HF Chain Grinder Thread

[Jeff Lary]

Well I went right out and Googled it up and in the reviews one caught my eye fast. Basically it said I bought mine with the auto feed system, if I were to do it again I would not buy that option. He went on to say that you had to fiddle with it a bunch to get it to feed correctly. He said that you really have to practice how hard to move the mechanism that moves the chain or it would not move it far enough or too far. He said by the time he messed with it enough to get the feed right he could have feed it by hand faster.
I wondered how you got all that movement to go the correct distance?? and end up under the wheel where it should be. For a while I was a saw filer for a larger lumber company here in Maine. I used a couple big saw sharpener machines one for my 6' gang saws and one for my 40' double cut band saw. They both were operated by VERY precise cams that lowered the wheel and moved to the saw to the next tooth at the exact correct time. I can tell you with all the confidence anyone here could ever want, Most if not all of these grinders were being used WAY WAY WAY to aggressively. I would say they were on average removing 20-40 thousands' per chop. I would suggest 10 thousands per drop and no more.

You should try my rule of thumb lets call it the rule of sparks.

Pretend you have been tasked to count the sparks given off by each drop of the Grinding wheel. Lets say there are 3 settings on your grinder .First setting is 20 sparks, for a lite touch up and back into production. Second setting is 30 sparks, the chain was rocked and you are trying to get it back into shape without over heating the chain. This may have to run through the chain twice maybe more. Third setting is 50 sparks, broken teeth and the saw will be completely re profiled and stated over again only on band saws and gang saws never on a chainsaw chain. This is a case where less is more WAY more. Remember if you had to count the sparks you wouldn't want to make too many now would ya? This is an exaggeration but you should get my line of thought. Jeff

 

[Philbert]

I get it. A lot of guys say that 'grinders take off too much'. But they only take off as much as you let them.

If you have a really rocked, or uneven chain, a lot of the cutter has to be ground back to remove the damage, or to even up the edges from the uneven filing. Blame it on the grinder (machine), when they should blame it on the grinder (operator)!

I like the idea of 'counting sparks'!

Philbert

 

[smokey7]

Yep i use a dry surface grinder and have to hold .0001 with verying temp it is very very hard. Youbcan do it on a wet one all day. I just find it easier to fix a damaged chain and take alot off in a few pases that would never hapen with a file so the chain is way better but life is shorter jmho

 

[Jeff Lary]

Yes I don't mean to say well you fellas just don't know. But the truth in many things is this, a awful lot of people make you tube videos and very few no matter the subject have a clue what they are doing. If you are new to something and follow one of these jabronies well bad teaching bad ya know.

 

[Jeff Lary]

I get it. A lot of guys say that 'grinders take off too much'. But they only take off as much as you let them.

If you have a really rocked, or uneven chain, a lot of the cutter has to be ground back to remove the damage, or to even up the edges from the uneven filing. Blame it on the grinder (machine), when they should blame it on the grinder (operator)!

I like the idea of 'counting sparks'!

Philbert

If you get into the habit of hearing tic tic zing next tooth tic tic zing you will see how the amount of sparks thrown are close to the same each tooth. They will look the same be thrown the same distance form the same cone shape. I think.

 

[lambs]

I grind most of my chain, and I like to see the wheel kiss the cutter, after which I shine a tiny LED flashlight on the cutter surface to see if the wheel got all the way across the cutter, then adjust from there. That method works fine for me so long as the cutters are not dinged....that's a different story, but a I can tell you a CBN wheel will remove the damage quickly, and if it's a cyclone style wheel, without a lot of overheating.

 

[smokey7]

Well i hope i am not a jabronie. I was talking about the hf grinder and how easy it is to take alot of way faster than with a file. The hf grinder works decent for a damaged chain but takes patience.

 

[Jeff Lary]

It is like Philbert says it is up to the operator how much gets removed per grind. It is not the machines fault when a chain gets over heated / temper removed. Or when a new chain only gets 4 sharpening's then its time for another new one.
I was actually thinking of a you tube video about garden tractor seat replacement. I had been looking for a suitable seat for my wheel horse tractor and followed a link to a guy that taped a cat food bag over his seat and called it replacement. There are some strange folks out there I tell ya what !

