Chainsaw sharpening machine

[westbrooklawn]

Jim Morrissey -

Thanks for the catch on the spelling error in my original post for arboristsite.com... I try to proof my posts before I Submit them, but I obviously missed that one. Arboristsite is a wealth of knowledge for anything chainsaw related... one of my favorite sites....

 

[6thgpSF]

yes I did BigE,at a local farm store in topeka.I payed almost that amount for a gallon of sthil bar oil.for the price of it I thought I'd give it a try,I've always used a file and guide but the grinder works pretty good. russ

 

[BigE_]

The Stihl bar oil isn't worth the extra money. I buy mine at BiMart on sale for $6.39 per gallon. It's all 30W stuff with some tackiness stuff added.

I do buy the Stihl two-stroke oil, but between the Stihl, Echo, and Husky two-stroke oil, I don't think there's much difference. I don't use the synthetic two-stroke because it biodegrades at the rate of 1% per day, and there are times I'll go 2-3 weeks without cutting.

 

[RobertN]

Can you expand on that? Why is it not worth the extra money?

The Stihl bar oil isn't worth the extra money.

 

[BigE_]

Can you expand on that? Why is it not worth the extra money?

There isn't anything special about bar oil. It's all 30W, with some tackifier added. You are basically paying for the Stihl brand that they threw on the oil. OK, maybe if you are working in extremely cold weather, then getting the winter version is worth the extra money, but in general, save your pennies.

Heck, people have been using straight 30W oil for years, canola oil, even used motor oil (properly filtered). Now, I don't advocate doing any of that (maybe straight 30W), but if they can get by with straight motor oil for 30 years with no issues, I'm pretty sure that getting the Stihl branded isn't worth the extra cash.

 

[BigE_]

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=127434

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=106662

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=38827

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=131533

 

[LD1]

I agree in not buying the stihl bar oil.

About the best that I have found is the TSC brand stuff. It's about the stickiest/tackiest that I have found and @ $6 per gallon it is about half the price of stihl/husqvarna brand oil.

We cut about 20-25 cord of firewood per year and I have no trouble at all getting 5-6 years out of a bar. Chain life is good too. I can run a ghain until the teeth are almost filed off and not have any problems with stretch/overheating.

Just be sure to keep the groove and oil hole in the bar clean and your all set.

 

[RobertN]

My experience is that Stihl Chains with Stihl oil are exceptional cutters. Had good luck with Husky oil too.

I have used other bar oils on occasion, but seemed to go thru it faster, and the chain did not stay as sharp as long as I am used to.

I do not have any data that says the less expensive oils are not good. When I have used them the worked, I just went thru more, which makes it closer in price per overall hours the chainsaw is run. However, on the other side of the coin, I have not seen any data to indicate that the extra expense of Stihl or Husky oil is money wasted. Also, the Husky and Stihl dealers are closer than the other places, so by the time I drive to the cheaper stuff, it is a wash for me.

My saws are all pro saws. Albeit, two are older ones. But all of them would cost $450-1000 each to replace; so I use what I believe is the best oils. If, they were $150 homeowner saws, then I might not worry about it much.

There isn't anything special about bar oil. It's all 30W, with some tackifier added. You are basically paying for the Stihl brand that they threw on the oil. OK, maybe if you are working in extremely cold weather, then getting the winter version is worth the extra money, but in general, save your pennies.

 

[Natureboy]

Save yourself the grief (and expense) and file by hand. By the time you spend setting up a chain grinder to do a good job (much harder to do with the HF or the NT chinese knock-offs), you will have chewed up a lot of good chainsaw teeth in the process.

A stroke or two with a good file and some of the simple jigs to either hold or guide the file are easy to master and will maintain a sharp chain better than any grinder. IMO

Here is the jig I use that is simple, cheap, and works the best of the many that I've used over the past 40+ years. Made by Pferd, and sold through Husqavarna

Amen to that! Been using a file for years. Only time I take them in to be sharpened is when I accidentally put one in the dirt.

 

[20 20]

RobertN; I have a stupid question, how do you go through more bar oil when using cheaper/other oils? If the regulater is set to only push____amount of oil then how does it change from brand to brand? Not trying to be a jerk just curious.

In the past, I have used old motor oil{from oil changes}. I have used bar oil mixed with used oil. And of course I've just used bar oil. I've never noticed a consumtion change just a performance change. I go to wood days in upstate NY every year, they have great deals on bar oil,.,.,. usually buy a case @ a time.

 

[RobertN]

Dunno. It is not significantly more, but was definitely noticeable. I don't recall what brand it was; it was a while ago. Might have been Ace or Tru-Valu branded; we did not have a local Wal Mart then, and I have not used Wal Mart branded oil.

I thought it odd too; as someone else mentioned, 30w is 30w is 30w.

RobertN; I have a stupid question, how do you go through more bar oil when using cheaper/other oils? If the regulater is set to only push____amount of oil then how does it change from brand to brand? Not trying to be a jerk just curious.

 

[20 20]

Dunno. It is not significantly more, but was definitely noticeable. I don't recall what brand it was; it was a while ago. Might have been Ace or Tru-Valu branded; we did not have a local Wal Mart then, and I have not used Wal Mart branded oil.

