Chain Saw Grinder Question ?

Brent Dowell said:

Just got the HF unit yesterday. I had accidently tried to saw a rock in half with a new chain on my old wards chain saw. The sparks it threw were cool!

Anyhow, put the HF sharpener to work today and it made quick work of sharpening the chain and it now cuts pretty good.

I've got a bunch of juniper stumps I need to get out. Some I can probably get a chain around and pull out. Some I can't. I'll do only so much digging before I'll just grab the old chainsaw and cut it off below ground level. That's one of the reasons I was happy to get the HF unit for 40 bucks...

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The dirt on those stumps will dull yer chain real fast. Pulling out is preferred, if possible.

Brent, as others have said, the HF or any bench grinder for that matter will cut the chain's life IF you use the mentality of most of the people sharpening at stores. They make money selling chains, so when it needs sharpened, they will do that and not take a lot of time in the process so they set the machine and cut. What I do is take the least amount to get a clean edge on my chain's tooth and then if I encounter a tooth later that creates the need to adjust a little deeper, then I mark that tooth and cut until I come back to it. A metal marking pen is nice for this. I still will touch a chain up in the field, usually a couple of times then it comes off for the sharpener. I have found it saved me time and money and frustration as I am more ready to change for a sharp chain instead of seeing dollar signs and keep cutting with a dull one for a little while longer. Also, this change of habit has to be great for my saw, a lot less work for it cutting with sharp chains versus dull chains. I have a couple of old chains that are for junk/dirty wood. Don't forget, after cutting those stumps, blow off your saw and the chain travel area so dirt doesn't contaminate the bar also. I have a few stumps that were pulled out that I have upside down so rain is washing the dirt off of the bottom side, one of these days will harvest that wood. Should be great stuff, if not, into the stove it goes!

Frank Fusco said:

The dirt on those stumps will dull yer chain real fast. Pulling out is preferred, if possible.

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I hear ya Frank. Some of these juniper trees were planted too close to the rock retaining wall. On a few of them I'm afraid that if I pull it, I'll pull down the wall...

My preferred method of removal is a chain and my pickup truck...

Jonathan Shively said:

What I do is take the least amount to get a clean edge on my chain's tooth and then if I encounter a tooth later that creates the need to adjust a little deeper, then I mark that tooth and cut until I come back to it. A metal marking pen is nice for this.

I have a couple of old chains that are for junk/dirty wood. Don't forget, after cutting those stumps, blow off your saw and the chain travel area so dirt doesn't contaminate the bar also.

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Good advice Jonathan. I tried to take just enough off to sharpent the chain. I did find some of the teeth were a little farther back from the blade. I would slide those just a tad and touch them up.

This is my older saw and I'm dedicating it for 'dirty' type of work, i.e. anything close to the ground where I stand a chance of touching rocks or dirt...

I got my Northern Tool chain saw grinder the a few days back and finally had a day off to set it up (on sale $89).

Link - http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200327449_200327449

I set it up easy enough but the grinding wheel was cracked and called Northern tool back and they promptly sent out another one and a confirmation of shipment in the same day...........thumbs up to them for that. They also have a online tech you can talk to that was able to help tell me with what size grinding wheel to put on the grinder. It came with 3 sizes of wheels and I have the Home Depot bought chain and was having trouble matching up which to put on from the charts provided.

I read the reviews people have written and followed their advice and downloaded the Oregon manual because it is much better than the one that comes with the grinder. After I mounted it and found the wheel cracked i pushed things to the side for now until the wheel comes. It is my first time owning a sharpening grinder so I appreciate the comments and advice on this post.......................

Next step will be to put the wheel on and figure out how to put the chain in the clamp and sharpen it correctly - there are a couple videos on Utube but they are not complete enough but gives me a rough idea...........anybody else know a link with better explanation let me know............and thanks Dan

Nope, no help from here for you. I don't think I ever read the instructions on my HF one! I mounted it to a bench, grabbed a NEW chain and set the angle according to that (figured the manufacturer had that figured out) set the depth of cut so it didn't cut the link in half eek and sharpened a junk chain. Put it on the saw and went to the wood pile and . Man I love sharpening my own chains! If you run across specific problems, I will see if I can help though.

FYI, The HF chainsaw sharpener is on sale for 29.99. It's not on the web, but if you select order from catalog, and use catalog key=cz7582 and product number 93213-1DBN, bada bing, there you go, 30 buck sharpener... It aint fancy, but I've used it and haven't destroyed the blade....