harbor freight chain grainder

[w8ye]

I have one of the orange HF grinders. Has a lot of undesirable sloppiness and flex.
But if you go slow with a light touch you can grind a decent chain. It would take forever on a rocked chain.
One of the problems with the HF grinder is they are not good from a quality control standpoint. No two of them are the same.

I also have a nice early Oregon 511A grinder with a Borazon wheel that I prefer to use with no complaints.

 

[Tim Carroll]

I would agree with you w8ye. They are not ideal but it can be done.

 

[brian22]

Be very carefully with a HF grinder!! My dad almost lost his eye do to the wheel exploding and it blew thru the plastic guard.

 

[NCSteveH]

I gave mine to goodwill and got receipt for it for tax purposes. They valued it at 175.00, go figure?

 

[514mach1]

I have the newer dark red style one. It is flimsy junk, but I use it for badly mangled teeth to get them close to the right shape. Any chain I attack with the HF grinder also gets a filing before use. Basically, it allows me to take a chain from 3/4 of a tooth down to 1/4 of a tooth if it was rocked really bad with a little time per tooth... compared to 25 strokes with a file.

 

[CTYank]

From what I've seen of this HF grinder, it's too flimsy and unpredictable except for initial rework of badly rocked chains.
For more routine sharpening, consistently removing minimal metal, I'd go a few more bux for the NT clone of Oregon- way better. But, swap out the OEM wheels for some Molemab wheels. (Baileys' and Amazon can provide.) 5.75" Oregon wheels are much more bux.

 

[krushing73]

Any one use one in full chisel ? I file everything else with a rotary tool and guide.

 

[nomad_archer]

From what I've seen of this HF grinder, it's too flimsy and unpredictable except for initial rework of badly rocked chains.
For more routine sharpening, consistently removing minimal metal, I'd go a few more bux for the NT clone of Oregon- way better. But, swap out the OEM wheels for some Molemab wheels. (Baileys' and Amazon can provide.) 5.75" Oregon wheels are much more bux.

I did just what you are suggesting and couldnt be happier and I still kept things reasonable cost wise. I started with the HF grinder and it went back fairly quickly. The NT grinder is excellent for the price. One day I will learn to file but for now the NT grinder keeps me happy.

 

[7sleeper]

What I find funny in this thread is the regret for it's precision. Everyone complaining! On the other hand I read of a bunch of guys recomending filing freehand....

7

 

[Oliver1655]

As I lightly brush the cutters when I sharpen them, the HF grinder is stiff enough. On the saw I use a Stihl 2n1 / Pfred cs-x file which does a basic raker set at the same time.

I'm not an expert, but I see more chips than dust while cutting so I am happy.

 

[fearofpavement]

I finally got the new HF grinder out and it is quite different from my other one. The new one has the bicycle brake handle to clamp the chain and I find it to tilt the chain forward when clamped. Not sure it will matter a lot as it does it on every tooth but changes the geometry some. The previous grinder I have uses a little lever clamp.
I have found the HF grinders to be adequate for my needs. I do most sharpening by freehand filing but for rocked chisel, a grinder helps a lot. I use the "sloppiness" of the grinder to my advantage as I can fudge the wheel over a bit if I want to take a bit more off a particular tooth. If someone doesn't know how to hand file, the HF grinder probably isn't the way to go. If you are good at hand filing and thus have an idea of what needs to be accomplished, I think it works fine, especially for the money. If someone is going to pay to have their chains ground, sharpen just a few of your own and you're money ahead.
With the condition of some of the chains I get in, even a junky grinder would be a huge improvement from burning through the wood with a chain so dull it wouldn't matter which way you put it on...

 

[67L36Driver]

I finally got the new HF grinder out and it is quite different from my other one. The new one has the bicycle brake handle to clamp the chain and I find it to tilt the chain forward when clamped. Not sure it will matter a lot as it does it on every tooth but changes the geometry some. The previous grinder I have uses a little lever clamp.
I have found the HF grinders to be adequate for my needs. I do most sharpening by freehand filing but for rocked chisel, a grinder helps a lot. I use the "sloppiness" of the grinder to my advantage as I can fudge the wheel over a bit if I want to take a bit more off a particular tooth. If someone doesn't know how to hand file, the HF grinder probably isn't the way to go. If you are good at hand filing and thus have an idea of what needs to be accomplished, I think it works fine, especially for the money. If someone is going to pay to have their chains ground, sharpen just a few of your own and you're money ahead.
With the condition of some of the chains I get in, even a junky grinder would be a huge improvement from burning through the wood with a chain so dull it wouldn't matter which way you put it on...

Exactly!