First time grinding my own chains....few questions.

[04titanse]

Alright guys I picked up an inexpensive chain grinder, and oregon knock off. I am looking to see if there is a set of numbers most of you guys use for 50-75 cc saws running 3/8, 50 gauge, full chisel mostly and some semi chisel chains. I have never sharpened chains successfully by hand, but never really gave it a true effort.

Any advice is helpful!!!

 

[cutforfun]

Alright guys I picked up an inexpensive chain grinder, and oregon knock off. I am looking to see if there is a set of numbers most of you guys use for 50-75 cc saws running 3/8, 50 gauge, full chisel mostly and some semi chisel chains. I have never sharpened chains successfully by hand, but never really gave it a true effort.

Any advice is helpful!!!

I would give sharpening by hand a "true effort", best advice i can give:msp_wink:

 

[IthacaMan]

I only use a grinder on my chains. The trick is to adjust the grinder, so that you only take off enough material to make the where the grinding wheel touches the tooth shiny again.Also I found that when I adjusted my grinder to the stihl chain spec sheet, the wheel does not conform to the grind on a brand new chain.So what I did was adjust the grinder to perfectly match the factory grind on a brand new chain,now when I touch them up they come out just like a new chain.I am able to touch them up several times before I file the rakers. Check to see if the way your grinder is set now matches the factory grind on a new chain.

 

[04titanse]

When do you touch up the rakers?

 

[madhatte]

I would offer the opinion that it's best to learn to hand-file first; that way, you understand the angles and how they parts of the chain work together. When you graduate to a grinder, you will waste less and make fewer mistakes. This is how I learned and I feel pretty solid on cutter geometry and what works and how and why. If you just dive right into a grinder without first "cutting your teeth" on hand-filing, it's likely that a few chains will be the unwitting victims a steeper-than-necessary learning curve.

 

[IthacaMan]

I have a guide simular to these.It sets on the chain and the raker protrudes above the guide.Just file flush with the top.I think Baileys sells a guide like these.

 

[066blaster]

I do my rakers every third or so sharpening. as far as the cutters, It will take you a few times to get it right. you might notice a little play in the hinge of your grinder.. it is tough to just set the angles and let er rip. you would probly take too much off. use the play to get each one right without taking to much off. I have sharpened some of my chains 15 times and still going strong. i do my rakers on the saw , i hit them lightly with an electric hand grinder or dremel. Its easier and faster than changing wheels and messing with the chain grinder. I dont bother measuring them. my chains cut straight and fast

 

[066blaster]

I only use a grinder on my chains. The trick is to adjust the grinder, so that you only take off enough material to make the where the grinding wheel touches the tooth shiny again.Also I found that when I adjusted my grinder to the stihl chain spec sheet, the wheel does not conform to the grind on a brand new chain.So what I did was adjust the grinder to perfectly match the factory grind on a brand new chain,now when I touch them up they come out just like a new chain.I am able to touch them up several times before I file the rakers. Check to see if the way your grinder is set now matches the factory grind on a new chain.

I agree dont always go by the angles recomended. line it up with a new chain or lightly used one and you'll be good.

 

[Juliano]

I would offer the opinion that it's best to learn to hand-file first; that way, you understand the angles and how they parts of the chain work together. When you graduate to a grinder, you will waste less and make fewer mistakes. This is how I learned and I feel pretty solid on cutter geometry and what works and how and why. If you just dive right into a grinder without first "cutting your teeth" on hand-filing, it's likely that a few chains will be the unwitting victims a steeper-than-necessary learning curve.

Good, advice, read oregons saw and chain maintenance book(its free they will mail it to you), and some owners manuals have a good description of the sharpening process, be sure to round your depth gauges (rakers) and not just file them flat, you should understand all the parts of a cutter and what they do.
This stuff is so important you should take some formal training, if you are serious about learning and being Proffesional and you want to be proficient and understand the big picture I would start off with obtaining a proffessional chainsaw operators certificate or its American equivelant, you wont regret it

 

[066blaster]

Good, advice, read oregons saw and chain maintenance book(its free they will mail it to you), and some owners manuals have a good description of the sharpening process, be sure to round your depth gauges (rakers) and not just file them flat, you should understand all the parts of a cutter and what they do.
This stuff is so important you should take some formal training, if you are serious about learning and being Proffesional and you want to be proficient and understand the big picture I would start off with obtaining a proffessional chainsaw operators certificate or its American equivelant, you wont regret it

formal training? chainsaw operators certificate? WOW!

