Chain pitch gauges & other tools
Oct 2, 2018 11:59:30 GMT -5
sawnami, onlyhomelites, and 5 more like this
Post by jerseyhighlander on Oct 2, 2018 11:59:30 GMT -5
A while back, perusing items on fleaBay, I took notice of one particular item a seller had. It was, what looks like an older, Granberg gauge titled Pitch N Gauge. Now, I have a large assortment of dial calipers, micrometers, feeler gauges etc to take any measurement I want but this looked like a nice, simple & quick at hand kind of thing, so I saved it to my list of wants and finally got one a couple weeks ago.
Shortly after finding the Granberg version, I noticed that Oregon has a similar but more modern incarnation.
I decided to get that one too, both only a few bucks, but they each have some differences and each some features that the other doesn't.
You can see the Granberg version has several more options for chain pitch, where the Oregon just has the standard four that are around today and may not always work for some of the older saws & chain.
The Oregon's best feature is the tabs at the four corners to measure the gauge of the bar groove, though, again somewhat limited to more recent versions, should cover most. The Granberg has slots that you hold over the groove and try to judge if the edges line up and I've found that part mostly useless. The Oregon version goes down into the groove where it's not skewed by wear & separation at the edge.
Similarly, they both have grooves to measure the gauge of the drive links. The Granberg using the same grooves as for the bar groove, and again, to me, inferior to the Oregon version. I was able to slip a known .063 drive link into the .050 slot on the Granberg. The Oregon slots are a bit more precise.
They both have holes to check file diameter. In this case, it's the Oregon that has more options, at least one, for the 11/64".
From there the Granberg goes on with some filing angles, a Tooth Length gauge that is semi-useful, and tabs on the outer edges to check raker depth.
I like the way the Oregon version has the pitch gauge around the edges and with open sides, just seems easier to use at times but again, it's limited to only the modern four sizes.
For just a few bucks, I'm content with having both.
