Got temped by HF today

[ayelvington]

I have the Northern Tool version and am very happy with it. It's in a neighbor's barn and we using as a community tool. There is much word in these parts that the HF version has too much slop in it to be of any use.

As a note, the angles that NT recommends (60 degrees) are a bit off. We've had great success with 50 and 55 degrees for a better cut.

If you're investing in a sharpener, don't forget to attend to your rakers (depth teeth). My chains just went past the 50% point and I got significantly better performance by taking the rakers down to 0.025". Use the tool, and get a proper raker file since a bastard file a) won't work, and b) the side teeth will chew up your cutting teeth.

 

[fabsroman]

I have the Northern Tool version and am very happy with it. It's in a neighbor's barn and we using as a community tool. There is much word in these parts that the HF version has too much slop in it to be of any use.

As a note, the angles that NT recommends (60 degrees) are a bit off. We've had great success with 50 and 55 degrees for a better cut.

If you're investing in a sharpener, don't forget to attend to your rakers (depth teeth). My chains just went past the 50% point and I got significantly better performance by taking the rakers down to 0.025". Use the tool, and get a proper raker file since a bastard file a) won't work, and b) the side teeth will chew up your cutting teeth.

At the minimum, I am getting the Northern Tool version. Have been debating the older model of the Oregon one, the Model 510. Northern Tool has that one for $200. Thing is, I am only cutting wood to run my wood furnace and possibly a wood burning insert if my dad ever decides to get one. Might eventually be cutting wood for a wood stove or two if we put in the addition we are thinking about. Can't imagine that I would have more than a couple chains a year to sharpen. My problem is that I am like Tim Allen on tool time. Uh, Uh, Uh. Always got to buy some of the most expensive equipment out there to make the job easier and more pleasurable. I've even got a Stihl dealer looking into the price of a Stihl electric sharpener. Ultimately, I think I am going to go with the Northern Tool house brand one because I am also cheap and don't really see the benefit of going with a $200+ sharpener.

 

[turnkey4099]

I've had mine for years. Hardly use it as I can sharpen one using my Oregon clamp on file guide and sharpen them faster ...about 10minutes which include the time to mount saw in vice and the mount the guide. Using the HF one I have to be careful and slow to keep from overheating the cutters.

Still do use the HF to straighten out a badly 'rocked out' chain.

Harry K

 

[deerseeker001]

i bought mine at hf last year i think it was 39.00 i am very happy with it.i used to take mine in to have it sharpened and i would watch them so i knew what had to be done.it works fine for me.i know a lot of people that have them and they are happy

 

[arrow]

If you get the HF one, get better wheels from Oregon. The corundrum with sharpeners (grinder type) is that the cheap ones are marginally ok for occasional use but they spin too fast, have little torque and burn the chain. Their shafts get sloppy because they are weak with little support and they may or may not hold the chain tight. Soon you have a $39 piece of trash if you sharpen more than once a week. If you use a $300 one you'd see the difference and supports the notion that ignorance is bliss. The problem there is that few people are willing to shell out that kind of money for the "occasional use" but settings are more precise, they run smoother and you actually get a sharpened chain. The $100 one from Northern may be a compromise between junk and halfway decent but my recent sharpener ( not from Northern) cost $169, is just ok, and cannot compare to the one I used to have for the same price 35 years ago that now costs over $300. It all depends on your temperment and preferences of what one values most between money spent and quality of job that the tool does.

 

[crazyal]

If you get the HF one, get better wheels from Oregon. The corundrum with sharpeners (grinder type) is that the cheap ones are marginally ok for occasional use but they spin too fast, have little torque and burn the chain. Their shafts get sloppy because they are weak with little support and they may or may not hold the chain tight. Soon you have a $39 piece of trash if you sharpen more than once a week. If you use a $300 one you'd see the difference and supports the notion that ignorance is bliss. The problem there is that few people are willing to shell out that kind of money for the "occasional use" but settings are more precise, they run smoother and you actually get a sharpened chain. The $100 one from Northern may be a compromise between junk and halfway decent but my recent sharpener ( not from Northern) cost $169, is just ok, and cannot compare to the one I used to have for the same price 35 years ago that now costs over $300. It all depends on your temperment and preferences of what one values most between money spent and quality of job that the tool does.

I've only picked up the chainsaw twice this year and I think the last time I sharpened a chain was in October of last year. I tend to be like fabsroman and over buy when there's no reason to. Or I want to over buy and spend too much time thinking about it (knowing I really don't need as nice of a model) and not buy at all.

I found if you use a pipe thread cutting spray it keeps from burning the chain and killing the temper. I thought about breaking out the sharpener today but it was in the mid 80s and too hot for me.

 

[arrow]

I've only picked up the chainsaw twice this year and I think the last time I sharpened a chain was in October of last year. I tend to be like fabsroman and over buy when there's no reason to. Or I want to over buy and spend too much time thinking about it (knowing I really don't need as nice of a model) and not buy at all.

I found if you use a pipe thread cutting spray it keeps from burning the chain and killing the temper. I thought about breaking out the sharpener today but it was in the mid 80s and too hot for me.

Getting what's called a "Koolstik" may be handier to mitigate chain burning.