Thread: Saw chain sharpener ( electric )

good for cutting back chain to the correct angle but not good for getting it sharp.

vallorbe is the answer. they are long thin and round one end has a handle of choice and the other is guided by thumb and forefinger.

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

vallorbe is the answer. they are long thin and round one end has a handle of choice and the other is guided by thumb and forefinger.

Umm ok . But where does the electricity come into it ?

Originally Posted by Manuka Jock

Umm ok . But where does the electricity come into it ?

none required.... makes them very cheap to run.....lol

i agree too files the go like any tool they have to be sharp when there not just chuck em on the ground so weisy can kick em

Originally Posted by tlbsg

i agree too files the go like any tool they have to be sharp when there not just chuck em on the ground so weisy can kick em

Now why didnt i think of that, I usually keep them for enlarging little holes and things.

Honestly if you want to buy a grinder there is only one type of grinder I would look at, it is the oregon design, but the oregon one is around 300 dollars plus however there are these ones,

Chain saw Grinder Chainsaw Sharpener Oregon Spec tools - eBay Chainsaws, Outdoor Power Equipment, Gardening, Home. (end time 30-Mar-10 18:34:58 AEDST)


Which are basically the same design and if you purchased a couple of decent wheels and a good quality wheel dresser you would get good service from it. these are adjustable on every angle you would want for grinding a chainsaw chain.


Avoid this style of sharpener they are crap

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-320W-PRO-...item563a44e297

Travis

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

Honestly if you want to buy a grinder there is only one type of grinder I would look at, it is the oregon design, but the oregon one is around 300 dollars

Humm . . . never hear of Silvey grinders then? Sure they're double the price of the Oregon but they are a very nice grinder with in built wheel wear compensator so there's a lot less mucking about with settings.

plus however there are these ones,
Chain saw Grinder Chainsaw Sharpener Oregon Spec tools - eBay Chainsaws, Outdoor Power Equipment, Gardening, Home. (end time 30-Mar-10 18:34:58 AEDST)

Which are basically the same design and if you purchased a couple of decent wheels and a good quality wheel dresser you would get good service from it. these are adjustable on every angle you would want for grinding a chainsaw chain.

The one thing that annoys me about their website is they claim their product is $800 rrp when all the are a chinese rip-offs of the Oregon Grinder. Still, at $79 I have to admit I have been tempted from time to time - They will pay for themselves quickly over taking chains into a store for sharpening and for users unwilling to learn how to hand file.

Avoid this style of sharpener they are crap
New 320W PRO CHAINSAW SHARPENER CHAIN SAW GRINDER - eBay Chainsaws, Outdoor Power Equipment, Gardening, Home. (end time 06-Mar-10 18:00:42 AEDST)

Agreed

One thing about any grinder, there's nothing worse than getting sparks in your face so make sure it send the sparks to the back.

Seeing as I get paid to do all the stuff to a chain saw that you don't normally want to do when I acquired an electric grinder it made getting chains back to shape (after chewing gravel and other nasty ####) then i make them sharp with the hand file. also makes dropping rakers a heap easier. @ $80 there worth it to help fix chains but not to get them sharp. as we all know the ONLY way to make a chain sharp is to sharpen it when its sharp.

Originally Posted by BobL

Humm . . . never hear of Silvey grinders then? Sure they're double the price of the Oregon but they are a very nice grinder with in built wheel wear compensator so there's a lot less mucking about with settings.



The one thing that pisses me off about their website is they claim their product is $800 rrp when all the are a chinese rip-offs of the Oregon Grinder. Still, at $79 I have to admit I have been tempted from time to time - They will pay for themselves quickly over taking chains into a store for sharpening and for users unwilling to learn how to hand file.


Agreed

One thing about any grinder, there's nothing worse than getting sparks in your face so make sure it send the sparks to the back.

I agree about the RRP thing bob I have one of their chainsaws with a 1400 rrp seriously it is just a load of toss but the price you actually pay for them they do work out good value for money.

with the sending the sparks to the back thing this will mean that you would have to sharpen the left cutters the opposite way in the jig to the right cutters. the whole idea of the original oregon grinder with the reversible motor was so that A. the burr was pulled up on the outside of the cutting edge on both the left and right cutters, and B. so that any cutter deflection caused by the grinding action was equal on both the left and right cutters. this could be overcome if you could reverse the holding jig for the chain and the angle of the grinding head and turn the chain around.

And yes the oregon grinder is $800 at my local stihl dealer but I have seen the oregon grinder on ebay for $300. and yes they are the same as the one I posted the link for just stamped with the oregon brand and have better wheels and are slightly better finished.

