Chainsaw Sharpener,

[guido]

Hello,

What do you guys use to sharpen your saw chaind?. Mine has been a good one. Actually made for that purpose, with a very fast motor

Guido.

 

[Matt from Oz]

Hi Guido

I now mainly use an oregon bench mounted electric sharpener with the disc like an angle grinder. It is quick but need to be careful to not do too much as it wears off the hard facing on the teeth. Can do five chains in under 25 min.

 

[Dean]

Damn, I wish I had one of those.

I have an inexpensive NT sharpener (Chinese copy of low end Oregon sharpener). It has worked well for me but is certainly not durable enough for commercial use.

Dean

 

[JF in MI]

About 8 years ago I got one of those HF jobs when they were on sale for $24 and done many chains with it. Like it a lot.

 

[Russ from MN]

I too have one from HF, works well for me! Since I have started taking more off the rakers my saws seem to cut better yet.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Guido,
I gave my belsaw sharpener away to neighbor. I find a drummel and a rotary burr does a better job for me, faster, and removes less of the tooth.

Some people do a great job with just a file. They do it with chain on saw in the woods where they are cutting.

 

[onefarmer]

I have a SpeedSharp chain grinder. It even has a hydraulic chain clamp. I get a bunch of dull chains built up and do the whole batch at once. With me doing a bunch of them, its faster then a file and precise as a pro job.

 

[guido]

HELLO GEO-TH,In,

That is what mine is, BUT @24000 R.P.M.s its just a little bit faster though. A few seconds on the cutter, and up to the next one. It is about 40 years old,
Guido.

 

[guido]

Hello russ from mn,

That is the secret! you can sharpen the cutter until you turn blue in the face. Serious cutting is accomplishes with the proper rake. .020 to 040. take your pick!
LESS then that is for the occasional use of tree limb trimming!


Guido.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Guido,

I did 6 chains yesterday afternoon.. didn't take me any time at all, just about 5 seconds per tooth.

Sounds like we all use what works best for us.

My chains have 63 teeth with a spacer link between two teeth. When my chains stretch, wear out and can't be adjusted on saw, I remove the spacer link to shorten chain. That chains is used for cutting stumps which have dirt veins that dull the chain real fast. So I'm able to use a chain with the teeth that are just about totally gone to do dirty work I don't want to use a new chain on.

 

[Russ from MN]

I have been cutting up some black ash that blew down, 24 inch diameter. I have the rakers ground down to .050 on my big saw, works well.

 

[Dale in WV]

Like Matt, I use one from Northern Tool -- keeps mine and those in the neighborhood sharp enough for seasonal firewood. Nothing special. Never saw one from Sears. Must be a good one!

 

[guido]

Hello Dean,

That one was originally designed to go on a jig. The nose end shows the place where it would be up to the tool. I use diamond burs, and have been for years. Just make sure you have the rake at least .020 below the tooth, then you can make chips not dust!

GUIDO.

 

[D beatty]

I have never owned one or used one but sharpen all my chains by hand. The only time I have taken a chain in and had it machine sharpen is when I have hit something that has messed the chain up bad.Every chain that I have had sharpened by saw shop I had to touch it up to make it
really cut.If you learn how to sharpen by hand you won't use a machine.I sharpen to a different pitch and take rakers down farther.

 

[Determined]

Dremel type rotary tool with 3/16 stone, fast and does a good job once you get good at staying parallel to the angle line.

Does not do the perfect equal sizing of every tooth like a pro sharpener but more than adequate for what I use it for.

Throw it in the truck along with an inverter and you can touch up a chain right on the bar in a couple of minutes when you stop for fuel.

 

[Texasmark1]

I use the HF cheapie. Works ok for me. Better than the files I used to use, faster, and nice cuts. I buy cut wood usually, do fall tree trimming and sometimes includes a tree 20-24" trunk, 30 ft high. Running a new Stihl saw with EZ start and blade tightener, 16" guide bar. Plenty of power.

Running premium gas in my small engines like Jeffcat recommended makes for fast starts.

 

[544hydro]

i will be the odd duck here. I had the cheap hf grinder and didn't like it. I just use a round file and a flat one for the rakers. My hand filled chains seem to cut better than when I was grinding them. Probably due to my own fault screwing up the grinding somehow.

 

[D beatty]

There use to be a 404 chipper chain but I don't know if you can still get it. We had two saws a Mcculloch super 55 gear driven 27"bar and a Homelite Super 925 XL direct drive 36"bar and both had 404 chipper chains. Those two saws were a hand full to use and would cut through anything like butter.

 

[johnlobb]

I use a hand held Stihl file sharpener that reverses to do the opposite side. Costs around $50 but really works good. It has both round and flat files built in. Flat for the rakers.

 

[guido]

Hello d beatty,

That is what I like most people would not, as it grabs a whole lot. But with the right operator, it will make huge chips,

Guido.

 

[The Famous Grouse]

I have an attachment for a Dremal tool that I've been using for years. It works great and takes just a few minutes per chain.

Only downside is you need the chain on the guide bar for support, so to do multiple chains, you have to put them on the saw one at a time. Its rare for me to dull more than 2 chains in a day, so usually I sharpen the one on the saw first, then the other dull one gets put on and sharpened and left on the saw.

Grouse

 

[guido]

Hello Determined,that is my tool is, a Frenkel it is just a
little faster and built for commercial use. Here are my
grinding stones and burs,

Guido.
<img
src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.comhttps://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto272.j
pg"/>

 

[guido]

Here is the rest of the tools I use with the tool,

Guido.

 

[D beatty]

When you use that chain you need a saw with the guys to handle it. I am getting to old for the real radical chainsaws. I have six saws and the largest is a Stihl MS 460 with 24" bar down to a Echo top handle with 12" bar.