 

[smokey7]

Well back to the hf non brake handle machine. I have modified the stop to remove the play and widen it for use on fullvsize 3/8 chain. But i noticed the new wheels hf carries is no longer the 60 grit porus wheel vthe new does not quote grit butbitvis finer for sure and made a huge differencevto my machine. I am very happy with it now. Weather it be a new style hf wheel or a better brand i think it is worth using a good wheel. Or atleast better then item 91903 60 grit. Give it a try guys much better finish i dont even touch with a file anymore. Good luck to us bargan shoppers.

 

[67L36Driver]

Wheel item #68243, 100 grit any good?
Got a spare at the HF store in N KC.

 

[smokey7]

Yea that is the number i have i didnt see the grit at my quick look. It is way better it think. I take light passes anyways and almost always go round twice or more

 

[67L36Driver]

Yeah, lite grind on the first pass to see how bad the chain is and the second to clean up ninty percent of the usual mess. The really bad cutters will catch up eventually.

Iive had some that were filed so low they resembled fish hooks.

 

[smokey7]

irunner I'm to the point where they start stripping teath off in a row

 

[Philbert]

Iive had some that were filed so low they resembled fish hooks.

irunner I'm to the point where they start stripping teath off in a row

Photos!!!

Philbert

 

[smokey7]

I am terrible at posting photos and computers

 

[67L36Driver]

I'll have to remember to do before/after pics. on the next one.

 

[Philbert]

Oregon 310-120 Grinder

Started a separate thread on the new Oregon 310 grinder here:
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/oregon-310-mini-grinder.283691/#post-5474287

It is very similar in appearance to several of the grinders in this thread, but sells for a bit more - $85-$90, so it is pushing the limits of this thread, but will be comparing it to some of these grinders, and wanted to post the link.

Philbert

 

[Wood Doctor]

Here is a bargain Oregon 511 clone grinder: Laser Electric Chain Sharpener / Grinder w/ Work Light, Mod No. 47227.
It's a steal at e-bay for $120. They even throw in two grinding wheels. The Chinese can clone just about anything. It's almost scary. I decided to buy one of these to take to the field and attach to my portable grinding station that runs off of a car battery. Dang thing works.

 

[Big_Wood]

You are my hero!

LOL i should rephrase this even though it's old. when i said i sold it to some hack here i meant locally. wouldn't that be a prick thing to do to sell something for nearly double to a guy on AS then post about it in a grinder thread i gots me a silvey now but one thing i realized with the 511ax was that it wouldn't grind teeth the same from side to side. i've seen many post about this issue as well. turns out the vice gauge was out on mine. i never moved it or anything but took note of how much it was out (think it was 3 degrees IIRC) and compensated for it. made both sides dead on. i realized quickly that i could file chain by hand just as good as these grinders can grind so sold it off.

 

[Justsaws]

Both folks that I knew that were using the HF grinders and struggling have moved on to the Oregon Power Sharp setups for the little saws. They could not be happier, unless you ask them about the cost, the HF is a much better bargain if the operator can use it.

As grinders go the HF setups can do a decent job but rely heavily on the operator, much more so than more expensive grinders do. I used one to sharpen 3/8, .325 and Lo-Pro and it is much much slower but the results were workable. It was best on the Lo-Pro then the .325, the 3/8 was similar to using a file that was to small. Worked but not at all optimal chain usage. As was mentioned earlier the built in flex of the machine was helpful but requires diligent attention for a consistent chain.

While I do not own a grinder from HF I do have one that is branded Homier(truckload sales) which is extremely similar to the HF grinders that I tried out. If cash was tight and I needed to sharpen a lot of Lo-Pro or .325 I would get one with a few spare wheels. Does not matter what brand the little grinder wheels disappear fast.

Should note that the grinders were orange and had the flip clamp on the base not the brake handle on the swing arm. The Homier is blackish with red parts, I think the arbor is 1/2 versus 7/8.