Saw Chain Sharpener

[Cottonhawk]

I ordered one two days ago. For less than $40 I don't think that I can go wrong. In the field I always take a back up saw chain so that my saw is always sharp.

 

[duber34]

I've had one for about a year now and it works very well for the price. A tip: Remember to flip the grinding wheel over after sharpening a chain or two. This will help the wheel to wear evenly.

 

[rickmacheske]

I have the same one. Works great for the price. Takes me about 5 minutes a chain. I have 5 chains for my saw so I sharpen when I have 4 dull ones.

 

[Bedlam]

Thanks Duber.I never gave it a thought to flip the wheel around. It only makes sence.
Allan

 

[Dozernut]

Here is a little tip on mounting your grinder when you get it. Take a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood large enough to bolt the grinder on. Then take another piece of wood that is as long as the base piece is wide and about 2" wide. Then glue and screw the 2" piece in the middle of the base piece, then bolt the grinder to the base. Now you can clamp the grinder in your vise when you need to use it and remove and store it when your done.

 

[DrewL]

A thorough understanding how a chain saw chain works is very helpful. If you look at a dull tooth you will see the cutting edge nosed down. You will have to grind back untill you get to original shaped metal. Also, do not grind continuously that would cause the tooth to "blue". That is an overheat situation taking the temper (strength) out of the tooth. Every cutting tooth has different amounts of dullness when it is ready for sharpening. Sharpening a chain on a machine takes patience and practice. yes there are compound angles and the sharpener needs to know and understand them for a properly sharpened chain. I say this respectfully as you may already know these nuances

 

[Jagmandave]

I also have the little $20 "dremmel" type sharpener that uses the 12V power. I just hook it to the truck or tractor battery and it sharpens my chains well, quick too. I like the fact that it's small and portable, so if you need to sharpen it in the field, it's quick and easy.........

That said, for $29, this seems like a deal!

 

[duber34]

I use a similar idea: Mounted my grinder to a scrap piece of 4x4 PT maybe 20 - 24" long. I then clamp both ends of the 4x4 to the workbench to sharpen chains. When done; unclamp and stow it out of the way.


Regards,
Duber

 

[mrutkaus]

I bought one at $39 and when I plugged it in it worked for 1/2 second. I got an RMA and took it to the post office to return it free and get it replaced...

Mike

 

[knute_m]

Based on this thread, I purchased one of the HF chainsaw sharpeners for $29. It arrived yesterday. What a great little machine. It already paid for itself.

I had a bucket with a number of old chains that I started with last night. They were ones that "I was going to get to someday." Some of these chains are 20 years old. Mostly, the problems were that the teeth were all different lengths from years of hand sharpening with a Granberg File-N-Joint.

I did about six of them in less than an hour, and that included testing two of them on chainsaws.

But, the chains I was doing came off my two Homelites -- an XL and a 360.

When I went to touch up my newer Husqvarna 455 "low kickback" chains, I ran into a problem.

The Homelight chains are ground at an angle that is at 0 degrees relative to the top plane of the chain, with a 30 degree chisel angle.

The Husqvarna chains are ground at a 10 degree vertical angle relative to the top plane of chain, with a 25 degree chisel angle.

Only the horizontal chisel angle is adjustable on the HF sharpener.

Have any of you run into this problem, and if so, what did you do?

I'm thinking that I can probably get my Husqvarna teeth all the same length and at the correct horizontal angle with this thing, and then do my final touchup and vertical angle with the File-N-Joint -- but I wish I didn't have to do that.

If I were to leave the vertical angle at zero degrees, what would be the effect? I'm assuming that this angle is for both anti-kickback and for cutting efficiency.

What if I just ground the the Husqvarna chains like my Homelite chains? (The bigger Homelite chains and the Husqvarna chains are 3/8-inch pitch and .050.)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Knute

P.S. I still plan to do most of my sharpening with a file. I figure this thing will get used about once a year to get my chains back to a good starting point.