I use a grinder now mostly ,in fact I like them so we'll I just ordered a maxx Italian job to replace my worn harbor freight one As some of you might remember I do it as a sideline to my normal 60 hour a week job(nut ain't I) my boss hires me at home sharpen the chains from a machine we have with a 7 ft bar now that's a lot of filing by hand I hemmed and hawed for a few years now to upgrade from the harbor freight cheapie but that has put a lot of cash in my pocket since I started my sideline I'm no stranger to grinding cutting tools I've done it as part of my lumber mill career for 30 years you can get good results with a cheap grinder if you have good technique I've been following these threads and watching them go sour for several years on Tbn I until a few years ago I always hand filed and considered my self very good at it I usually cut 8 to 10 cord of wood a year for my family and relatives Which is better ? Give me a grinder for rocked tooth if I could a file for touch up WHY ? I'm getting older I've had 2 carpitunel surgerys got arthritis in my hands and i pay for it when I hand file Mabey I'm the first to admit but the bodys to worn out to hand file a lot
I got my new maxx grinder and i see a big improvement first observation was more angled adjustments i knew the angle of my chains was 30degrees but werent sure of the angle to tilt the head my guess was 60 degrees and boy these chains look like they came out of the box my harbor freight head was fixed at one angle
Next i noticed you can slide the whole yoke forward and back which is nice because you can center your wheel and adjust as it wears a nice feature
The all metal design is stiff and doesnt flex not alot of plAstic on this machine it has a nice light in it so i dont need a blinding light to see
Going from a 4 inch to 6 is a big difference in performance 2 little taps is all you need i didnt mark my chain but you could tell when you got around because the wheel would barely touch ,something the 4 inch harbor freight would never do i didnt seem to heat the teeth like before
Last but not least is the chain holder it flows freely when the grinder is up and locks down tight when the head comes down! Sweet cuts sharpening time in half its totaly adjustable for different thickness chains going to be sweet onthe 14 foot chains i do
Thinking on setting up old harbor freight just for raker maintanance it will save me set up time
How do you guys mark chains to see where to start and stop ? Was thinking of a bottle of bright finger nail polish
One last question any one have a source for cheap diamond wheels i have a custer who wants me to do carbide chains my initial search showed them very pricy
awprint: Come closer Lil' Red Riding Hood!
