mean a chain grinder???? the one on northern hyds site--for 89.99--that looks lika a oregon--works great--i got two while they were on sale-----a dang near perfect copy ot the ore-e-gun----if you were speaking of meat grinders--oh well---- ;D

Reddog · July 03, 2007, 08:53:29 PM

Tree tipper,

The Chain grinders you are looking at all get high marks but I have not used one myself.

If you can get one of the Admins to move this to the chainsaw forum, you will get more responce.

thecfarm · July 03, 2007, 10:00:24 PM

Hey tree tipper,welcome to the forum.Sorry,can't help you at all.I pile my brush up and burn it.Just wanted to send you a welcome.

ehp · July 04, 2007, 08:40:58 AM

I like the Pro Sharp better but the SDM 4 is a nice grinder to , the biggest thing I find with the Pro Sharp is it doesnot burn the chains as easy as the swing arm or razor sharp but does cost quite abit more money , I like the blue wheel also

MDP · July 04, 2007, 10:01:51 AM

Both are excellent grinders, and expensive. The Pro Sharp is a little quicker because you just rotate the chain holder to do both sides of the chain. With the SDM 4 you have to switch to the other side of the machine, not a big deal in my book. Both grinders when used correctly will produce some very sharp chain.

Mark

Corley5 · July 04, 2007, 10:06:47 AM

I've got a MAXX grinder that works great. I've been looking at those Chinese Oregon grinder clones and now that Bailey's has them I think I'll get one. I want one just to set up for rakers so I don't have to change wheels and settings on the Maxx

Burlkraft · July 04, 2007, 10:50:14 AM

I got one a dem Chinese grinders from Bailey's and it works just fine......

If they only sent a guy to grind chains it would be perrrfect ;D ;D ;D

TexasTimbers · July 04, 2007, 01:45:16 PM

I have the one from Northern too. But I can't tell you how well I like it, I sharpen almost exclusively by hand now.

I do want to line up my approximately 100+ chains though and grind them all one day. I have entirely too many chains now that I have settled into a routine.

I usually just hand file the chain on the saw. If I go out and do a whole bunch of cutting all day I only need 2 or 3 chains per saw unless I hit something so I swap the chain in the field, but Really I could just sharpen it in the field if I had just a little more patience. It doesnt take that long to do it.

jokers · July 04, 2007, 02:09:24 PM

I can`t comment on the SDM-4 since I`ve never even seen one never mind used one but my Pro Sharp is outstanding. I`m quite satisfied that my Pro Sharp is that much better than the Razur Sharp II and Swingarm that I had that the price difference seems alot less important and I`d buy another Pro Sharp if the need arose. These grinders are all good examples of getting what you paid for when compared to one another.

BTW, for those of you who may not realize these are square grinders I`m just giving you a heads up. ;)

ehp · July 04, 2007, 10:38:26 PM

the first square grinder I ever used was a Pro Sharp and after a while was asked to set up a swing arm and boy after that was I glad I had a pro sharp , to me for easier to use and I felt did a better job

Climber · July 08, 2007, 12:26:24 AM

Hi,
I have Oregon with adjustable angles.
CONS: Grinding wheel is only one direction rotation. No cooling solution. Manual clamp. Too cheesy adjustment.
PROS: 2 adjustable angles. Easy to find spare parts. Reasonably priced. Can sharp all sizes
Value per dollar: from 1 to 10 – 9
Overall rating: 7

Reddog · July 08, 2007, 10:22:18 AM

Seems to be some confusion on the type of grinder being asked about.
Here are some pics of the models being asked about and the chain angles.
Pro Sharp

SDM 4

Square ground chain angles.

maple flats · July 09, 2007, 07:51:59 AM

I have a Sharp Boy that came with my Peterson ATS Mill and it is made for shainsaw sharpening, I used it once with good results but I still do them all by hand on the saw. If you do them as soon as you should it only takes about 6-8 minutes max for a 20" bar, and it does a good job without removing TOO much or heating up the teeth. Just be sure to have a sharp file.

sawguy21 · July 10, 2007, 09:30:25 AM

Yesterday a customer asked about an 'automatic' chain grinder. I think he is looking for something he can set up and walk away from while it does it's thing. :

Oregon has discontinued the auto feed option, apparently it was too troublesome and it was very expensive. Does anyone else make such a unit?

Reddog · July 10, 2007, 12:40:21 PM

Dinasaw T-Rex Automatic Chain Sharpener

schmism · July 10, 2007, 05:47:21 PM

ive been eyeing a grinder myself, but was unwilling to plunk down the $$ for a real one... and figured the "cheep" ones were just that... then i got my recent bailey's and noticed they are carrying one now... so i figured if they finnally picked one up, it cant be ALL that bad can it?!?!

is it worth getting the diamond disk to go with? ive heard "change shape over time" = bad and the diamond ones dont do that....

jokers · July 10, 2007, 11:29:52 PM

Once you learn how to use them the Oregons and their clones do a good job. The diamond(actually Borazon or CBN for non-carbide) is a good investment if you will be doing a bunch of chains.

sawguy21 · July 11, 2007, 10:27:06 AM

Thanks Reddog, That looks like the ticket and the supplier is not far from here. 8)

rebocardo · July 11, 2007, 09:57:25 PM

One thing I do to my chains that can wreck them is taking down the rakers. For whatever reason, I don't seem to do a good job. Maybe I rush too much ;)

What would be the best option for a grinder that can do rakers on a full skip chain?

I tried those cheap template guides, but, they only work properly on full comp and still not that well if you take off a bit of the guide with the raker.

I tried with feeler gauges and straight bar too. Just too tedious. I have found myself tossing chains vs. bothering with rakers ... :

Reddog · July 11, 2007, 10:08:48 PM

How much you want to spend? All it does is rakers and gullets. Just set it and turn the crank.

Silvey HDG-6 Grinder

jokers · July 11, 2007, 11:18:33 PM

Quote from: rebocardo on July 11, 2007, 09:57:25 PM
What would be the best option for a grinder that can do rakers on a full skip chain?

I tried those cheap template guides, but, they only work properly on full comp and still not that well if you take off a bit of the guide with the raker.

The absolute best guides that I have found are the File-O-Plate and the Husky depth gauge guides. They don`t bridge any teeth, they simply index specifically to a particular tooth and raker. They also provide the progressive lowering that is optimal for cutting all the way to the nubs of the teeth.

rebocardo · July 13, 2007, 03:08:59 AM

Silvey HDG-6 Grinder = $561.80

Not that much, my pain level would have been about $300-400 if it did cutters and rakers. Though if I think about it, that is only about 30 new chains.... probably thrown away 15 with a lot of tooth still left.