oregon style chain grinder

[Slice107]

hello, so I always sharpen my chains with a file. a chain for me goes on the saw and stays there till it's worn out. but lately, I have had people bringing me chains they want sharpened and they aren't on a saw. they are painfully slow to do 2 teeth at a time in the vise. and with a grinder sitting right there next to me I thought I should use it. I ordered a new wheel and a dressing block. But the head pivot has a fair bit of slop, so much so that my teeth come out different shapes. I haven't tried one of the chains yet to see if they even cut but I've only done maybe 2. and ground 2 chains right out haha.

this grinder is an Oregon/tecomec style with no brand markings. it's just been here in the garage aslong as I can remember. I've never used another grinder and don't know anyone local to me with a good grinder setup to see if the slop is the same. id guess it has about 1/4 slop up and down (side to side?) once you hit the depth stop. I have made sure everything is tight and all I can figure is this thing is just a boat anchor.

 

[Gord404]

Ya was thinking the same thing recently, some of the saws that come in for a rebuild the chains are pretty beat up and spend far to long shapening them just to test them out but like you I dont know whats any good and will last.

 

[huskihl]

I bet it has a boatload of time on it or was cheap junk to begin with. My first grinder was a full size Oregon 511 copy and the only thing I had trouble with was the tilt feature on the vise. After a while I realized that I couldn’t tell the difference between using that tilt and not using it so after that it became a non-issue. Sold it and bought a super jolly with the hydraulic clamp. I can’t tell much difference in the amount of head slop between the OEM and China copy that I had

 

[Slice107]

I bet it has a boatload of time on it or was cheap junk to begin with. My first grinder was a full size Oregon 511 copy and the only thing I had trouble with was the tilt feature on the vise. After a while I realized that I couldn’t tell the difference between using that tilt and not using it so after that it became a non-issue. Sold it and bought a super jolly with the hydraulic clamp. I can’t tell much difference in the amount of head slop between the OEM and China copy that I had

if im real carfull i seem to get decent grinds but its easy to mess up haha think I might just need more practice.

 

[huskihl]

if im real carfull i seem to get decent grinds but its easy to mess up haha think I might just need more practice.

As a reference, if I pull straight down on the grinder head trying not to veer left or right, my cutters are within .005” of each other.

 

[Slice107]

As a reference, if I pull straight down on the grinder head trying not to veer left or right, my cutters are within .005” of each other.

mine when i mesured where out 0.010"+ i didnt mesure the last chain wich i did, i was trying to be more carful of that one. ill measure it today. i plan to test a couple out and see if they even cut. see how the rakers came out and such. to me the rakers seem kinda low but I set them at 0.025" I usialy do with a progressive type gauge and when I put it on they all came back lower then I like.

 

[huskihl]

mine when i mesured where out 0.010"+ i didnt mesure the last chain wich i did, i was trying to be more carful of that one. ill measure it today. i plan to test a couple out and see if they even cut. see how the rakers came out and such. to me the rakers seem kinda low but I set them at 0.025" I usialy do with a progressive type gauge and when I put it on they all came back lower then I like.

.010” isn’t bad. I would make sure that the difference isn’t all from left to right cutters by adjusting the vise or changing the tooth stop slightly when you switch sides.

Most guys get used to dull chains and when they finally run a sharp one with proper rakers they are a little bit too aggressive for them. Usually if you stay off the dogs you will be OK.

 

[Slice107]

.010” isn’t bad. I would make sure that the difference isn’t all from left to right cutters by adjusting the vise or changing the tooth stop slightly when you switch sides.

Most guys get used to dull chains and when they finally run a sharp one with proper rakers they are a little bit too aggressive for them. Usually if you stay off the dogs you will be OK.

the problem is more the wheel comes up so it grinds to top of the tooth off and I am left with no gullet.

as for the rakers. i don't usaily use dogs anyways unless I'm in big wood or doing facecuts. I'm pretty used to how I set my rakers with the progressive style gauge. its what I use on everything and all my saws always cut well. its funny I get people that are amazed at how fast my saws cut and I'm like meh, this semi chisel chain cuts slowwww espcaily since I'm running a 7tooth driver on my 500i right now with a 20" bar. haha

 

[huskihl]

the problem is more the wheel comes up so it grinds to top of the tooth off and I am left with no gullet.

as for the rakers. i don't usaily use dogs anyways unless I'm in big wood or doing facecuts. I'm pretty used to how I set my rakers with the progressive style gauge. its what I use on everything and all my saws always cut well. its funny I get people that are amazed at how fast my saws cut and I'm like meh, this semi chisel chain cuts slowwww espcaily since I'm running a 7tooth driver on my 500i right now with a 20" bar. haha

Yeah, that might have some slop in it if it’s allowing it to move that far

 

[Sidecarflip]

if im real carfull i seem to get decent grinds but its easy to mess up haha think I might just need more practice.

Easy fix. Just remove the head and spring and add a shim washer or two to take up the slop. You can get shim washers at the local hardware store in various thicknesses. I'd go with bronze ones as they self lubricate. You want the head tight but not so tight the return spring won't lift it.

 

[Lightning Performance]

After having crappy grinders like Kevin said getting into something nicer realy does tighten up the game in cutter lengths. Switching to the course cbn 80 wheel was another improvement. The auto grab let's you move through the loops quickly and accurately.

 

[Sidecarflip]

the problem is more the wheel comes up so it grinds to top of the tooth off and I am left with no gullet. You aren't angling the head correctly then.

 

[Sidecarflip]

I have no issues with either of mine actually. I have one Oregon (Tecomec) grinder with the manual chain vise (I don't care for the hydraulic clamping myself and a Chinese copy (a Velvor) from Amazon and it was 100 bucks delivered and an exact copy of the Tecomec right down to the miserable wheel shield, which I leave off running CBN wheels anyway, Best part about the Chinese copy is, the grind depth stop is light years better and more repeatable than the Oregon-Tecomec. Same crappy LED work lights too.