LSS (Local Saw Shop) wants $5 to sharpen chain

[B_Turner]

Has a lot to do with the hardness of the material. Chrome cutters and there is not very much material to absorb and carry away heat. A few milimeters at most. A slow grind will overheat the cutter and work harden it. This causes the evil blue cutters which means time to give the customer a new chain.

Bumping the grinder allows the cutter to cool for a moment.

So I guess its not the bumping that is the benefit, but more the lifting off the wheel fairly often to let the cutter cool. I do that instinctively as the temp at the edge is the critical thing. I use an extremely light touch and a constantly dressed wheel.

I end up with no discoloration and almost no burr. I do reverse, though, even though it blows dust back at me. I wear a quarter mask filter "respirator" and over time it picks up a fair amount of dust.

Got to say the pro sharp with a good wheel like the blue ceramic is fun to use. And the chains are fearsome sharp.

 

[Bob Wright]

My guy charges 7 bucks a loop. I used to do it for 2...Bob

 

[Lakeside53]

So I guess its not the bumping that is the benefit, but more the lifting off the wheel fairly often to let the cutter cool. I do that instinctively as the temp at the edge is the critical thing. I use an extremely light touch and a constantly dressed wheel.

.

Yes, you are right. I find it's more of a "bump" 'cos the on portion of the cycle is very short.

 

[B_Turner]

I feel that a major benefit of lifting the wheel off the cutter often is that there is quite a flow of air from the spinning wheel and that helps cool the cutter.

 

[Lakeside53]

Interesting theory.. but I lift it way too high, I think.. Stop by the shop sometime and watch... maybe I do it differently to you, maybe not.

 

[spike60]

We charge $7 to sharpen a loop up to 20" vs. $15 for a new chain. If it's really rocked out then we won't do it: if it takes twice as long, you are up to the cost of a new chain. Truthfully, we don't look at this as a profit center; it's just a service that we have to provide to some people who can't do their own sharpening. And as you can probably read between the lines, we'd really rather not be bothered with doing chains. That being said, we do sell an assortment of sharpening tools, and we will take anyone who is interested in the back and give them a free lesson on how to sharpen his saw. People do seem to appreaciate that personel touch.

A question I have is, what do you guys do with chains that were thrown and have burred drive links and won't fit in the bar grove any more? We tell customers the cost of labor vs. new chain argument and explain how he can file it if he would like to try himself.

Speaking of thrown chains, (and worn bars), it is AMAZING how many saws come in with the chain super loose and hanging way down. What's so hard about tightening the chain?

 

[Uwharrie]

Our Store charges $5.00 to sharpen a chain off the saw and $6.00 to sharpen on the saw. While we don't get rich doing this we do welcome it. Over 95% of our sharpening is performed while the customer waits in our store thereby giving us a chance to sell him or let him browse our store stocked with goodies. Over 75% of the time our sale is more than the sharpening and believe or not we do sell new saws. :rockn: :rockn:
The thing that makes this work is our shop is for our employees and our showroom is where customers wait. We try to maintain enough sales people to keep customers occupied. I have found some of the best retired men that know the business to help me. All I can say is it's good to be blessed with good people to work with.

 

[B_Turner]

Interesting theory.. but I lift it way too high, I think.. Stop by the shop sometime and watch... maybe I do it differently to you, maybe not.

Do you mean at the dealer or your own shop? Which dealer do you work for up there? Or should I ask in a PM?

 

[Lakeside53]

Do you mean at the dealer or your own shop? Which dealer do you work for up there? Or should I ask in a PM?

You should ask the dealer question in a PM.. but in answer to your question, either!

 

[Oregon Engineer]

I realized AFTER I sold the ORegon that it was a DC motor

A got a PM from a concerned electrician asking whether the 511A motor was AC or DC.

THE MOTOR ON THE OREGON 511A IS AN AC MOTOR!
PLEASE do not use DC input as the motor will burn up.

I had an electrician do a limited test and put a DC source to the motor and found a current draw of 1 Amp with only a 4 volt input. The motor will not work with a DC source.

 

[Wes]

Seems like you would want to sharpen chains slowly to give joe consumer plenty of time to wander around the shop and buy stuff. Retail 101: Get feet in the door. The rest is easy.

My dealer always has coffee on Saturday mornings. Sometimes I go by just to get a cup of coffee, but end up buying at least a little bottle of mix oil just to thank him for the coffee.

 

[PES+]

I am confused

A got a PM from a concerned electrician asking whether the 511A motor was AC or DC.

THE MOTOR ON THE OREGON 511A IS AN AC MOTOR!
PLEASE do not use DC input as the motor will burn up.

I had an electrician do a limited test and put a DC source to the motor and found a current draw of 1 Amp with only a 4 volt input. The motor will not work with a DC source.

I did mis speak and had meant to say Universal motor which run happily on either ac or dc

If you are correct pre-tell how does simply swapping the motor leads change the rotation?

 

[PES+]

Ohms law may have been suspended while I wasn't looking

Have your concerned electrician do the same test using AC in place of the DC

and tell me the draw.....same 4 volts versus current draw

 

[bump_r]

Speaking of thrown chains, (and worn bars), it is AMAZING how many saws come in with the chain super loose and hanging way down. What's so hard about tightening the chain?

OR they're slackening them off like they're supposed to when the shut down...


Yeah, RIGHT!!

 

[Lakeside53]

Have your concerned electrician do the same test using AC in place of the DC

and tell me the draw.....same 4 volts versus current draw

Ohms law? AC and inductive load?? nope...

 

[PES+]

Lakeside

Brushes man........brushes
Are you suggesting that Ohms law does not apply to AC?