I thought it odd too; as someone else mentioned, 30w is 30w is 30w.

:thumbsup:

 

[FredH]

Regarding Harbor Freight saw chain sharpener : Have one , still have it , still use it . Like on my 4'th or 5'th grinding wheel . Made 1 modification to it and that was to the little gray locking knob to tighten the chain before grinding . Used a piece of 1/4" all thread and made a longer handle that sticks out past the whole machine , then bent it , thus now I don't have to keep pushing it in or spinning it back as with the gray knob being a half lever , you could only go so far , then release it and turn it back to push in again to tighten .

Use a depth gauge and a 4.5" cut off grinding wheel to file down the rake's .
Regular grinding wheel was to coarse , so since I have a bazillion cut off wheels , they work great .

Have not took a chain in for over 10 years . Chains last a lot longer since as mentioned before , you only have to take off a minimal amount , were as many places set their machine to the smallest tooth , then grind away . You can even experiment with what angle works best for your application / saw and wood type .

Fred H.

 

[DIRTROAD]

I just had to return a brand new Northern Tool brand chain grinder. I actually had to help the grinding wheel start spinning manually and then hit the on switch.

I would not recommend it to anyone!

I will be spending the extra and ordering a good one from Bailey's.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Check Ebay for the grinders as well.

 

[Car Doc]

Yup have one from Northern think its the same (?) and made numerous mods (ask me and I can post pics) and its great well worth the money!

Just re-read your original post I have the one that costs $89-99 or at least at the time it did not $30 so don't know which grinder you mean?

Steve

 

[MossRoad]

I picked up a Harbor Freight sharpener for $29.99 about a month ago. I have 6 chains. The hardware store wanted $5.00 a piece to sharpen them. 6 x 5 = 30, so I said, what the heck, try it out.

Hey, it works! :laughing:

I sharpened one chain before attempting the rest because of a lot of horror stories in reviews of this sharpener. After taking the advice from the reviewers that had taken the time to get it working correctly and ignoring the rants of those that "ruined their chains" and took it back after 5 minutes, I was able to set it up and sharpen a chain within 1/2 hour of getting it out of the box. I tested it on the saw and was pleasantly surprised at all the chips flying. The chain was as good as new. So I sharpened the other 5 chains. It took me about 1/2 an hour to sharpen 5 chains.

I cut two cords on one of those chains over the last two weekends. That's pretty good! :thumbsup: Even if the thing dies tomorrow, I will have broken even.

I think the key is to just kiss the blades, not grind the heck out of them. Some of these are older chains that I have had for decades, inherited from my dad. They had uneven teeth from hand sharpening and some cut funny. The nice thing about the sharpener is that you can get all the teeth even as long as you take the time to make sure the stop gauge is in the same place on each tooth each time and you put even pressure on the chain before you tighten the vice and touch the grinding wheel to the teeth with the same pressure each time.

The only thing it is lacking is a way to grind the depth gauges. But heck? For $30.00 it is what it is and it does work if you take the time. :thumbsup:

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Nice work Mossroad. You are right you don't have to take a lot of metal off with the machine if your teeth are in good shape. I take a cheap micrometer and try to find my shortest tooth and bring the rest of them to about the same length. Often I just have to touch the tooth a little to get an edge back on it. I have 5 year old chains that are cutting great. The really worn chains I save for stump cutting or where there might be crud in the log.
My new sharpener has a wheel for grinding the depth gauge teeth and the grinder sets up to vertical. Before I had that grinder I carefully used just a bench grinder and held the chain on the tool rest.
Sounds like you will get more than your moneys worth. :thumbsup:

 

[forgeblast]

I just sent mine to auction. I sharpen with a file and gauge. I cut about a tank or two of gas, and depending on how the blade is acting i sharpen then. It gives me a chance to catch my breath. In my opinon i have found that using the sharpening machines over heats the blade if done too long and the blade is then worthless. Plus i keep the blade sharper, when i was taking it to a place to get them sharpened i would make sure they were dulllllll, but now with a sharp blade i get much more done.

 

[MossRoad]

Nice work Mossroad. You are right you don't have to take a lot of metal off with the machine if your teeth are in good shape. I take a cheap micrometer and try to find my shortest tooth and bring the rest of them to about the same length. Often I just have to touch the tooth a little to get an edge back on it. I have 5 year old chains that are cutting great. The really worn chains I save for stump cutting or where there might be crud in the log.
My new sharpener has a wheel for grinding the depth gauge teeth and the grinder sets up to vertical. Before I had that grinder I carefully used just a bench grinder and held the chain on the tool rest.
Sounds like you will get more than your moneys worth. :thumbsup:

What I did was set it to the first tooth and just barely kissed the blade and it was sharp. Then I move on to the next tooth and apply the same pressure. If sparks fly, I know it was a tad longer than the last tooth I sharpened. If it doesn't hit the tooth at all I know it was shorter than the others, so I adjusted the stop to that tooth and went around the entire chain again. Once I found that shortest tooth and adjusted to it, all the rest fell in line.

I then switch it and do the opposite teeth. So, the best I can do is get all the right teeth to match and then get all the left teeth to match, but I have no way of making both the left and right teeth match without some fine measurement.

It cuts good enough for my firewood. Its not like I'm making fine furniture. :laughing: