chain grinder from northern tool

[pelhamjeff]

Northern Tool just sent me notification that they have a chain grinder on sale for $119, down from $129...I know it's not gonna be the nicest one on the market, but I was just trying to decide weather to buy this one or save a whole bunch more money and get one of the high dollar Oregons. The ad doesn't give a brand name, but it's item 193020 in Northern's catalog. Has anybody had any experience with one of these? I have seen really cheap ones in the Harbor Freight catalog for $39, and I have to think Northern's is better than that....I appreciate any advice yall would give me! Thanks!

 

[RAMROD48]

Boy that looks alot like the older model 511a from Oregon....

 

[Ductape]

Feel free to use the search function for 600 pages of reading on the northern tool chain grinder. General consensus is, they are decent for the money. I definitely like mine.

 

[YoungBuck44]

i use a foley belsaw chainmate grinder and bar grinder, not a northern tool but i figure most chain grinders are worth(are there some brands to avoid?) it i dislike using a file unless im in the woods, but im gonna pick up a couple more chains that way i dont have to stop and file i can just switch out.

 

[lambs]

That's what it is

Boy that looks alot like the older model 511a from Oregon....

Make sure the chain vise both swivels and rocks 10 degrees forward and back. And it looks like that is the case from the pictures. This enables it to be set up for grinding chisel chain.

This item is a knockoff with several subtle differences from the Oregon unit. I have one and it's fine. You can smooth up the action and tighten tolerances up a bit and make it even better. There are various threads on AS about how to do this. Get Molemab wheels for it when you have a chance from our friends at Baileys.

I currently have the NT version set up for depth gauges, and was lucky enough to get the Oregon version from NT later by making them an offer on their last (display) model. I use it for the cutters.

The Oregon version is definitely a bit more refined, but this one will do the job just fine.

 

[pelhamjeff]

Ok, guys, thank you very much! I believe I'll go ahead and get it. Hope everybody has a happy and safe new year!