This is not making so much sense to me. If you buy a saw with an extra chain and the chain cost you an extra $22. You use the saw and chain over a weekend so now you have two chains that need sharpening. You take the chains to a shop for sharpening you spend an hour driving to the shop and $14 and then another hour to pick them up. So you have invested at least $50 in your two chains to cut wood the next week end. Add this times four times for each pair of chains and what is the cost for your chains. If you spend $200 on a chain grinder and a reel of chain it still would be much cheaper then taking your chain off and on to your saw shop. Or spend $300 on a reel of chain and files that will last you a life time if you are a weekend cutter. Anybody can learn to file a chain, but if you really can not invest two hours in to learning how to file a chain then maybe a grinder is the way to go. Of course there is no grinder that will sharpen a chain as sharp or last as long or as fast as getting out a file and clamp. Now if you have more than one saw it gets even more complicated. For me having at least three reels of chain and a hundred files and a clamp then I am set up with a dozen spare chains for every saw will last at least a few years of cutting a hundred cords a year. Thanks
Shop Re-Sharpened Chains vs. Factory
- Thread starter John Lyngdal
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This is not making so much sense to me. If you buy a saw with an extra chain and the chain cost you an extra $22. You use the saw and chain over a weekend so now you have two chains that need sharpening. You take the chains to a shop for sharpening you spend an hour driving to the shop and $14 and then another hour to pick them up. So you have invested at least $50 in your two chains to cut wood the next week end. Add this times four times for each pair of chains and what is the cost for your chains. If you spend $200 on a chain grinder and a reel of chain it still would be much cheaper then taking your chain off and on to your saw shop. Or spend $300 on a reel of chain and files that will last you a life time if you are a weekend cutter. Anybody can learn to file a chain, but if you really can not invest two hours in to learning how to file a chain then maybe a grinder is the way to go. Of course there is no grinder that will sharpen a chain as sharp or last as long or as fast as getting out a file and clamp. Now if you have more than one saw it gets even more complicated. For me having at least three reels of chain and a hundred files and a clamp then I am set up with a dozen spare chains for every saw will last at least a few years of cutting a hundred cords a year. Thanks
Cycledude
ArboristSite Operative
I used to file my chains freehand and yes they would cut pretty good but after a few sharpenings they would start to cut crooked so I would take them to the dealer and let them straighten them out, they charge $7 per chain which seems reasonable enough to me, but one day when I was picking up the sharpened chains I asked about the Husqvarna roller files they were selling, they took a few minutes to show me how they worked so I bought one for a little over $20 and haven't needed to take a chain back to get straightened out since, I haven't done any actual testing to see if they cut as good as a brandnew chain but it sure seems like it. Lots of guys claim to sharpen their chains in 10 minutes or less well it takes me quite a bit longer than that but as long as they cut good I'm very well satisfied, I suppose if I was sharpening chains almost every day I would get a little faster at it.
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Everyone should invest in a chain grinder! They could quit their day job, and retire early on all of the money they could make off of their sharpening for friends and neighbors!!
Still waiting for you to mail me all of your chains to sharpen!
Philbert
Philbert
JimMorrison
The wind blows em down and I cut em up
You would make a fun neighbor. I would ignore you for weeks, but when I was ready to party, I'd throw rocks at your door til you came out. We could drink and grill, then go down to the corner and beat up some pedestrians.
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He will try and shoot your cats tail off -- thought it was a raccoon going after the garbage. I'd tell the kids to be ready to run. Always.
JimMorrison
The wind blows em down and I cut em up
Sounds about right, but that's what a fun neighbor does.
Little Al
Addicted to ArboristSite
Talking to 2or 3 guys in the local dealers waiting to get their chains sharpened, I asked why they did not sharpen their chains, 2 said they hadn't a clue what or how to, but the third guys answer was a surprise He said he knows nothing about a saw other than how to start, use, & refuel/oil it His son changes his chains & he said he had no interest in as he put it, getting into "if's & but's" of its operation He said all I do with my car is put fuel in & drive it why should I be different with my garden tractor or chainsaw,at least it keeps other folk in work & making a living, although to me it's a strange attitude. Each to his own.
