Uneven Chain Sharpening by Dealer w/pics

[iowawoodcutter]

Wanted to ask you experts and dealers about the chain sharpening I had done by a dealer here in the Quad Cities recently. I took in two 20" 33 RSC chains to have sharpened, both were fairly new, I would say I have run the file across them 20 to 25 times (total strokes), so most of the cutterheads were still there. Well first thing I noticed is they ground them down to almost half way!! Then I looked further and they had ground one side more than the other. Now I am not a expert so I was thinking, is this going to cause any negative effects when cutting? I would think my cuts would start to look cresent shaped or curved??? Am I right on this, do I need to go have a talk with the dealer about their sharpening?

Is 7.00$ per chain a resonable price also? Seemed high to me, but I usually sharpen my own, just did not have time this time.

Iowa

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Looks like he is in the chain selling business.

Another sharpening like that one and you wont have much left to work with.

 

[secureland]

Cut with it and report back

 

[rtrsam]

To really make a judgement on how he sharpened your chain we'd need a "before" picture. Regardless how many strokes you'd put on the chain before, how dull was it? Did he have to grind it that far back to get a sharp working corner? I've seen brand new chains ground into the dirt real hard where you had to grind off about half the teeth to get them back to really sharp.

Cutter lengths do appear to be off, but that might have been required to get each side sharp. In theory, this might cause a crooked cut, but not so much in my experience. As long as both sides are truly sharp, you should cut okay. Might show up in a really big log, say a 48" bar, but less than that and not likely to be noticeable.

a bigger issue is it appears he got into your drivers a little bit. Two things there, one your picture shows only the view from the top and not the side. Did you get an extreme hook tooth shape? Gonna get dull faster and more prone to kickback. Second thing, his grinding wheel cut real deep and knicked your drive teeth, well, that's where chains usually break.

Also if he took off a lot of cutter tooth, you might need to check your rakers. relief angle along top of cutter means the rakers need to come down a little as the cutter gets shorter

 

[iowawoodcutter]

To really make a judgement on how he sharpened your chain we'd need a "before" picture. Regardless how many strokes you'd put on the chain before, how dull was it? Did he have to grind it that far back to get a sharp working corner? I've seen brand new chains ground into the dirt real hard where you had to grind off about half the teeth to get them back to really sharp.

Cutter lengths do appear to be off, but that might have been required to get each side sharp. In theory, this might cause a crooked cut, but not so much in my experience. As long as both sides are truly sharp, you should cut okay. Might show up in a really big log, say a 48" bar, but less than that and not likely to be noticeable.

a bigger issue is it appears he got into your drivers a little bit. Two things there, one your picture shows only the view from the top and not the side. Did you get an extreme hook tooth shape? Gonna get dull faster and more prone to kickback. Second thing, his grinding wheel cut real deep and knicked your drive teeth, well, that's where chains usually break.

Also if he took off a lot of cutter tooth, you might need to check your rakers. relief angle along top of cutter means the rakers need to come down a little as the cutter gets shorter

Yes, they did do the rakes, but not that well. Some of the angles actually dive into the cutter head. I would think that would be dangerous as it is not following the angle that is stamped into the chain? Also, some of the cutter heads have "blued" where their wheel ground. Assume this will not hold the edge as well either anymore???

I did look again and every single on of the drive teeth is knicked as you stated above. I did not notice that, thanks!


thanks again!
Iowa

 

[Chuck Diesel]

Measure the tooth lenth with calipers. They should be even.

 

[blackdogon57]

Measure the tooth length with calipers.

Exactly. They should be dead even. If they are not exact the guy who sharpened your chain does not know what he is doing. Even if they were not even when you took them in they should have been even when you got them back.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Looks like he is in the chain selling business.

Another sharpening like that one and you won't have much left to work with.

+1. That's atrocious and after it happened to me a couple of times, I started sharpening my own chains with one of these:

Granberg 12-volt precision grinder

It's not uncommon for me to sharpen a chain a dozen times with this grinder before the chain is through. And, all the teeth stay the same size.

 

[olyman]

me thinks id not go back there again--he likes to sell chain---

 

[Wet1]

+1. That's atrocious and after it happened to me a couple of times, I started sharpening my own chains with one of these:

Granberg 12-volt precision grinder

It's not uncommon for me to sharpen a chain a dozen times with this grinder before the chain is through. And, all the teeth stay the same size.

Where did you get that little contraption? What does it use for bits/stones and how often do they need to be changed?

 

[ms310]

yes i noticed he got the cutters hot (blue)_ you are correct in thinking it wont hold a sharp edge as long

 

[Ductape]

I used to hand file my chains, then would pay to have them sharpened every so often. I was paying from $6 to $14 dizzy: ). Then...... reading the great reviews here, i bought this http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200327449_200327449 from Northern Tool and never looked back. You may be thinking..... "a hundred bucks is alot compared to the $14 i just spent", but how many times per year do you pay to have a chain sharpened? You will have this for a long time. Do a search on this site for these..... there are long threads on them. My advice....... buy a Northern chain grinder !!!

