Chain grinder setup

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vtfireman85

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my mother got father a chain grinder for Christmas a few years back at my suggestion unfortunately she got it at at TSC, not my suggestion. I wanted to take it back and get a better one but by that time my brother had torn the box open and lost a couple things.. so we have a TSC grinder. enclosed are the pictures of the adjustments per the chart in the manual, I use .058, 3/8 chains. what I am not sure of, am I going deep enough into the tooth.? I went from the 1/8 wheel to the 3/16 wheel, as the chart said either was ok. sugges appreciated. Particularly how far to adjust the down stroke of the grinder. B08F4C28-CAC6-4C8D-AD03-24C4F72C5743.jpeg2E425E40-7C4D-47EA-8044-EBF6D04E2619.jpegA7DA1B80-CAAF-423E-B0D4-EE612BAB1139.jpeg035D38B3-D2DE-4C4A-829E-426BD8393B4A.jpeg8F0FA9B8-EDF7-40AB-95F4-0F78663B4566.jpegF56FB272-6ECE-4F7B-89F5-68FB8256F9DC.jpeg
 
The last picture looks like you are not going in deep enough and your angle is just a bit to shallow. Have no worry, it will cut.

The great thing about grinders is that experiments are easy to do and easy to correct.

For me the grinder was a bridge in my learning. After a few years I am now free hand filing and the grinder was sold getting more then my moneys worth.
 
That looks to be a knock off of the Oregon 511 or Tecomec grinder.
Sure looks like the same motor anyway, and the vice with the tilt is the same... Anyway...
Ok, for what it is worth, I think you are doing very well. A few things I would change:
It looks like you are sharpening .325 pitch chain. There is a 5/32 wheel available that is in the middle of the wheel sizes you have. That is the one that I am using on .325 chain. On my grinder, I fudge just a smirch and set the angle at about 58 deg instead of 60. I don't tell people this, I just do it. I also use 30 deg instead of the 25 you are set up at in the pic. One other thing, the vice can "tilt". This helps with making a nice corner as it mimics the 10 deg upward angle towards the corner of the tooth. Just tilt the vice so that the wing of the cutter is higher (right and left cutters are opposite tilt...).

Keep Thy grinding wheel CLEAN. This is the single most important pointer I can make with anybody grinding chain.
Never, and I mean NEVER allow a dirty wheel to "heat" the cutter. Really bad things happen then.

Take your time, go slow. The grinder has a little "play" by design, if you watch what you are doing you can make consistent cutters, each side might be a slightly different length. You can compensate for that with the distance pawl.

whip out a screwdriver and do a little investigating. Open up the power switch, and see if the connections are available to the start winding. IF so... do a search on here for Reversing the Oregon 511a. There is a schematic that I posted on how to do it. The results are well worth the effort. What you do is run the motor in reverse on the left hand cutters. Yes it will shoot sparks at you!!! sit off to the left side so you can watch what you are doing! This keeps the chrome edge CLEAN!!!
A good indication of things working RIGHT is when that little whisper of chrome shoots off at the end of grinding a tooth.

You can stick a 1/4 inch wheel on there, and stand the grinder up to 90 deg to do the depth gauges. File the first one on a bar to set the depth you want, then set the grinder to the same on that tooth, and run around the chain. Everything ends up nice and even, and WAY faster than hand filing all those gauges.

My $0.03 worth (extra cent in there)
 
So a little deeper on the down stroke? I went too far on a couple, got into the DL a little, it’s un-fileable. I’m calling it a learning curve, I use it to touch up / true up between filings, or if ...say someone...hits a rock...or a piece of fence...or perhaps a spout..which happens more than you might think.
 
That looks to be a knock off of the Oregon 511 or Tecomec grinder.
Sure looks like the same motor anyway, and the vice with the tilt is the same... Anyway...
Ok, for what it is worth, I think you are doing very well. A few things I would change:
It looks like you are sharpening .325 pitch chain. There is a 5/32 wheel available that is in the middle of the wheel sizes you have. That is the one that I am using on .325 chain. On my grinder, I fudge just a smirch and set the angle at about 58 deg instead of 60. I don't tell people this, I just do it. I also use 30 deg instead of the 25 you are set up at in the pic. One other thing, the vice can "tilt". This helps with making a nice corner as it mimics the 10 deg upward angle towards the corner of the tooth. Just tilt the vice so that the wing of the cutter is higher (right and left cutters are opposite tilt...).

Keep Thy grinding wheel CLEAN. This is the single most important pointer I can make with anybody grinding chain.
Never, and I mean NEVER allow a dirty wheel to "heat" the cutter. Really bad things happen then.

Take your time, go slow. The grinder has a little "play" by design, if you watch what you are doing you can make consistent cutters, each side might be a slightly different length. You can compensate for that with the distance pawl.

whip out a screwdriver and do a little investigating. Open up the power switch, and see if the connections are available to the start winding. IF so... do a search on here for Reversing the Oregon 511a. There is a schematic that I posted on how to do it. The results are well worth the effort. What you do is run the motor in reverse on the left hand cutters. Yes it will shoot sparks at you!!! sit off to the left side so you can watch what you are doing! This keeps the chrome edge CLEAN!!!
A good indication of things working RIGHT is when that little whisper of chrome shoots off at the end of grinding a tooth.

You can stick a 1/4 inch wheel on there, and stand the grinder up to 90 deg to do the depth gauges. File the first one on a bar to set the depth you want, then set the grinder to the same on that tooth, and run around the chain. Everything ends up nice and even, and WAY faster than hand filing all those gauges.

