Electric Chain Saw Sharpener-inquiry on opinions

[John_M]

Jay, My saw chain has a .325 pitch and the cutter requires a 3/16" round file to sharpen. Are you certain about the 7/8" round file for your .375 pitch? That seems of kind of big to me.

Best Wishes,

John_M

 

[Jags]

Well, since nobody has spoke up for the little machine...I will. I hand file in the field, but do sharpen with the hobo freight machine when needed.

If you have a good feel for simple machinery, it is quite easy to setup so that a VERY minimal amount of material is removed. Basically I just "nick" the tooth with it. I have used it for 3 years now. It produces sharp chains every time. Every tooth is the same length and both sides are of the same angle.

Works as advertised. I have had pro shops sharpen my chains and cannot say that they return any sharper than if I use my cheapo machine.

There...I said it. And yes.....I am quite proficient at hand filing, so its not an issue of not knowing how.

 

[Jay H]

Jay, My saw chain has a .325 pitch and the cutter requires a 3/16" round file to sharpen. Are you certain about the 7/8" round file for your .375 pitch? That seems of kind of big to me.

Best Wishes,

John_M

Nope, I just looked it up, math was wrong... 3/8th = .325 and it uses a 7/32 not a 7/8th (which would be quite big) file... Sorry!

Jay

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I hand file in the woods if needed, for touch up, but when in the garage I use the little oregon grinder thingy.. works great. you do have to be carefull about overheating the cutting edge, but it just takes a touch to put a fresh edge on, and you do have to keep an eye on the grinder so it doesn't wear down, no big deal.

 

[Gooserider]

I have one of the HF grinders, and it does sort of work, but it isn't great. In retrospect I would have been happier if I'd purchased a better quality machine. Some of the Arboristsite guys say the machine that Northern sells is less than the Oregon but can be much improved by swapping out a few parts, and ends up about that quality.

I purchased my HF unit before I learned to hand file, and it did an OK job, but I can do better by hand, now the only time I use the machine is if I rock the chain and have to clean it up.

As to the question of filing and grinding on the same chain, what I've seen suggested is that when you grind a chain you end up with microscopic particles of grinding wheel imbedded in the metal. When you come along later with a file, the particles keep the file from contacting the chain well, and also dull the file.

Gooserider

 

[DiscoInferno]

Jay, My saw chain has a .325 pitch and the cutter requires a 3/16" round file to sharpen. Are you certain about the 7/8" round file for your .375 pitch? That seems of kind of big to me.

Best Wishes,

John_M

Nope, I just looked it up, math was wrong... 3/8th = .325 and it uses a 7/32 not a 7/8th (which would be quite big) file... Sorry!

Jay

No, you were half right before - 3/8 = 0.375. Although sometimes it seems like the 359 is the last 0.375-pitch, 0.058 gauge saw out there; matching bars and chains are not plentiful in, say, Bailey's catalog.

I mostly hand sharpen, but I'm not that good at it apparently; after several sharpenings things tend to get uneven and the saw stops cutting straight. Also, I cut a lot of dirty stuff and hit rocks more often than I care to admit. So I bought the $30 HF grinder, and though it's just as cheap as advertized it has saved several chains multiple times each. I got my money's worth.