Khntr85
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yep, the average homeowner that uses a saw has no clue how to maintain a chain....their definition of sharp is a chain fresh out of the box!!!!
You would not believe the things I have heard buying/selling saws, and grinding people's chains....it's amazing!!!
Khntr85
Addicted to ArboristSite
You would be surprised how little the actual "homeowner" knows about chainsaws, quite frankly it's scary.....I sell saws to people sometimes that shouldn't be aloud to operate a hand saw!!!!!
And you can get a great edge with a grinder, just takes practice and a pinch of basic motor skills....I have learned that a lot of people down grinders because of chains they have seen their "local" shop grind....I once thought the excact same thing myself.....we have a local shop that straight butchers people's chains.....you would think Stevie wonder operates the grinder....well sure enough I wanted to find out for myself if grinders work or not, let's just say I am glad I did!!!!
Khntr85
Addicted to ArboristSite
Lol!!!!
As hard as it may be to grasp, some people just don't have the skills to hand file....some just don't want to learn....some are happy paying someone else to sharpen their chains....
I like being able to grind when I don't have much time, and have a lot of chains to sharpen.....if I am not in a hurry, or I am out in the woods I will continue to hand file...I personally like both methods....i used to use a granberg, and you can turn out a great chain with it....all methods have plus and minuses, I won't "down" any of them!!!!!!
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Most of the guys that are familiar with chainsaws, has no clue how to maintain a chain.....
Khntr85
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yes sir, I agree 110%!!!!!
Its amazing to me that some of these peoples saws last as long as they do!!!!
There are a good number of folks that join here and have lager saws than I do that choose to post questions instead of looking in the owners manual which would seem available on line. I do not know if they own a home or not. File sharpening, depth gauge adjusting, and file diameter are in the manuals for the stuff I have.
Banguts
ArboristSite Member
Honestly, I don't really know too much about engines, which, to me, is upsetting. I don't like the idea of owning something I can't fix or work on for the most part. That said, I'm not gonna walk to work with a bunch or hand tools in a wheelbarrow! The whole mechanical/metal industry is something I never got to learn as a kid, due in part to my dad not knowing it. He did however teach me many of the in's and out's of carpentry/masonry/tile/etc.. and instilled a pretty decent work ethic. Though it took a number of years for me to put those things to good use, my priority outta school was skating/partying/growing weed.. now, though, I'm trying to learn everything I can about whatever I can, which can be frustrating at times. Not enough hours in a day!! So I can kinda see the short term benefits of not knowing those things and having someone else keep up on the maintenance, but once I became open to learning... The information is never going to stop coming in, which the present day Me is more than happy about!
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We can't all be experts on everything. My first was a Poulon, that I used once a year or less. I would mount the chains backwards as often as not. It's only when I had to cut multiple cords of wood as my primary source of heat did I get serious about my saws and chains. And it took help from a neighbor to get me headed in the right direction.
I've offered to help others, and sometimes they just don't have the patience to listen and think about it all. Their priorities are not on saws. When it works, great, and when it doesn't, let someone else "fix it".
I've offered to help others, and sometimes they just don't have the patience to listen and think about it all. Their priorities are not on saws. When it works, great, and when it doesn't, let someone else "fix it".
Khntr85
Addicted to ArboristSite
Banguts
ArboristSite Member
Rumor has it.. i dont think its enacted yet, though. Pretty sure they are still trying to figure out all the nooks and crannies, fine tuning the specifics of the taxation and regulations. I think my script is still posted that expired back in 2012, haha. Never worried too much about it and never really had any run in's with the authorities. I think because I was never one of those obnoxious neighbors, I never got greedy about it or tried "blowin it up," and I've always been a fairly private person (don't have a bunch of people over partying or leaving a bunch of beer cans all over the yard. That's what other people's houses are for, lol)Hey man you in cali, growin those flowers is legal!!!!
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