My $0.03 worth (extra cent in there)
3/8 pitch, by keeping the cutting wheel clean I presume this requires frequent dressing with.....? I had an old piece of tool steel from the lathe I was using as I was unable to lay hands on a dressing stone. I have hand written in my chart to use 55 degrees on the tilt but was using 60 today as I can’t remember why and that is what the chart said.
 
In all honesty you have to pretty much ruin several chains to really learn how to run the grinder and get acceptable results. 8 years later I am still learning what works well, and knowing when I am messing it up. However! I am doing ALL the sharpening for the store out here on the Oregon, and am getting a good reputation for delivering a sharp chain, at a reasonable price. Like you mentioned, it only has to be sharp until it gets rocked out on something. then it don't matter...
Sharpening a "rocked" chain you are smarter to go around the thing twice, sometimes three times. DOn't try and remove that much in one pass!

Ok, 3/8 pitch uses the 3/16 wheel. The 1/8 is good for low profile stuff
 
I use 55 25, and I also tilt the chain away from the wheel. I think your cutter is deep enough the way it is, perhaps just a little tiny bit too deep.
I would back the tooth off like Old Guy mentioned and grind out the gullet as deep as it is up near the depth gauge.
Nothing at all wrong with that grinder, by the way. I had one just like it and could make a great chain
 
I use 55 25, and I also tilt the chain away from the wheel. I think your cutter is deep enough the way it is, perhaps just a little tiny bit too deep.
I would back the tooth off like Old Guy mentioned and grind out the gullet as deep as it is up near the depth gauge. Nothing at all wrong with that grinder, by the way. I had one just like it and could make a great chain
You would be surprised at how many rather expensive grinders do not allow you to tilt the chain away from the wheel. I have never understood why. I always do. And, as Patrick62 said, "I also use 30 deg instead of the 25 you are set up at in the pic." Add yet another degree or so if you tilt the chain.
 
You would be surprised at how many rather expensive grinders do not allow you to tilt the chain away from the wheel. I have never understood why. I always do. And, as Patrick62 said, "I also use 30 deg instead of the 25 you are set up at in the pic." Add yet another degree or so if you tilt the chain.
So 2 or 3 degrees or the 10 on my chart?
 
The great thing about grinders is that experiments are easy to do and easy to correct.
Yes.

The most important thing about sharpening (file, grinder, Dremel, etc.) is to know what you want your cutters to look like when you are through. The grinder is not automatic; YOU sharpen the chain - the grinder (file, etc.) is just the tool that you use. Take a new chain, or one that cuts the way you like, and compare how those cutters look to yours. Or mount the new chain in your grinder (motor off) and experiment with the grinder settings until you can match or copy that profile. then go back and look at the numbers.

Here is a general idea:
Grind as You File.png
That looks to be a knock off of the Oregon 511 or Tecomec grinder
Yes.

There are a lot of those 'clone' grinders out there. The same tips apply as for the 'original' versions:
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/511a-grinder-improvements-tweaks.197073/
Take lots of little taps.
Dress your wheels frequently to expose fresh abrasive.
Consider buying higher quality wheels if not satisfied with the ones supplied.
Philbert
 
Subscribed. After several years of hand filing I picked up a grinder as a way to fix rocked chains. Seems every saw I acquire has a rocked chain or two with it.
 
Note the "profiled grinding wheel" illustration above, if you go deeper than that with the grinding wheel the cutter will no longer be hollow ground. They
will still cut, but the edge won't be quite as sharp as it could be. If you need to clean out the gullets you can always do that in a separate operation.

Mark
 
my mother got father a chain grinder for Christmas a few years back at my suggestion unfortunately she got it at at TSC, not my suggestion. I wanted to take it back and get a better one but by that time my brother had torn the box open and lost a couple things.. so we have a TSC grinder. enclosed are the pictures of the adjustments per the chart in the manual, I use .058, 3/8 chains. what I am not sure of, am I going deep enough into the tooth.? I went from the 1/8 wheel to the 3/16 wheel, as the chart said either was ok. sugges appreciated. Particularly how far to adjust the down stroke of the grinder. View attachment 861454View attachment 861455View attachment 861456View attachment 861457View attachment 861458View attachment 861459
[/QUOTE

Looks great, I wouldn't change a thing. Keep the rakers the right height. Steve]
 
Thank you everyone! I learn more daily. The illustrations are great! I do well with pictures...
People go too deep and it uses the flat side of the wheel to sharpen the cutter. This is why a hand filed cutter always is sharper to that grinding style. Use Philberts images to realize what needs to be done to properly grind a chain. Also learn what is actually doing the cutting and it will all come together why it’s not necessary to go deep. Deep only creates more heat, nothing more.
 
People go too deep and it uses the flat side of the wheel to sharpen the cutter. This is why a hand filed cutter always is sharper to that grinding style. Use Philberts images to realize what needs to be done to properly grind a chain. Also learn what is actually doing the cutting and it will all come together why it’s not necessary to go deep. Deep only creates more heat, nothing more.
Why does square ground chain cut faster, the cutters are the same as getting the wheel low enough so the side of the wheel hits the face of the tooth. The biggest mistake with a grinder is not getting the wheel low enough resulting in no hook angle on the cutters. Philberts images are just coming from the Oregon manual (which I threw away after reading that bs} Oregon is just worried about liability in that manual not wanting a aggressive chain that actually cuts. Steve
 
Why does square ground chain cut faster, the cutters are the same as getting the wheel low enough so the side of the wheel hits the face of the tooth. The biggest mistake with a grinder is not getting the wheel low enough resulting in no hook angle on the cutters. Philberts images are just coming from the Oregon manual (which I threw away after reading that bs} Oregon is just worried about liability in that manual not wanting a aggressive chain that actually cuts. Steve
Hook comes from tilt, not depth. Sharpen the cutter then back it away and clean out the gullet.
 
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