krushing73
ArboristSite Operative
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2013
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I normally use a dremel with a chainsaw guide that screws on the end of the dremel. I bought off amazon. It works fine for a weekend warrior.
Forgot to add a vid that I find very good about how to work with the HF grinder.
I find it interesting that someone that doesnt like the chain grinders, will take their saw chains to a shop to have them precision sharpened on a chain grinder at $5 a pop. Especially when you can buy one of those chain grinders for about $30. Sharpen 6 chains yourself and the grinder is paid for. Take out for your gas and time to drive to the saw shop and the pay back is much faster.I tried to watch the video to see what I been missing with a chain sharpener all these years. It looked like too much work even before I hit the 2 minute mark! Been hand filing for 10 years with good results. When I put in the dirt accidentally, they go in for a sharpening at 5 bucks a pop. Over the years I have become careful not to put them in the dirt
This theme has seldom to do with logic...I find it interesting that someone that doesnt like the chain grinders, will take their saw chains to a shop to have them precision sharpened on a chain grinder at $5 a pop. Especially when you can buy one of those chain grinders for about $30. Sharpen 6 chains yourself and the grinder is paid for. Take out for your gas and time to drive to the saw shop and the pay back is much faster.
I find it interesting that someone that doesnt like the chain grinders, will take their saw chains to a shop to have them precision sharpened on a chain grinder at $5 a pop. Especially when you can buy one of those chain grinders for about $30. Sharpen 6 chains yourself and the grinder is paid for. Take out for your gas and time to drive to the saw shop and the pay back is much faster.
No way around the fact that a big wheel grinder make straight cuts and a file or small wheel/ dremmel/ Oregon 12 etc make round cuts.
Re-reading my post, it did look like i was singleing you out, but that wasnt my intention. Lots of folks will talk about how bad grinders are, but will readily take a chain to the saw shop, to be put on a grinder, just to get their angles back right. For the cost of sharpening just a few chains, they can own their own grinder and do it themself. I have one of those harbor freight grinders and use it to keep my chains true, but as I said in a earlier post, I always hit the chain with a file after i use the grinder. I think a file sharpening cuts better than a chain right off the grinder. To me, and it is visible in the video of the harbor freight grinder also, grinding will leave a burr on the cutting edge, hitting the chain with a file afterwards, gets rid of the burrs. No burrs and the chain cuts better and stays sharp longer.Did not say I have negative feelings about grinders, just looks like a PITA- and more crap laying around the garage. Hand filing works for me. Have to make a stop at the shop a couple times a year anyway to pick up goodies and shoot the bull with my pals there. Some years I have a chain or two to drop off, sometimes not. We all do what works.
Dont really agree about the chain loss, again, it depends on the user. I use a grinder to just shine up the tooth. If you dont hit a rock or plough with the chain, just a light polishing is all it really needs. I will agree that using a file will keep the edge longer, but you can take off more tooth than necessary to sharpen a chain with a file just as easily as you can with a grinder. A grinder will keep the teeth more uniform which improves the quality of the cut.The big wheel grinder always has precision angle cuts but at a cost of more chain loss and sharpening that looses it's edge much quicker.
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Not so...muddstopper,
Think of it this way a ground tooth stay sharp about 50 - 70% as long as a filed tooth.
Each grind has to remove a flat sheet of metal to sharpen a tooth and a file is removing mainly metal under the tooth.
If you have a very light touch with a grinder 10- 20 % more material on each cut and have to cut them 30 - 50 % more often.
Now, the most important question this morning is who wants to fix 2 chains I used to stump yesterday...
. . . a grinder wheel surface is flat, it's going to give a flat tooth cut no matter what angle of attack.
If you have a grinder with a round end then you will get the bottom of the tooth round but the cutting tip is still a flat cut.
Think of it this way a ground tooth stay sharp about 50 - 70% as long as a filed tooth.
Each grind has to remove a flat sheet of metal to sharpen a tooth and a file is removing mainly metal under the tooth.
If you have a very light touch with a grinder 10- 20 % more material on each cut and have to cut them 30 - 50 % more often.
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