I threw away my grinder manual after i put it together. again manuals can get you close at best. Its not that hard, after 6 times you will be grinding your buddies chains with confidence.

 

[procarbine2k1]

Grind away, youll figure out what works for you and what doesnt- and you will continue to find ways to make a better cutting chain. It just takes time. As others have said, pick up a hand file and guide and spend time learning how to hand file as well. I bought a nice grinder a few years ago, but dont use it nearly as much as a file.

 

[lambs]

Alright guys I picked up an inexpensive chain grinder, and oregon knock off. I am looking to see if there is a set of numbers most of you guys use for 50-75 cc saws running 3/8, 50 gauge, full chisel mostly and some semi chisel chains. I have never sharpened chains successfully by hand, but never really gave it a true effort.

Any advice is helpful!!!

Someone should answer your question, so I'll give you my take on it. Swivel the vice 30 degrees, set the wheel at 60. With semi-chisel, that's a good starting point. With full chisel, you may want to try shifting the vise saddle 10 degrees to properly resurface the point on the cutters. Some do not do this; I do. As someone suggested, get the Oregon manual and go by that. Don't grind the cutters too hard; just tap the wheel into them. You can shine a small pen light up into the cutter to verify you resurfaced the entire face of the cutter. Start lightly and if you need to adjust the grind, do so in 1/8 turn increments on the adjustment screws.

Note that the vise swivel may not be accurate. I have to set it a little over 30 degrees to get 30. Some chains have lasered index marks on the top plate of each cutter so you can tell whether or not you're grinding or filing parallel with the index mark.

I check depth gauges each time I sharpen a chain and adjust as needed. I grind those too if they need to go down much. Set one on each side manually with a depth gauge tool, then index the grinding wheel on each one in turn, grinding all depth gauges on one side, then reset and grind the other side. The depth guage tools are good but you'll find they don't lower enough after a few grindings. Some people just lower these by hand in the field. Cut a little, and adjust them if needed, then try it again.

 

[Iron Head]

Gauge up the first tooth so the wheel barely touches the metal.
Tighten up everything, put a dot on that tooth with a sharpie, and off you go until you're back to the tooth with the black dot.
Not all tooth are the same. You can't do much on the depth but you can certainly pull the wheel in or out a little bit to get to the metal. I do use the stihl specs on all of my chains.
You got a grinder so don't even waste your time with a hand file. Just have a few chains available and you're set to go. Use them up and grind them all at the same time.
Hand filing will never be as sharp or consistent as a grinder.
Those who sharpen by hands either don't have a grinder, have too much time on their hands, or just have a natural talent for it.
The average person will only make the chain more F'd up with a hand file.

 

[KenJax Tree]

When do you touch up the rakers?

I hand sharpen and hit the rakers right out of the box.

 

[trophyhunter]

Alright guys I picked up an inexpensive chain grinder, and oregon knock off. I am looking to see if there is a set of numbers most of you guys use for 50-75 cc saws running 3/8, 50 gauge, full chisel mostly and some semi chisel chains. I have never sharpened chains successfully by hand, but never really gave it a true effort.

Any advice is helpful!!!

Another vote for learning how to file a chain properly, to really set up a grinder right and not heat treat the chain or remove way to much metal you have to know the hands on approach to getting angles right. It's pretty easy to do, and if there's someone you know that can spend a little work bench time with you ask for some help, it's a whole new experience running saws when you can make those chains razor sharp yourself.

I don't believe a grinder is the answer to a problem alot of people need when they get one.

I file brand new chains right off the roll before I use them. I don't own a Stihl saw but they have the best file guide in the business (FG 2) bench top model. Get one of those and forget that grinder, you'll be money ahead with extended chain life and ridding your saws of extra wear and tear.

I'll put a perfectly filed chain up against a ground one anyday...

 

[cutforfun]

Hand filing will never be as sharp or consistent as a grinder.
Those who sharpen by hands either don't have a grinder, have too much time on their hands, or just have a natural talent for it.
The average person will only make the chain more F'd up with a hand file.

I CALL. BS. Learn to file by hand and you will under stand what you are doing when you are using a grinder.

