I made my my own shim and washer for the Northern grinder

I was unable to buy any shims for the northern grinder from the generous as members that were making them and selling them so I made my own.

Anyone could do it with simple tools.

I went to the hobby shop and purchased a 4" X 10" sheet of .010 brass shim stock for about $5.00

To cut the shim I used a straight edge and clamped the sheet between a cutting board and the straight edge. Brass is soft enough to cut with a sharp utility knife so that is what I used. I simply ran the utility knife along the straight edge until I cut through.

For the washer I used a compass to draw the circles on the remaining brass and cut the brass to rough shape using a good sharp tin snips.

I fine tuned the washer with a belt sander. I clamped the handle of the belt sander in my vise and used the roller in the front to fine tune the inside diameter and the flat part of the belt sander to fine tune the outside. I is a little tricky but it worked.

I did the inside first then held the washer on the aluminum swivel base and sanded the outside of the washer to fit.

I will put grease on all the parts to help it operate smoothly and hopefully slow wear.

Stainless steel would be better but stainless shim stock is very expensive and harder to work with. I will find out how long the brass will last although I am sure it will not last as long as the stainless steel shims and washers.

I hope this helps anyone who is wanting shims for their grinder.

Oh I forgot to mention the shim is 3/16" - 7/32" wide.

The washer ID is 3.150" and the OD is 3.550"

why?

you cant polish a turd. you spent more money than the northern grinder is worth. buy a milwaukee

I have to say my Northern grinder has held up very well and am glad I got it. I'm not cutting everyday but it has proven to be a very reliable machine, plus you can't beat the convenience of having it in your own garage! Congrats on fashioning your shim and washer, it's good to be handy.

for being a turd...

trek488 said:

you cant polish a turd. you spent more money than the northern grinder is worth. buy a milwaukee

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There sure were a lot of them bought last year.. And basically kn one except you bashed them.
Oh and by the way welcome to the site.
I was not even aware that Milwaukee even made a chainsaw grinder. Please give us a link so we can check it out.

ericjeeper said:

trek488 said:

you cant polish a turd. you spent more money than the northern grinder is worth. buy a milwaukee

Click to expand...

There sure were a lot of them bought last year.. And basically no one except you bashed them.
Oh and by the way welcome to the site.
I was not even aware that Milwaukee even made a chainsaw grinder. Please give us a link so we can check it out.

Click to expand...

A bit quick on the button there speedy........ we're talking chain grinders.





(Of course it could be he's watched that sharpening video on you-boob)

Erick said:

A bit quick on the button there speedy........ we're talking chain grinders.

(Of course it could be he's watched that sharpening video on you-boob)

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First post jitters????

trek488 said:

you cant polish a turd. you spent more money than the northern grinder is worth. buy a milwaukee

Click to expand...

:notrolls2:

trek488 said:

you cant polish a turd. you spent more money than the northern grinder is worth. buy a milwaukee

Click to expand...

Now that's a fun post. Just incoherent enough to be enjoyable.

BTW, my "turd" has sharpened hundreds of chain teeth and ground nearly as many rakers, with no issues to date. Well worth all the money that could have been used to buy Charmin.

I put it all together last night. It works great. I used some synthetic grease to lubricate all moving parts and everything moves much more smoothly now.

This was really a great Idea by Raised By Wolves

http://www.arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=555793&postcount=187

nice going Cheap stuff can be improved with patience and a littel hand-finishing, it has its place in the world like everything else. unless it's a real crock brass shims should be ok for anything that doesn't require constant motion 24/7. With the right grease they'll last forever.

older Jaguars, now... shims a go go, the rear suspension geometry is set with shims, the front wishbone balljoints are shimmed instead of being replaceable, they can be maintained for years and years. Bloody horrible job tbh :censored: