FYI - Northern Chainsaw Sharpener

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You won't be able to grind square chain with the NT grinder. They make specific grinders for square chain. Silvey makes a popular one.
 
After a few months of use, I can say the NT grinder is a whole lot better than the Harbor Freight crapola. I wish it had reverse, and that the tolerances were better, but for the price it's worth it (at least for me). Some day I'll upgrade to a higher quality unit (right after I buy a UTV). Maybe.

What I like:
* Price
* Tolerable build quality
* Nice sharp cutters

What I don't like:
* The casting flashings made a nice deep cut on my finger - NT owes me about 2oz of blood
* The chain stop/measuring thingy barely reaches the back of the cutter when sharpening in one direction - it needs to be wider
* I have to keep a veneer caliper handy when changing sides - otherwise the cutter length will differ by a couple of hundredths of an inch
* I really want reverse, and hate the burr created when the wheel is running in the wrong direction

My 2xbit's worth
 
gtsawyer said:
After a few months of use, I can say the NT grinder is a whole lot better than the Harbor Freight crapola. I wish it had reverse, and that the tolerances were better, but for the price it's worth it (at least for me). Some day I'll upgrade to a higher quality unit (right after I buy a UTV). Maybe.

What I like:
* Price
* Tolerable build quality
* Nice sharp cutters

What I don't like:
* The casting flashings made a nice deep cut on my finger - NT owes me about 2oz of blood
* The chain stop/measuring thingy barely reaches the back of the cutter when sharpening in one direction - it needs to be wider
* I have to keep a veneer caliper handy when changing sides - otherwise the cutter length will differ by a couple of hundredths of an inch
* I really want reverse, and hate the burr created when the wheel is running in the wrong direction

My 2xbit's worth
Click to expand...

I agree with most of what you said. The burr thing although annoying to look at poses no problem, you can brush it off with your finger, and the cutter is nice and sharp. When changing sides yes the cutters can differ, the shim kit that one member was making works very well, and helps address the uneven cutters, you can make the shims yourself if you want to.
 
Does NT still sell this, and if so, does anyone have a link ? Making a trip across the border and thinking about having one sent there. I searched their website but could onlynfind the portable grinder and the Oregon models.

Thanks !
 
ericjeeper said:
inside with a bit of play 3.140 tight was 3.132 outside needs to be around 3.535
and for thickness. I would say anywhere between 15-30thousandths , basically whatever is handy, cheap or free
Click to expand...

I know I'm digging up an old discussing but it there anyone who sells this washer?

Thanks
 
Is there a summary of the mods? page 13 seemed to have:
- arm/base casting file
- vice shim
- vice washer


I read about 40 of the pages here and gave up -- sorry.
 
The vise shim mod is worth it's weight in gold. I tried a coke can, than a soup can, and finally used some galvanized hvac pipe. Just tin snipped a thin strip and got it to fit snug. I won't be using this more than a few times a month, so did not worry about the gasket/washer mod in the same area.

The biggest issue I have now is side to side play at the motor pivot. Upright, you can tip nearly 1/8". Some of that comes out as you lower the motor. I'll try to post a pic.

But the vise shim made a huge difference in the cutter length consistency. I was about to permanently rearrange the molecules of this item last night. Now I can get most cutters to within .015 of each other.
 
Grinder Pictures

I bought one of the Northern Grinders last November when NT had them on sale. I received a $20 off coupon in the mail glued inside of a sale flyer they mailed to me. Total cost was $89.00. When you get the grinder it is unassembled and in a cardboard box.

The directions that come with the unit are worthless, so don't depend on them for anything. Simply schedule a couple of hours time to assemble, to clean up the castings with a grinder and to build a good mount. I took one of the AS members advice and picked up a pack of the aluminum zip ties and used one to shim the pivoting chain guide base. The zip ties are sold at Lowes in the electrical section.

The NT sharpener comes with three different thicknesses of sharpening stones and one almost worthless dressing stone. If you are planning on using the machine to dress your rakes you will need to change the wheel out to the largest wheel after you grind your cutters. This only takes a minute or two. to the thicker Most posters here recommend to simply thrown the included grinder wheels away and replace them with Oregon which are the same size. You can get them from most sponsor vendors on this site or Amazon.

I have a friend who purchased 3 or these units and has them set up side by side. One for left, one for right and one rakes. This eliminates the need to spend the extra few minutes to recalibrate the pawl when switching between right and left cutters. Not to saw anything about changing the grinder wheel to dress the drags.

Check out the links to a couple of pictures on mine. I copied the design of one of the AS members. The oak mount allows me to secure in in a bench vise in my shop, or in a vise I have mounted in my enclosed trailer (I have a generator), or ratchet strapped to a tree or a post while in the field. This may seem odd but I am a disaster responder and many times I am deployed for weeks or months at a time. Chain loops are nearly impossible to get after a storm in an affected area and many times we use these grinders to sharpen 20 or 30 loops each evening.

This is not the best grinder on the market by any stretch, but for less than $100 you can't go wrong.

View attachment 225998

View attachment 225999
 
You get what you pay for when buying a chain grinder..!!

Even on sale (at times) for $89...I just can't make myself pull the trigger...
knowing I've got to fix it as soon as I would get it...

Just like the Poulan 'Wildthing' at TSC for $99..and have to add $50 to make it to suit me..!!

Maybe I'm just too old and weak ...and hate aggravating cheap-ass problems...

Or I've become all Wise and Knowing in my golden years..??...

Your call..!!..:msp_wink:
:cheers:
J2F
 
I wish I had paid 89 -- it was 134 w/ shipping and tax even after being "on sale" for 109 now. But it was either spend money and hassle with having someone sharpen the chain or see about doing it myself. If there's a better deal in the next 60 days or so, I might hit them up about it.

Now that I have the vise shim -- it's much much improved. Again, I just used some 6" hvac pipe and tin snipped a 1/4" strip and fitted it in. That seems to be about the right size. The cutter lengths are nearly the same which was not the case before the shim. It's a very simple fix. I like the idea of the oak mount -- I was thinking of something similar. The aluminum casting is a bit weak, so adding the L-shaped frame and bolting both bottom and back will add some additional stability.

I'd like to get some of the play out of the pivot pin -- we'll see. For now it's doing a decent job , much better than I can do with a file, especially on very worn cutters.

I did get/read the Oregon manuals - a couple different ones, as they talk about setup a bit more clearly. The NT manual, though, does have a decent reference for the chain specs.
 
Disaster said:
I bought one of the Northern Grinders last November when NT had them on sale. I received a $20 off coupon in the mail glued inside of a sale flyer they mailed to me. Total cost was $89.00. When you get the grinder it is unassembled and in a cardboard box.

The directions that come with the unit are worthless, so don't depend on them for anything. Simply schedule a couple of hours time to assemble, to clean up the castings with a grinder and to build a good mount. I took one of the AS members advice and picked up a pack of the aluminum zip ties and used one to shim the pivoting chain guide base. The zip ties are sold at Lowes in the electrical section.

The NT sharpener comes with three different thicknesses of sharpening stones and one almost worthless dressing stone. If you are planning on using the machine to dress your rakes you will need to change the wheel out to the largest wheel after you grind your cutters. This only takes a minute or two. to the thicker Most posters here recommend to simply thrown the included grinder wheels away and replace them with Oregon which are the same size. You can get them from most sponsor vendors on this site or Amazon.

I have a friend who purchased 3 or these units and has them set up side by side. One for left, one for right and one rakes. This eliminates the need to spend the extra few minutes to recalibrate the pawl when switching between right and left cutters. Not to saw anything about changing the grinder wheel to dress the drags.

Check out the links to a couple of pictures on mine. I copied the design of one of the AS members. The oak mount allows me to secure in in a bench vise in my shop, or in a vise I have mounted in my enclosed trailer (I have a generator), or ratchet strapped to a tree or a post while in the field. This may seem odd but I am a disaster responder and many times I am deployed for weeks or months at a time. Chain loops are nearly impossible to get after a storm in an affected area and many times we use these grinders to sharpen 20 or 30 loops each evening.

This is not the best grinder on the market by any stretch, but for less than $100 you can't go wrong.

View attachment 225998

View attachment 225999
Click to expand...

I had thought earlier about posting on this thread again and forgot about it. I had to buy another wheel for mine tonight and did so at the new NT that has just been built in my town in the past year. 4th wheel I have had to buy (I have used this grinder a lot). I have done absolutely nothing to this grinder and it has been a dandy one for me. I do disaster relief too and carried this grinder with me to Alabama to work there after the storms came through last Spring. Mine saw daily use because as you have stated, it's nearly impossible to buy parts, chains or saws in a storm devastated area.

We spent the first month camped out as the hotels were full of locals who had either lost homes or had no power. I have mine mounted on a 2x10 and would often clamp it to a saw horse, truck tool box or whatever with two C clamps to secure it and grind. And many times on the job at the customer's home when I could find power. I eventually set up a little shop in a decent sized storage unit where I could set it up semi permanently and grind/work on saws and store gear.

This little unit was a life saver for me in the field where I was having to manage a huge work load. I worked the first 21 days straight through without a break, grinding chains on a daily basis. Cutting in storm effected areas is really tough on your chains because you are often cutting trees out of structures where there is lots of debris, metal, nails. One of my first jobs was removing a couple of trees from a house and metal out building with a crane where 2 trees had gone through both. I had to cut right into the metal building to saw the 30" logs small enough to get them out of there, being as careful as I could but you are always going to hit something in circumstances like that.

This little grinder has been worth it's weight in gold to me. I just tighten everything up on it periodically and grind away. I'm sure the mods would make it so much better but this thing will work with loose tolerances like an AK 47. I had no problems learning how to use it and keeping tight specs on my chains. Tight enough for me anyway. I am not trying to shape a chain like a jeweler, I'm just trying to make it cut. I have learned to get my chains dam near perfect with this grinder without having to do any mods to it and no previous grinding experience. If I had worked with a better grinder previously, I might know what i am missing but for me this grinder has worked flawlessly and has been every bit as important to my money making operation as my saws.
 
Last edited:
Tree MD - I cannot hold a candle to what you do, but in my case adding the vice shim was a major improvement. I could not get equal grinds on both sides unless I fiddled with the stop when I switched. It's an easy fix, about 30 mins if you have a tin snips, some shim material of choice (I found 6" snap together hvac pipe was about the right thickness -- it was also sitting over in the corner of the shop). Cut a strip about 3/16" to 1/4" wide and long enough to make it around the vice where the vice swivels in the base. Unscrew the bottom knob, let the spring and washer fall off, and then remove the top 2 parts of he vice. Keep track of those 2 small ball bearings between the swivel part and the left to right part. You'll see that the vice has some side to side play in the base - unless maybe you got lucky. I could slide the vice side to side close to 1/16", which translates into that much cutter length difference if you don't manually compensate. Back on page 13 of this thread are photos. Again, I'm just a homeowner with cedars, hedge, etc growing in places I don't want and a bit of limbing and felling. I probably should just spend $7 on shop sharpening -- it's going to take me awhile to recoup my 135 cost, but the hassle of remembering to take the chain with me or making a special trip helps to offset. I've only put about 3 gallons of gas through my saw, and after a few more fence clearing projects, the effort is really going to drop off.
 
Yes, I have to fiddle with the stop to get it to grind equally on both sides as well. I am all about spending a little time to save a lot when I can. I am sure the mod will help tremendously and plan to do so when I get around to it. But first there is stump grinder teeth to be replaced, welding to do on my stumper and log trailer, I need to adjust the idle on my 260, estimates to run this morning and afternoon... You get what I mean. My only reason for posting what I did was to tell what I have been able to do with this grinder.

I will get around to doing the mods as I am certain the guys on this thread know what they are talking about. I bought this grinder because the shop I was taking my chains to went up to $10 a chain to sharpen and the kid they had sharpening burned up a 60 dollar chain the last time I took it there.. I have 8 chainsaws and at least three spare chains for each. I made my money back on this grinder the first time I ground chains.

I know guys who grind perfect chains and a couple who even use a loupe when grinding like a jeweler. Very nice chains and perfect specs. I know guys who can tear down a saw and rebuild it in no time and answer any question or do anything you need to have done to a saw. I am not that guy. I'm just the guy who makes the chips. ;)

Thanks for the info.
 
ok grinder

computeruser said:
On super sale. Look Here! Looks like it might be the Tecomec 136/Oregon 511A unit, in which case $100 is a freakin' steal.
Click to expand...

I purchased one of these grinders a almost a year ago. I got it home and tried it out and, after a couple of modifications, I find that it does a nice job. For mods, I reworked the spring so that the grinder head doesn't have to travel as far between it's resting/grinding positions, I made a new pawl for indexing the chain which is about a half inch longer than the one that comes with the grinder, and I rewelded the handle onto the other side of the cam lobe because I found rotating something counterclockwise to tighten to be ass backwards and with the new setup, it just seems a lot more ergonomical for me. One of my wheels was also broke when I unpacked it from the box and the store was nice enough to replace it. I have sharpened a couple hundred chains with it so far and don't have any complaints given the cost of the unit.
 
coloradotrout said:
I found 6" snap together hvac pipe was about the right thickness -- it's going to take me awhile to recoup my 135 cost, but the hassle of remembering to take the chain with me or making a special trip helps to offset.
Click to expand...

tree md said:
I made my money back on this grinder the first time I ground chains.
Click to expand...

From what I hear, the quality of the 'knock-off' grinders varies quite a bit. So the size and amount of shimming, grinding/smoothing, etc. will vary. Some guys apparently got bent shafts, which no amount of shimming will fix. Other guys found them to work right out of the box.

I still had to do some smoothing of the vise castings on my Oregon 511A to get it to work as smoothly as I wanted, and the degree indicators are never perfect (even after I shifted the moveable ones). So each grinder needs to be 'calibrated'; mounting a new chain and matching the factory angles helps to check the markings on your grinder after centering the vise.

Recouping the cost is not just from the $7 or so that you save with each sharpening, it is also from your ability to 'kiss' the cutters, removing as little metal as necessary each time, and getting a lot more life out of the chain, compared to the amount some shops remove. It is also from your ability to turn a chain around in a short time, and save a couple of trips to the hardware store or saw shop.

You gain the ability to scrounge and salvage old chains, custom grind your chains to specific angles if you are picky, and to collect favors from friends who don't have a grinder. After all that, you still have the resale value for it on CraigsList as 'equity'.

Philbert
 
Philbert said:
Recouping the cost is not just from the $7 or so that you save with each sharpening, it is also from your ability to 'kiss' the cutters, removing as little metal as necessary each time, and getting a lot more life out of the chain, compared to the amount some shops remove. It is also from your ability to turn a chain around in a short time, and save a couple of trips to the hardware store or saw shop.

You gain the ability to scrounge and salvage old chains, custom grind your chains to specific angles if you are picky, and to collect favors from friends who don't have a grinder. After all that, you still have the resale value for it on CraigsList as 'equity'.
Philbert
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 

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