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Post by polardoo on Aug 22, 2009 19:32:59 GMT -5
Ijust picked up a Harbor freight electric sharpener. I had a coupon for $29. I wouldnt say it was great quality but it works well and the chain I tried it on is definately sharp. I enjoy hand sharpening unless a chain is used for trimming rocks and I think this will help. If you understand sharpening and the tools limits I think it is a good buy. I havent tried it on a big chain yet but I see no reason why it wouldnt be fine.
So will a nicely filed chain cut faster than a machine ground or is there much difference?
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Post by MCS on Aug 22, 2009 22:13:26 GMT -5
I've seen those in the Harbor Freight ads and they look very similar to the Oregon one I have. What diameter wheel does it use and what is the diameter of the mounting hole  How many wheels and what size came with it? There are several ways to sharpen chain: - Hand filing - this may produce the sharpest cutting edge but there is the potential for getting too much hook on the cutter and not keeping the angles true. Damaged cutters take a long time to clean up. Several types of guides are available to keep thing to "spec."
- Bench grinders - some feel that these machines remove too much material but they only remove as much as the operator sets them remove. Potential for burning the cutter. Stone has to be dressed correctly or the cutter will have incorrect shape. Good for restoring a chain back to correct angles. Bench grinders can be set up to alter the original cutting angles to meet certain requirements.
- Bar mounted grinders - I've never used one but I'm sure they do a good job.
I grind all my chain and all new chain has ground cutters. When I was in the business, I'd have customers comment on how nice the chain worked after I sharpened it on the machine but the real problem was that the chain was all screwed up from incorrect filing. |
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Post by polardoo on Aug 23, 2009 7:52:49 GMT -5
4.25 wheel by .125 7/8 mounting hole. only one wheel. Ive seen older chains filed with almost no hook at all. I always thought they wouldnt self feed that way but most older saws so heavy maybe it wouldnt matter.
I was hoping to get oregon replacement wheels if size was ok
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Post by MCS on Aug 23, 2009 8:45:31 GMT -5
Bailey's has wheels that will work. www.baileysonline.com/category.asp?catID=98017/8" arbor seems to be the standard for these wheels, but I don't see a 1/4" stone offered in this diameter for rakers so you will have to use a 3/16" dressed flat. A little story about my Oregon 511 grinder.. I was on my way from Minneapolis to Dubuque IA a few years ago and driving through a small town I saw a garage sale sign and I needed to stretch so I stopped. Under one table was a box with a Oregon grinder. $10.00 ;D It was new or near new and had three wheel with it an none looked like they had been used. End of story... |
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Post by mikem on Aug 28, 2009 13:54:34 GMT -5
Bailey's has wheels that will work. www.baileysonline.com/category.asp?catID=98017/8" arbor seems to be the standard for these wheels, but I don't see a 1/4" stone offered in this diameter for rakers so you will have to use a 3/16" dressed flat. A little story about my Oregon 511 grinder.. I was on my way from Minneapolis to Dubuque IA a few years ago and driving through a small town I saw a garage sale sign and I needed to stretch so I stopped. Under one table was a box with a Oregon grinder. $10.00 ;D It was new or near new and had three wheel with it an none looked like they had been used. End of story... That is darn close to stealing....  Nice snag  |
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Post by mikem on Aug 28, 2009 13:58:59 GMT -5
I have mine ground about every third or fourth sharpening. I hand file in between as I cannot keep the angles correct. Grinding (here in Texas) runs about $3-4 and well worth it. I do most of my cutting at(sometimes below) ground level in lots of rocks clearing cedar, so I can mess up a sharp chain in a flash !!
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Post by bruce hopf on Sept 3, 2009 22:55:44 GMT -5
Sorry everyone, but it has been a while since I've been here.
The best trick I that I found for keeping your grinding wheels of your bench grinders clean, and don't have to dress them up as often, is to clean your chains prior to grinding them.
Before I sharpen my chains.I put them into a tub of Oven Cleaner, and let them soak for a couple of hours.
I them rinse them off in a tub hot soapy water. I then take a board with a nail, lay it across the laundry tub in the basement, and I take a BBQ brush, dipped in the hot soapy water, and I scrub them up, on both sides.
I then take a paint brush and scrub them some more, till they come out clean. I then take a tub of clean hot water, and I rinse them off.
I hang them up, and once they are dry, I then grind them with my bench grinder. The grinding wheel doesn't get gummed up, meaning less dressing of the wheel, and the cutters don't turn black, from the oil and gunge left on the chain from cutting, while grinding.
After I have them sharpened, I put them into a tub of bar oil, and I let them soak for a few minutes, or some times over night. I then hang them up on a nail, letting the excess oil drip off of them, into a tub that I have on the floor to catch the dripping oil.
I usually leave them hang till I'll be needing them next, or for a customer, or if I'm going to be cutting fire wood right away after sharpening, once most of the execs oil had dripped off, I'll wrap them up in news paper. I've had chains wrapped up in news paper for almost a year, and they are still oiled up nicely. Hope this helps. Bruce.
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Post by MCS on Sept 4, 2009 8:17:12 GMT -5
Bruce,
What are you cutting that the chains get so gummed up that you have to use oven cleaner? I used to sharpen about 10 chains a days at the store and don't recall having problems with the wheel gumming up, I only dressed the stone when it needed a little re-shaping.
Craig
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Post by MCS on Sept 4, 2009 8:18:18 GMT -5
polardoo,
How are you making out with the new sharpener?
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Nice snag