Square grinders

[2000ssm6]

Tried square and never felt enough difference to invest in a square grinder. I do however really want a Silvey 510 for my rounds. Just hard to decide if I want another rifle or grinder....

 

[devonhubb]

Well what are most of you guys running for wheels?

I've got a white (pretty soft) wheel, salmon (kinda medium hardness) and a blue (ceramic impregnated) wheel. I like the blue wheel the best. Don't have to dress it as often. The blue wheel will burn a tooth if you don't use a light touch. A light tap of the tooth into the wheel works best for me.

 

[mdavlee]

I didn't order an extra wheel with it. Burvol told me the blue is his favorite wheel also. He said the silvey wheel works good but might be a little harder to see the corner than with a white or salmon wheel.

 

[devonhubb]

The white wheel is the easiest to see the corner with, and is probably a good choice until you get a feel for what is going on.

But if your angles are right and the top & sides are where they need to be, so will the corner. Hope that makes sense.

 

[mdavlee]

That sort of makes sense. It should be easier than filing it after a little while. I'm sure a lot of it will make more sense when the grinder is in front of me.

 

[madhatte]

Soon as I can get the necessary approval, we'll be getting a Razur-Sharp II. It seems to be the best bang for the buck, especially for a low- to medium-demand outfit like mine. Can't justify spending more.

 

[mdavlee]

Check out madsens sale as for not much more than the RS the SDM-4 is on sale for $1k.

 

[B_Turner]

Yeah I like the looks of the Pro Sharp but for double the price of the others it's out. I think I can even out on a $700-1000 in about 3 years the way I'm cutting now. If I start cutting more than it will be a shorter time. My grandpa is getting older now where he can't do hardly any cutting so I try to do it all for him when time allows. I can go through 5 gallons on his farm in a weekend sometimes.

I spent a bunch of time on each of them at Madsens when I was considering them, and although the price is nuts I like the pro sharp much better.

Not saying the other models aren't good, just I tend to keep my tools forever and felt the extra money was well worth it. I was grinding excellent square chains within an hour the first night (had coaching from Sam) and it changed my cutting life.

I have lots of saws and when I figure out how much the pro sharp cost me spanned say over 20 years and many saws, it is cheap and quiet performance gains. Just think about what gas and oil costs over 20 yrs and the pro sharp does not seem so extreme to me.

With 3/8 I just don't enjoy when I have to cut with semi chisel in dirty wood. For some reason with small chain (3/8 lp, 1/4 and even .325) the semi chisel cutter isn't as big a penalty for performance as it is on a full size cutter and I don't mind sc.

 

[mdavlee]

I talked with some people in the shop before I decided on the swing arm. They told me it was simple easy to use and a good beginner grinder. My wife seen the videos on madsens and like the pro sharp the best even with the price. If I cut for a living I would get it but I don't see 3x the money in it.

 

[B_Turner]

I talked with some people in the shop before I decided on the swing arm. They told me it was simple easy to use and a good beginner grinder. My wife seen the videos on madsens and like the pro sharp the best even with the price. If I cut for a living I would get it but I don't see 3x the money in it.

I don't mean to sound like I am putting down the swing arm. Lots of folks really happy with them and for sure a better value.

And of the several types of wheels I've tried, my own preference is for the blue ceramic wheel from mdsns.

 

[mdavlee]

I think I'm going to get a blue wheel on the way. Yeah my wife said the pro sharp and SDM-4 looked much nicer but I like simpler and much cheaper in this case.

 

[Brad101]

The best square grinder I've ever used is one that hasn't been available for going on 30 years...the Bell Industries "K-3". The very first logging outfit I worked for had one, and it's an amazing machine. It's the model that Ray Silvey modeled his "Pro Sharp" on. Bell Industries was a local company to me (Eugene, Or.) and they made a range of industrial forestry equipment.

Nielsen was another local company that made great grinder. They made a pond and deck grinder that's one of the best. If you can find a used Bell or Nielsen in good condition, buy 'em. I've owned the RS and currently have a Simington 450B, which are ok.

I picked up a Neilson/Bell K-6 a couple months ago for $350.00 delivered to me off craigslist. When the guy brought it down I about tore my a** off my pants getting to my wallet when I seen how good of condition it was in.

I have used these grinders for years and there is no better period. Hard to find, but worth looking for. You can sharpen chisel way faster with them then any other chisel ginder.

 

[mdavlee]

Alright I got the grinder today. I sharpened one chain and learned on another. I didn't have any real used chains to try it on. So far I like it. I'll still wonder if I should have got the SDM-4 but I think this will work just fine for me. The stand didn't make it today so I made a temporary one in the vise to set it up with. It's supposed to be here tomorrow. Santa claus went to madsens and stopped by today.

 

[SWE#Kipp]

Just a little jealous

 

[mdavlee]

Here's some pictures of the second chain I worked on and got it sharp. I'm going to try it out today in some maple.

 

[devonhubb]

Your gonna like it.

 

[B_Turner]

One thing about the pro sharp is that the shortest chains I can grind is for 16 inch bars.

Yours might go a bit shorter.

No biggie for me, but I am glad it will at least do the 16 inchers as that is a size I do use.

 

[mdavlee]

This swing arm would grind a very short chain.

 

[redoakneck]

Man I'm jealous.

Still sittin here with my file, zz zz zz zz zz zz away...

Looking at these also, but the cabbage patch is hurtin this time of year $$$

 

[mdavlee]

Yeah I think I would sell 2 saws to have a grinder if that's what it took. After the first chain to set up I think it took about 10-12 minutes for the other chain and my fingers and wrist aren't tired.