 

[guido]

The grinding kit,

Guido.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I have a Homeheavy with .404 chain.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I have a Craftsman file guide that clamps on the bar. I think it's made by Granberg but doesn't have the tooth clamp. I don't use it often but it does a good mob if I take the time to set it up properly. It adjusts for angles and depth. File one side then flip the frame around for the other side,

 

[Determined]

(quoted from post at 17:45:15 10/20/18) Hello Determined,that is my tool is, a Frenkel it is just a
little faster and built for commercial use. Here are my
grinding stones and burs,

Guido.
&lt;img
src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.comhttps://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto272.j
pg"/&gt;

Guido
Guessing from the picture a few of the bits you have are diamond burrs.
What kind of life do you get out of them?
The stones I use if I am careful I can sharpen probably 3 or 4 72 link chains before the stone has had it.
I get my stones for about $2 each so not a big deal but if the diamond ones are better or last longer I would be interested.

 

[cowranch]

I've got bad hands, can't really hold small things well for very long, well, big things either but usually don't need any kind of precision with the bigger stuff.... Waiting for surgery on them and an arm, doubt it will help. But I use that cheap red handheld "oregon" I think sharpener that hooks up to a battery. It takes just a couple minutes to touch up the chain without taking it off. And I do a decent enough job, chips fly, and the chains last a long time.

But, anyone know of a good method for a carbide chain? Haven't looked into what's used for them yet (I can, easily, I just ...forget to). I'd like to put one on my beaver blade, but the chain isn't removable on that without removing a link, don't know if there's something handheld that works.

 

[guido]

Hello cowranch,

If you need to cut through roofs like the fireman do, go ahead and get one. That is the indented use, not for chopping wood. Sounds like your sharpening method is doing the job,

Guido.

 

[guido]

Hello Determined,


Some are diamond bits. Much better life. I really would have to make a guess of their durability.
Probably 30 to 40+ sharpening on a 20" saw? Last time I got the set, 5/32 to 7/32, they were $3 each.
A friend of mine got them from a flee market in Pa.
I think they may be also available at Amazon?
They sure do a better job then the other stone type bits I have, and maintain their roundness too,

 

[cowranch]

(quoted from post at 08:54:07 10/21/18) Hello cowranch,

If you need to cut through roofs like the fireman do, go ahead and get one. That is the indented use, not for chopping wood. Sounds like your sharpening method is doing the job,

Guido.

I mainly use the Beaver Blade on the front of a DR trimmer to cut cedars in the pasture. Some too big for let's say loppers or a quick axe chop, but too small and many to deal with using a loader/skid tree shear. It will cut at ground level, but I try to cut a hair above that, even then, well, there's sand and dirt. The chain dulls pretty quickly. In fact, cedars in general are the majority of what I cut (got over a mile of barbwire fence with them grown in that I should clear out, basically walls of them). I can cut a lot of trees quickly, but I could cut more if I didn't have to stop every 15 minutes or ~so to touch up the chain (or I could also swap beaver blades, but that would also take time). I haven't really looked into if a carbide chain would be suitable for that, I just thought it might work better, never been around one. I've been through various brush cutter type blades with carbide etc. cutters on hand held pro trimmers, and other methods to cut the darn things (like atv shears, haven't used them, but neighbors don't get along with those). DR trimmer and the blade work the best of anything I've tried for what I'm doing other than the sharpening deal.

If my hands get better, and if I get around to it, I will push harder at getting them cut. I have a 160 acre patch that is pretty full of them, plus some more (don't cut hay on it a couple years, trees get in pretty thick). I've already cleaned most out of a half section, but there weren't as many, amounted to thousands of trees though (some very small of course). I can get done as is, was just thinking it would work better without the stopping as much....

 

[Bret4207]

Usually a Husky roller file guide. I have a cheapie grinder for when I rock a chain. I'm trying to get my Beslaw 308 up and running too.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 19:49:35 10/19/18) Hello,

What do you guys use to sharpen your saw chaind?. Mine has been a good one. Actually made for that purpose, with a very fast motor

Guido.

Hey Guido, how about a shot of the whole machine?

 

[guido]

Hello Bret4207,

That is pretty much it. I can take a picture of the other end. But it is just the collect end where I put the grinding tools in. That is all that was given to me.

Probably just a bar guide with angles, much like a file guide. Just a guess on my part,

Guido

 

[guido]

Hello cowranch,

Sounds like you need more then a hand held tool, and something that also you ride around too. For pole saw trimming I use a 040 rake set, that seems to keep the cutter sharper much longer. By the way, that was the original set, i think its a 10 or 12 in" chain,

Guido.

 

[cowranch]

(quoted from post at 17:50:45 10/21/18) Hello cowranch,

Sounds like you need more then a hand held tool, and something that also you ride around too. For pole saw trimming I use a 040 rake set, that seems to keep the cutter sharper much longer. By the way, that was the original set, i think its a 10 or 12 in" chain,

Guido.

Not exactly handheld, I "gave up" on those. Riding would definitely be nice. Thanks for the info.

Here are a couple videos. Guy kinda wrestles around with his more than I do in the second one. Cutting with the front of the mower, like I said, will cut ground level. And smaller trees, barely have to slow down walking. I can get a lot of trees pretty quickly, just have too many of them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu6j429bBqs&amp;app=desktop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDeuS3n8y1Y&amp;app=desktop

 

[guido]

Hello Bret4207,

Here is the other end of the tool. It looks like I said a
fork type deal as a guide. The two holes are threaded 10/32.

Guido.
<img
src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.comhttps://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto452.j
pg"/>

 

[guido]

Picture

GUIDO.

 

[Bret4207]

Yup, missing something. Looks a lot like my Granberg handheld unit.