 

[ms310]

I used to hand file my chains, then would pay to have them sharpened every so often. I was paying from $6 to $14 dizzy: ). Then...... reading the great reviews here, i bought this http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200327449_200327449 from Northern Tool and never looked back. You may be thinking..... "a hundred bucks is alot compared to the $14 i just spent", but how many times per year do you pay to have a chain sharpened? You will have this for a long time. Do a search on this site for these..... there are long threads on them. My advice....... buy a Northern chain grinder !!!

Wea (my brother and i) sharpen about 10 chains a week by hand. I have been thinking of one of those northern sharpeners but, was wondering if they were any good? I am glad to see you like it, how long does it take you to sharpen a chain with one of those?

 

[olyman]

ductape--i always have hand sharpened--but--i bought the same grinder, and got the shims from the stihl man--(read the northern thread)--and i no longer hand sharpen--the cutters always stay the same length--takes but a bit to remove the chain--as have three for the same saw---so always have a sharp one when away cutting---best money ever spent

 

[Wood Doctor]

Where did you get that little contraption? What does it use for bits/stones and how often do they need to be changed?

Here's a URL:
http://onlinestore.forestindustry.com/scripts/granbergint/subcat?mv_session_id=9vo3akFF&mv_pc=43&area_id=1356&area_name=12%20Volt%20Chainsaw%20Sharpeners

It uses stones the exact diameter of the recommended file size and spins them at about 20,000 RPM. The setup takes a couple of minutes to get the angles and height adjustments on the nose, but it's worth it. Total sharpening time is usually less than ten minutes per chain. You get good at it after a few sharpenings.

One nice feature is that you can use it out in the field on either the truck battery or a jump start power supply. So, I take it with me in the truck toolbox in case I hit the ground with the saw.

For $75 or less, you can't beat it. Payback is 10 sharpenings. Granberg stands behind it. In ten years I have replaced the drive belt once, and that's about all the maintenance it needs. My stones usually last about 15 sharpenings apiece.

One last other nice feature: you leave the chain on the saw while you sharpen.

 

[Zodiac45]

I used to hand file my chains, then would pay to have them sharpened every so often. I was paying from $6 to $14 dizzy: ). Then...... reading the great reviews here, i bought this http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200327449_200327449 from Northern Tool and never looked back. You may be thinking..... "a hundred bucks is alot compared to the $14 i just spent", but how many times per year do you pay to have a chain sharpened? You will have this for a long time. Do a search on this site for these..... there are long threads on them. My advice....... buy a Northern chain grinder !!!

+1 I have a speed sharp that I found on E-bay for $120 and have had it for 4 years. I do mine and a couple neighbors chains and barter for eggs and produce.

That said the "dealer" you took your chains too seems too really have butchered them IMO. There's never an reason too too grind off that much material and if there was, you'd do it in several passes. The key too good results with a grinder, is a very light touch and good set up before you begin. I just barely "skim" mine and the results are very sharp and fast cutting. I'll do the rakers every 3 or so sharpenings or as needed.

 

[crowbuster]

After a similar incident where half the never sharpened chain was taken down to half, I bought a grinder and never looked back. It was $4 a pop to have sharpened back then so I figured it wouldn't take long to pay for a grinder only getting 2-3 sharpenings per chain, and yes he liked to sell chain.

C.B.

 

[jeeptj19992001]

geee boss i always wanted to sharpen chains....

 

[stihl sawing]

I took a brand new stihl 25 inch chain to one of the dealers here and they took half the cutter off, some teeth more than half, It had not been rocked out just dull. Now i sharpen my own.

 

[iowawoodcutter]

Uneven Chain Sharpen part 2 (me bent over)

So I went to the dealer and told him of the problems I had with his chain sharpening.

1. Taking 30-40% of the cutterhead off.
2. Left side and Right Side cutters not the same length.
3. Drive links were ground into with the wheel.
4. Most of the cutters were blue'd.
5. Raker sharpened too low. 20-30% of the cutter life left but the rakers were filed past the mark.

Well here are the responses he gave me for each.

1. That is standard
2. Yeah, we messed up, we will resharpen it again for you.
3. This wont affect anything, still safe to use.
4. This is standard because of the chrome plating on the cutterheads.
5. yeah, we messed up but we can resharpen all the cutters so they will be within spec.

As you can see there is no way I want him to resharpen and most of his answers to the above are bogus as you all know. So he asked me what I want? I tell him I want two new chains (for which I will pay 25% of the cost since 25% of the cutterheads were already gone) and refund my 14 dollars for the sharpening. He says he cant do that and will give me one new chain or the cash for one, 28$. To which I reply, so basically you lose 14 dollars and I lose two chains which were 75% good? He says that is the best and all I will do.

So I take my 28$ to a different dealer for a couple new chains and tell him the story. He listens and says "I bet you got those sharpened at "xxx xxxx xxxx" didn't you? (If anyone live in Davenport or the Quad Cities and wants to know the name of the place, PM me)

Nice....

C