Harbour Freight Chain Sharpener
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I have one. It's not a swiss watch but I can take a stihl safety chain or a stihl skip full chisel chain from making dust to throwing healthy chips in no time flat. I don't have the skill or patience to do that with a file so the 27$ will quickly be recovered instead of taking my chains in to be sharpened for like 6$ each. The key is to just barely touch each tooth and not to grind away much material. Folks will soon tell you why they feel good that they spent way more money on fancier versions of the same thing, well sure, you can always buy a fancier version but if you wanted precision and durability then you wouldn't be shopping at HF.
It's only got to sharpen 5 chains to pay for itself.
It's only got to sharpen 5 chains to pay for itself.
I bought one at Christmas (on special for $24.95). It works great (took me a little time to figure out how to use it though). I doubt that it will last forever, but it sure beats grinding by hand (I did 5 chains in my first sitting). At that price, I can replace it when it dies and not look back.
Thanks everyone. Where do you sharpen your chains (inside or out)? I have three little kids and I'm nervous about metal shavings laying around the basement.
You won't get metal shavings. You'll get a small amount of black powder dust. Remember, you just barely touch each tooth. You don't want to heat the tooth and remove the heat treatment hardness. Even a regular bench grinder grinding an axe won't put down shavings. Just a pile of metal dirt. Now a metal lathe will turn off some very sharp ribbons of steel.
Kids like working with metal. Here is my 5YO daughter.
Kids like working with metal. Here is my 5YO daughter.
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I have one. I sharpen by hand for quick touch ups since you can do it on the bar. After awhile the touch ups do not last and I do it on the HF. Does take a little while to get it figured out, but not hard once you get it set up.
I have one and was afraid to admit it until I see others are also happy with theirs. I know there's other very expensive models out there, but my little orange sharpener works well and has for 3 years now.
I keep mine hidden in the closet and only use it when no one is around. Not a precision instrument but gets the job done.
matt701 said:
Indeed. If you park at the other end of the plaza and go in after dark, you can usually get away with no one seeing you. And, if they do, they are probably doing the same thing. In all seriousness, be very careful with their bigger wrenches. I have had two fail on me and the last time could have easily been a trip to the ER.
Probably a good thing they don't sell chainsaws. Can you imagine a "Chicago" chainsaw? I've had bad luck with their adjustable channel lock pliers too. I'll just say they don't lock onto anything which is neat when you are trying to turn a bolt with all of your weight and they just let go.
Impact sockets. That's where you buy your deep well, 6 point, impact sockets. If I ever take a trip to China I expect to get off the plane and smell nothing but that rubbery HF store smell.
I think the smell is the cosmoline that all of the heavy-metal equipment is coated with, to prevent corrosion in transit.
matt701 said:
Actually they DO sell chainsaws, at least on occasion... I bought my first saw, the Pull-on in my sig from them several years back - IIRC, $89 for a "factory recon" - at the time I wasn't burning full time, and just wanted something to deal with trimming and storm cleanup type tasks...
I pretty regularly see chainsaws in the catalogs, but they are generally "recon" versions of once great but now cheap name brands - Pull-on, Homolite, McColic, etc, not any of the HF "house brands"
Gooserider
got to agree with highbeam on the impact sockets. while most of my tools are of decent quality, the impact sockets were low cost figuring i'm not gonna bust myself up if one breaks. Now with that said I did break one under heavy use. That one was replaced with a high quality socket.
no regrets on the "low cost purchase".
rn
no regrets on the "low cost purchase".
rn
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