After years of hand filing, went and bought myself an Oregon chain grinder

[MarshSt]

Does anyone know how small of a loop will fit on one of the Tecomec/Oregon grinders? I build a root grinder that uses a gang of the 4" Wood Carving Chain Discs and I'd rather sharpen a few times than just replace the cutters. The chain loops are only 5-1/2" end to end when stretched straight. The sharpener chain guide/holding bar and adjusters underneath look like they might not allow such a short chain.

 

[5030]

Not sure but I just sharpened a couple lo pro loops for an electric pole saw

 

[Bob_Young]

You durn kids! Always looking for instant gratification. For what? Getting back on tractorbynet and posting about it?

When do you find time to contemplate your sinful nature...or at least acknowledge the sins committed against your poor chainsaw? The Zen of handfiling is there for a reason.
Bob

 

[2manyrocks]

Don't see much Zen when it comes to chainsaws.

 

[Skeans1]

This is the next step after a round grinder.

 

[5030]

Square ground is ok but not my cup of tea. Square ground dulls quicker and takes more power to run.

Have a second grinder now. Seems as though loops are coming in by the dozens so I bought another grinder just for depth gages and both now are running Diamond Abrasives, CBN, aluminum rimmed wheels. No dressing ever and one wheel will grind about 200 20" loops.

 

[Skeans1]

Square ground is ok but not my cup of tea. Square ground dulls quicker and takes more power to run.

Have a second grinder now. Seems as though loops are coming in by the dozens so I bought another grinder just for depth gages and both now are running Diamond Abrasives, CBN, aluminum rimmed wheels. No dressing ever and one wheel will grind about 200 20" loops.

Takes more power? Round takes more power to pull through the same cut it’s a much more efficient cutter it’s smoother and faster. As far as depth gauges go look into DGG it’s worth the money if you’re doing any sort of amount of chains. You don’t have to tell me about having a separate grinder for doing different chains we have 3 Silvey’s, one Oregon, one Super Jolly, and then the DGG raker grinder they all serve a purpose for different chains we run on the daily.

 

[5030]

Whatever. I sharpen chains for my arborist customers and NONE of them are square ground, as in NADA. Far as my loops are concerned, they are all chipper as well so I would never have a square ground loop. I will say (from observation only) that your depth gages are pretty low. You must run those loops on a high powered saw. The lower the depth gages are, the more power it takes to pull a loop through a cut and that apples to any tooth configuration.

 

[5030]

Additionally, it's obvious (from your picture and the amount of pitch buildup on the bar, that you mostly cut softwood). Here it's mostly mixed hardwood. Only buildup we get here is on the heel of the tooth when the tooth is getting dull and needs ground. Never seen a bar with that much buildup of pitch on it actually. Here, even green wood don't build up deposits like that but then where you are and where we are, are 2 different types of wood entirely.

I'd like to have a Silvey but I cannot justify one as sharpening loops for customers is just a value added thing for me. Same with chipper knives actually.

 

[RandyT]

Whatever. I sharpen chains for my arborist customers and NONE of them are square ground, as in NADA. Far as my loops are concerned, they are all chipper as well so I would never have a square ground loop. I will say (from observation only) that your depth gages are pretty low. You must run those loops on a high powered saw. The lower the depth gages are, the more power it takes to pull a loop through a cut and that apples to any tooth configuration.

I think there are several reason why square ground is not real common. Most people can't file a chain without a guide and for the most part there are no file guides for the square ground files, and the one that I know of is over $200. And an electric sharpener will set you back close to if not over $2K. Second most places don't carry the files for square ground including dealers in most parts of the country. Even though the pictures are of Oregon chain, Oregon doesn't even supply the square ground files for their own chain.