Once you cut with a properly hand filed chain the only thing better is square ground or square filed

 

[Philbert]

Lots of different ways to sharpen a chain. YOU have to decide what works for YOU.

Alright guys I picked up an inexpensive chain grinder, and oregon knock off.

There are several threads on 'tuning up' the knock-off grinders. Do a Search for 'Northern Tool Grinders' (one of the popular brands) and you will find a lot of useful information. Some grinders need a little help out of the box, or when acquired used. As Lambs noted, don't assume that it is dead-on accurate until you have 'calibrated' it against a new chain, or with an accurate protractor and micrometer.

The Oregon 511A manual is not perfect, but can be helpful.

- http://www.baileysonline.com/PDF/Oregon511amanual_english.pdf

I am looking to see if there is a set of numbers most of you guys use for 50-75 cc saws running 3/8, 50 gauge, full chisel mostly and some semi chisel chains.

Manufacturers post specific angles for their chains, but these are starting points to cover a wide range of users. For most chains, I start with a vise rotation of 30 degrees (Right and Left) and a grinding head angle of 55 to 60 degrees. You can vary these if you want - the key thing is to get both edges of each cutter sharp, and every cutter on a loop the same (angles, cutter length, depth gauge height).

Again, as Lambs noted, some people tilt their vise 10 degrees for full chisel chain. Some people don't. Some vises don't tilt (so this may not even be an option)!

- OREGON Maintenance and Safety Manual

Any advice is helpfu

1. Take your time. Use lots of light taps - if the cutter changes color you have overheated (and probably hardened it) - go back and take just a little more off to grind this part away.

2. Press each cutter down in the holding vise with a finger or stick as you tighten the vise clamp - holds it tighter (learned that here on A.S.!).

3. Dress the grinding wheel frequently with a carbide stone to keep the profile/shape, but also to expose fresh grit (reduces risk of burning).

4. Only take the wheel down as far as a round file would go - if you want to clean out the gullets, go back and do that on a later pass.

I check my depth gauges each time with an Oregon type tool. I hand file them if needed, because it is easier for me. Some guys like the progressive gauges - if the chain is not cutting aggressively enough, I just take a little more off.

Philbert

 

[c5rulz]

The average person will only make the chain more F'd up with a hand file.

I call BS, however you do have an out with the definition of "average".:chainsawguy:

 

[Ramair08]

I just got a grinder a couple months ago and after reading through thread after thread I picked up a lot of tips and tricks to making them work well. The first thing you should do is get a new chain like others have said and take your time getting the wheel lined up. You really need to do it on both sides of the cutters because the gauges on the unit are not perfect. I run mine at 62.5, 31, and 10 on right side and 62.5, 29, and 10 on the left and the chains cut real good. Another thing I did to mine was take the bottom vise off and polish it with a wire wheel to get rid of the casting flash and that made it much smoother to move and easier to tighten. And finally, don't be tempted to get in a hurry and take to much off at a time, even with a rocked chain just plan on taking it around 3 times instead of trying to use your grinder as a chop saw. Plan on using a junk chain to practice with so you don't feel bad when you turn the cutters all kinds of pretty shades of blue till you get the hang of it.

 

[Bingo]

Grinder sharpening

I use an NT grinder and it's not bad...if I take my time and set it up for each chain. When I got it I used some old chain and just set it to 60/30/0 and went to it. Didn't turn out too well and I was glad the chains were almost done. Then I said to heck w/the manual and started calibrating the wheel to the teeth on a new chain w/o cutting...just getting a feel for how the wheel and new cutters lined up...Just followed the angle of good cutters with the wheel aligned to the tooth front to back, barely scraping the whole tooth, regardless of what the alignment scale read. Now I'm doing my Stihl chains at 30º R and 27º L...taking off just enough to make tho whole tooth shine....That seems to work fine and they cut well. I think every grinder is aligned or trued differently to it's marked settings and you have to find what works best for your chains. Now I find I like to file best w/a file guide or the Husky roller guide and use the grinder to only reset the cutters when the chain is in bad shape. I like hand filing I guess and would probably trade the NT for an FG2 Stihl if I knew someone close that really wanted a grinder. You have to experiment with grinders. Once you find out what works best for yours you'll be ok. Just take your time at first and don't worry about the alignment scales on it. Their numbers aren't always accurate for you. Then all you have to do is dress the wheel correctly and keep and eye on the rakers. All the info given is what works.