electric chain sharpener

[Foghorn]

Wondering if it is worth buying an electric bench mounted chain sharpener.

Is one brand better than another?

How hard is it to get good results?

For those who bought one - at what point did you convince yourself it would be cost effective?

Any other input would also be appreciated!!

Foghorn

 

[blis]

just learn to file free-hand, since you will never have electricity in woods, unles youre carrying a generator with you opcorn: opcorn:

 

[JUDGE1162]

Foghorn good question have thought about it myself from time to time.

blis while I think your right, everyone with a chainsaw should learn to hand file, I love when I take my chains to a dealer to have them professionally sharpened, they tend to be truer, sharper, and for sure more uniform VS hand filing.

 

[turnkey4099]

Wondering if it is worth buying an electric bench mounted chain sharpener.

Is one brand better than another?

How hard is it to get good results?

For those who bought one - at what point did you convince yourself it would be cost effective?

Any other input would also be appreciated!!

Foghorn

Harbor Freight has been running a special on one for $29 this summer. It is now $39. Several on this forum have bought and used them (I also). I am still learning. My first try was a failure, produced nothing but 'bug dust'. I found I wasn't really sharping them, just kissing the tooth. Last week I was out with 5 chains from the second try. Much better but still not great. Had to put a bit of down pressure on the saw. One great thing about it is that after several hand filings you can use it to get the teeth so they are all the same length again then touch up by handfiling.

Harry K

 

[314epw]

sharpeners

Are they worth the money?yes.I have had several kinds in 30 years.What to buy?The cheap ones are good to take care of a rocked chain,then you could hand file to your specs.As you go up in price,you go up in quality,and accuracy.Brand names?My latest is a Maxx.Maxx,Oregon 511 and the one that starts with a "T" are all made in Italy and are very similar.Your can check their specs and prices on ebay.A good deal is about $300 to $320 to your door.I now sharpen about 100 chains a year.At $6.00 average,it not hard to get your money back.What I like best is doing the depth gages.Very fast and accurate.You need to change your wheel to a flat one(but no one does!)

 

[computeruser]

Wondering if it is worth buying an electric bench mounted chain sharpener.

I think it is. I have really enjoyed mine, especially on long loops. The ability to put a nice, even, uniform edge on every cutter of a 135 driver loop is very nice. Plus, I don't get any great satisfaction from hand filing, especially hand-sharpening with the chain on the saw. I do get a fair number of cuts when I hand sharpen, though. So for me, a grinder is very much appreciated.

Is one brand better than another?

Oregon 511A, Tecomec 136, and the one from Bailey's are all good; I believe they're all the same machine, I know the Oregon and Tecomec ones are. You can get them with auto-clamping, which I've never used but it seems like a nice feature. Maxx grinders are good, too, and come standard with auto-clamping.

The more expensive machines from Silvey and Stihl are great, but probably more than an individual needs for himself. The cheap ones from HarborFreight are OK for limited use, especially at their $30 sale price.

How hard is it to get good results?

It takes some practice, but pretty soon you'll get the hang of it. I went a couple years without grinding and it took maybe a dozen sharpenings to get my skills back up to a satisfactory level, another dozen or two to get my sharpenings up to the quality that you can get with a file and a guide. I am now comfortable with my grinding and can consistently produce very nice, sharp, long-lasting edges.

For those who bought one - at what point did you convince yourself it would be cost effective?

The first time that I had six loops hanging on a nail to sharpen. I figured six loops at $7 each = $42, and on top of that the shop did a crappy job on them. And I also knew that at the end of a weekend of cutting they'd be dull and up for resharpening, which would cost that much again. Pretty soon the cost of a grinder didn't seem that bad.

I also figured that I could sharpen other peoples' chains for a few bucks and help defray the cost of my grinder. HA! Suffice it to say, I've never actually billed anyone, but lots of folks have received nice free sharpenings. Oh well.

Since then, I've learned that there is an adapter that allows you to sharpen reciprocating blade hedge trimmers on the grinder. I have yet to buy one, but this is a nice thing to have at your disposal if you use hedge trimmers with any frequency.

Any other input would also be appreciated!!

I bought an Oregon 511A because the guy I was buying them from was all out of the Tecomec 136. They're the same grinder, made on the same line in Italy, up until the point that the paint is applied. Whether you get the Oregon 511A or Tecomec 136 makes no difference. I've seen the Tecomec 136 on eBay for $209 new in box.