Personally I will stick with the vallorbe system, cheaper, sharper and chains last longer.

which leads me to another thing bobL you talk about carlton chains a lot and how good their "technicians" are etc. I have been using a fair bit of carlton chain lately and am sorry to say that stihl chain is far better for accuracy than the oregon I have used. I have noticed on "EVERY" carlton chain I have, variations of up to 2 mm in cutter length to the point where it is virtually impossible to file some cutters on the first sharpen as you cannot get the appropriately sized file in between the cutter and the raker. The depth of the gullet also varies greatly. I have found that this variation is from one cutter to the next not a gradual thing from one end of the chain to the other. I have also found that the shape of the grind is also far from perfect and is highlighted when you first file them sharp in some instances taking up to 5 file strokes to remove the imperfections of the initial poor quality grinding caused by inaccurate dressing of the grinding wheels.

I have also noticed that it stretches more before stabilising than stihl chain does.

Travis

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

Avoid this style of sharpener they are crap

New 320W PRO CHAINSAW SHARPENER CHAIN SAW GRINDER - eBay Chainsaws, Outdoor Power Equipment, Gardening, Home. (end time 06-Mar-10 18:00:42 AEDST)

Travis

Yep , that the orange bugga that my mate has .
And yep , its crap

i've only quickly looked over this thread but noticed that bobl swore the other thing is a good quality grinder i thought had to go both ways to get the proper grind on the cutters.if i could find a machine that was 10 years old and had reverse,i'd swap it with my one direction machine anyday

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

with the sending the sparks to the back thing this will mean that you would have to sharpen the left cutters the opposite way in the jig to the right cutters. the whole idea of the original oregon grinder with the reversible motor was so that A. the burr was pulled up on the outside of the cutting edge on both the left and right cutters, and B. so that any cutter deflection caused by the grinding action was equal on both the left and right cutters. this could be overcome if you could reverse the holding jig for the chain and the angle of the grinding head and turn the chain around.

Sure I understand all that but it' still what I would expect from a grinder and I would expect them to do it without too much mucking about. The problem with some of the cheaper grinders that can be reversed is that the creates a slightly different cutter length without resetting the tool.

And yes the oregon grinder is $800 at my local stihl dealer but I have seen the oregon grinder on ebay for $300. and yes they are the same as the one I posted the link for just stamped with the oregon brand and have better wheels and are slightly better finished.

The motors on the $79 ones looks smaller than the Oregons I have used and seen also the chain holder looks quite different, the Oregon uses a cam lock.


I'm not saying they're not worth $79, they're certainly worth that, and look like they will last much longer and do a more accurate job than the $39 ebay grinders.

Personally I will stick with the vallorbe system, cheaper, sharper and chains last longer.

Vallorbe files work for me.

which leads me to another thing bobL you talk about carlton chains a lot and how good their "technicians" are etc. I have been using a fair bit of carlton chain lately and am sorry to say that stihl chain is far better for accuracy than the oregon I have used. I have noticed on "EVERY" carlton chain I have, variations of up to 2 mm in cutter length to the point where it is virtually impossible to file some cutters on the first sharpen as you cannot get the appropriately sized file in between the cutter and the raker. The depth of the gullet also varies greatly. I have found that this variation is from one cutter to the next not a gradual thing from one end of the chain to the other. I have also found that the shape of the grind is also far from perfect and is highlighted when you first file them sharp in some instances taking up to 5 file strokes to remove the imperfections of the initial poor quality grinding caused by inaccurate dressing of the grinding wheels.
I have also noticed that it stretches more before stabilising than stihl chain does.

I can only go on the Carlton chain I have. I have measured it in the lab for hardness and found it to be marginally harder than Stihl and significantly harder than Oregon and that is consistent with how quickly they go blunt in what I cut.

I just went a measured a bunch of new Carlton cutters and the cutter length varies by about +/- 0.2 mm compared to Stihl that varies by about 0.07 mm. If anyone can keep their cutter lengths with a hand file to within +/- 0.07 mm within a few touch ups, then I say good luck to them but I don't think anything better than +/- 0.2 mm in terms of length is necessary. When I reset mine by hand I stop mucking about when I am within 0.1 mm. Perhaps more important than cutter length is consistent cutter angle and if I can get that to with 0.5º that's good enough for me.

The Carlton stuff I have stretches the same as the Stihl and maybe a bit less than Oregon. It sounds like you dealer might be offloading some "Chinese Carlton" I heard there is some going around that is not much good.

I think that probably overall Stihl chain is better than Carlton mainly because it seems to oil itself a little better and works better in dirtier wood, but it's just not worth the extra money in my book, same argument as the $79 grinder I guess.

Originally Posted by charlsie

i've only quickly looked over this thread but noticed that bobl swore the other thing is a good quality grinder i thought had to go both ways to get the proper grind on the cutters.if i could find a machine that was 10 years old and had reverse,i'd swap it with my one direction machine anyday

Just for you I went back and edited it

At any where from $18\66dl $20\72dl and $23.50\84dl or $0.28 per dl stihl chain is real cheap
1. because as bobl said it oils its self better then others
2. it cuts really good of the nose of the saw(great for limbing
3. it stay sharp longer(when treated with respect)
4. its made buy the guys that make your saw for your saw and for your wood!
5. when i buy rolls of chain the guy at the stihl shop gives me those ive been shopping at a man shop bags and i kinda dig that

Cheers all good night
Bob jr