Your cost to have saw chains ground?

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Used to be $5 for a 32" loop cut round. $7 for a square both with the drags in that price that guy did a damn good job. He is closed down now and the next two places are round only and no drags for $13.99 and $14.99 skip chain. Full comp is half again as much then every tooth is blued and burred somethin fierce. Been rat holing some bucks working on getting my own round grinder. My hands don't like that file so much any more, I ain't that old yet either.


Owl
theres a huge thread on here--if your good at using the search, for the northern grinder. for the cash, it cant be beat--aint but a bit short as accurate as the way more expensive ones--after i got mine set--nuts on hand filing---and can file with the best--
 
I bought the Northern grinder on my credit card for a friend but he never did put the dam thing together. I plan on buying another one for myself but until then I take mine to the shop down the road. $5 a loop, $10 if you leave it on the saw. No rakers. I always hand file mine and only take them in to be ground if they are rocked. Anytime you take them in they grind most of the meat out of the chain and burn it up. What do they care, they'd just as soon sell you a new chain.
 
So who's got what in terms of square grinders? I'll end up buying one here in a week or two, just wondering what's out there and how well it works...
 
So who's got what in terms of square grinders? I'll end up buying one here in a week or two, just wondering what's out there and how well it works...

We use both the Silvey Pro Sharp and the Silvey Razor II. The Pro Sharp is the cadillac, very easy to use, great if you're doing lots of chains or having a few different guys using it.

The Razor is perfectly fine if it's just yourself using it. Every guy who uses one seems to have a few little tricks to getting their chains cutting just so. Once you get on to some of them you'll be fine. (And it's alot cheaper!)
 
So who's got what in terms of square grinders? I'll end up buying one here in a week or two, just wondering what's out there and how well it works...

Silvey is the only chisel grinder I found and I purchased mine at Baileys. They are not cheap!

Also the manufacturer assumes you have been grinding square ground chains since you were a kid and can assemble and use the grinder in your sleep! Thus they include VERY limited instructions!

I called the Silvey manufacturer and they sent me out the FULL instructions.

Then don't go by the settings as it ships and don't go by the sticky labels as to adjusting the grinding wheel up/down and in/out. When I first got it, I started happily sharpening my chains and suddenly realized the grinding wheel was grinding into the chain links! So I ruined several chains.

Then I readjusted it to the way common sense would have you adjust it and not per the instructions and labels. Now no more problems.

Luckily I can also make my own new chains, so no big deal. I painted the wrecked chains red and now use these to adjust the grinder.

One measurement label on my grinder looks skewed, so maybe someone put it on wrong? Maybe the labels on other grinders are just fine?

Baileys only has a couple of "chisel grinders"...
(Click 2, 3, etc. at bottom)
http://www.baileysonline.com/search.asp?CatID=152&skw=KW145
 
Thanks for the info! I figured there would be a learning curve, so I kept a couple of fouled up chains around for guinnea pigs. I was given a Silvey SDM-4, but it's a basket case and don't know if it's worth salvaging...
 
So who's got what in terms of square grinders? I'll end up buying one here in a week or two, just wondering what's out there and how well it works...

Simington is back in business and they are definitely worth a look. I don't know about the other models, but the 451C swing arm chisel grinder is $789. That is quite a bit cheaper than the similar Silvey swing arm model from Bailey's. The Silvey swing arm appears to be based off of an older Simington model (maybe the 450).

Simington's phone number is 1-888-247-6702.
 
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Simington is back in business and they are definitely worth a look. I don't know about the other models, but the 451C swing arm chisel grinder is $789. That is quite a bit cheaper than the similar Silvey swing arm model from Bailey's. The Silvey swing arm appears to be based off of an older Simington model (maybe the 450).

Simington's phone number is 1-888-247-6702.

Thanks, I'll give em a call....
 
Finally figured out both chisel and square grinds by hand... not worth the time. Send 'em in? Not worth the money. Nobody ever seems to pay any attention to the rakers. I'll just take care of my own chains, thank you very much. Round ground is probably the best cost/time/speed ratio available. I use what works. Not a hotsaw guy. Just need the saw to work, all the time.
 
Northerntool.com

theres a huge thread on here--if your good at using the search, for the northern grinder. for the cash, it cant be beat--aint but a bit short as accurate as the way more expensive ones--after i got mine set--nuts on hand filing---and can file with the best--

Yeah I got one of those , they are fantastic , chinese copy of the italian made oregon . Cheers MM
 

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