Oregon 410 chain sharpener - Stihl chains

[strassburgmichael1989@gma]

Good afternoon,
This is my first post here and I really hope someone is able to help me out. Since we heat our farm with wood and cut a lot of firewood, my wife bought me the Oregon 410 sharpener. I tried one chain - messed up - and since then, the grinder has been sitting unused. I hope there are some pros here who are able to help me out.
The saws I'm using are Stihl ms261 and ms462. The 261 has a 325 pitch and 3/8 for the 462.
In the manual I wasn't able to find anything about stihl chains. I'm exclusively using the yellow full chisel chains.
Can anyone please tell me the settings I need to set up my grinder properly for 325 and 3/8? Also I'm not really sure which disc exactly to use.
Thank you so much!
Mike

 

[ericm979]

I think both chains use the 3/16 wheel. The back of the Stihl chain box lists both the file size and the grinding wheel size, and also the angles to use.

Stihl grinding guide:
https://www.stihlusa.com/webcontent/cmsfilelibrary/instructionmanuals/usg_sawchainangles_chart.pdf
It's kinda hard to read due to metric units and calling out the wheel part number instead of width.


It doesn't matter if it's a Stihl chain or any other chain. They sharpen the same with maybe minor adjustments to angle. I have sharpened Stihl and other chains with my 410 and it's worked fine.

Oregon has a decent instructional video:


I set the depth gauges manually with a file rather than with the grinder.

 

[SimonHS]

Try:

Head tilt angle: 60 degrees
Top plate angle: 30 degrees
Down angle: 0 degrees
Wheel thickness: 3/16"

@Philbert will know more about this topic I think, but I don't know whether he sharpens Stihl chains.

 

[Philbert]

Welcome to A.S., from a fellow Minnesotan!

People get all obsessed with the “correct“ angles for their chains. Over time, you realize that these are just “starting points“.

The numbers that @SimonHS posted, above, are a good start. Feel free to experiment with other angles, if you choose.

Not sure how you “messed up“. Grinding takes a little Knowledge, Skill, and Experience (KSE), like anything else.

I often encourage people with a new grinder to take an old chain and “play“ with it a bit. See how changing each of the adjustments affects the cutter shape. Take a brand new chain (or one you really like) and try to copy that shape with the ‘old’ chain. Then, check those settings.

Two, important ‘tips’:

- Take lots of short taps to avoid overheating the cutters. If you know Morse code, do all ‘dots’ and no ‘dashes’.

- Dress the grinding wheel frequently, with the small brick provided, to constantly expose fresh abrasive. I do this lightly for each loop of chain to reduce the risk of burning.

Lots more tips and techniques in this thread (even though it mentions a different model of grinder).

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/511a-grinder-improvements-tweaks.197073/
If you can describe specific issues that you are having, we may be able to provide more specific advice.

Philbert