Harbour freight has one for $39, Northern Tools has one for $129 and they also carry the Oregon chain saw sharpener for $269 and $400. What is the difference other than the expensive one seems to have a sort of automatic feed. A friend in Florida recommended the Norther tools or the Harbour Freight having owned both. I don't have any doubts the Oregon sharpeners are better but are they really that much better.
I just put a new chain on my saw and it cuts a lot better than the one I've sharpened many many times by hand which is why I'm looking. Obviously my skills need improvement or I need a better tool to do the sharpening.
John, I have had positive experiences with the Oregon but have not tried the others. This spring I went shopping to replace an Oregon sharpener which had served me well for many years, but it was a small model with limited adjustment- I gave it to a friend.
I looked at the Northern Tool selection and spent an hour comparing their brand with the more expensive Oregon. I found the Oregon much better built and easier to adjust. I forget the exact details of the differences but I was convinced enough to take it home.
I am not sorry - it works very well. I've sharpened a bunch of chains, three different sizes on four saws (use the chainsaws a lot here on the farm!)
I sharpened chains for one friend who said they cut better than the new chains. I suspect he just forgot what a new chain was like, but hey. I do know I can do better than the shop down the hill.
Sorry, I can't bring myself to buy anything from Harbor Freight that has a motor or things that turn and adjust and need any kind of precision. Again, I have no hands-on experience with anything but the Oregon (and the file!)
i have the HF and it's pretty idiot proof (as I can attest). Can't use in the field, but if you have a place to plug it in it does its job. Couple of the guys in our turning club I loaned mine to went out and bought one.
not the fastest sharpener but it is accurate and replacement cut off wheels are inexpensive
I prefer to sharpen with a file, by hand. Been doing it for 40 years. The grinding wheels do not stay a consistent shape. They wear over time. If you use a wheel a grinding wheel it ruins the saw edge flute for sharpening by hand. It will not stay perfectly round like the file. That's why I never use a saw sharpening service. We need to sharpen often and there is no faster way then what they call "field sharpening" by hand. The key to hand sharpening is to use a sharp file. It only takes a few sharpenings for the fine teeth on the file to get dull and what happens when we try to sharpen a dull tool with a dull tool??
Lyle what files do you use. It feels like my files go dull almost immediately. I tried using the Dremel with the round abrasive saw sharpener and it seems to work pretty good but I can't tell how much I take off each tooth so I'm sure it doesn't cut as accurately as it should.
>The grinding wheels do not stay a consistent shape.
The grinding wheels need to be dressed to keep the shape. Oregon supplies a dressing stone and a template to get the shape correct. I haven't had any trouble following a machine sharpening with a file.
I use the file in the field and the sharpener in the shop. The sharpener is much quicker, but Dave Johnson who wrote The Good Woodcutter's Guide had an excellent point. Taking a break from chainsawing to sit and sharpen with the file causes you to rest and reflect. He points out the safety aspects of taking a break.
BTW, I recommend The Good Woodcutter's Guide for anyone who uses a chainsaw. It has great how-tos but better, it describes many ways to get hurt and killed with trees and chainsaws. If you don't know what can go wrong, you can't possibly guard against it.
You are right, the files dull quickly. I use whatever brand file that the hardware store sells. I have used the Stihl but done see much difference. They are so cheap it is not much of an expense to keep the saw sharp. You can buy a lot of files for the price of a sharpening system with grinding wheels.
I check the shape each time but don't always have to dress it. Most of the time sharpening removes very little steel. Unless I've run the thing into a rock. Or into a screw someone put into the tree.
I use a file to sharpen all the time. I keep enough chains around, that are sharp, all I have to do is change the chain when one gets dull. Then I re-sharpen when I have my vise at home. After sharpening a couple of times....always file down the rakers. Always take extra chains with you out in the field.
I buy a dozen files at a time from Bailey's. When the sharpening seems to take too long....get a new file. About $1.25 each if I remember properly.
>If you don't file the rakers down when you sharpen your chain
>sooner or later you will have a sharp chain that will not cut.
Not everyone knows this, even the sharpening shops. Years ago I went into Stihl dealer near here and wanted to buy a gauge to check the depth gauges/rakers. The parts guy didn't have any, never heard of it, had to look it up in the catalog to order one for me.
I had brought a chain to get sharpened. I asked the guy who sharpened about the depth gauges. I had to show him on the chain. He said they never touched those.
I finally figured out their game: sharpen the chain for the clueless customer. He brings it back to sharpen again. Eventually it won't cut any more so they tell him it's worn out, sell him a new chain, make more money. Good grief. I sharpen the teeth on my chains until the tooth is almost gone and they cut like crazy. I usually lower the depth gauges with a stone wheel on a Dremel. I hate the recommended flat file method.
This has some info if anyone is interested. Or look in the chain saw manual or on your brand's web site.
BTW, another thing people forget to do is flip the bar and file and size the guide groove as needed. This will make the bar last longer and can make the saw cut better and more accurately than it will if the chain is flopping around in the groove.
B-BTW, since this is the turning forum, I have to put a plug in for the Stihl electric chain saw. I have four Stihls but the one I use the most for turning-related cutting is the Stihl electric. It is almost silent compared to the gas powered, no fuel mixing/fumes (I can cut inside the shop if it's freezing outside), never a problem starting, stops almost instantly when the trigger is released, light weight, cuts extremely well. The chain is narrower than my other saws so it wastes less wood. I've had several electric saws over the years and this one is the clear winner all around. The only down side is the cost, but hey, it's just money.
>Always take extra chains with you out in the field.
>I buy a dozen files at a time from Bailey's.
Baileys is the best!
As for the extra chain, something I read once has saved me a whole bunch of grief a couple of times when I was sawing way out in the woods: Always take and extra bar along with the chain. This way if you pinch the bar and get the saw stuck in the log you can loosen the nuts and remove the engine from the bar, put the spare bar and chain on the engine, and cut the stuck bar out of the log. Being more careful the second time, of course.
I don't do this when sawing on the farm since I can go back to the shop and get another saw or bar/chain in a few minutes if needed.
Speaking of pinching a bar: If someone here has never used plastic wedges, get some. (They are plastic so they don't chew up the chain if accidentally cut into.) It is amazing how well they work when cutting the middle of even a huge log that is suspended at both ends. Normally you have to cut down from the top, then before it pinches, finish the cut up from the bottom. If you cut down maybe 8 inches from the top then drive a couple of wedges tight in the kerf, you can finish the cut all the way out the bottom and the wedges will hold the kerf open in that 2000 lb log. Then knock the wedges out (while standing back). This has always worked for me.
I recommend the Granberg file guide. Almost everyone markets a similar guide now but the Granberg is all metal while some of the others only appear to be. Granberg offers powered sharpeners too but the one I am talking about clamps to the bar and holds a file. There is a little learning curve and a little tweaking to be done as far as getting the angles to suit you but then it only takes a few minutes to sharpen a chain. You can easily tote it in the field and sharpen a chain or two at lunch if you need to.
It takes me a little longer to sharpen the chain the first time when new or behind a grinder but after that I use three or four very light strokes with the file to sharpen the chain. I put the file in backwards and pull the file into the corner of the chain that is doing most of the work and lift slightly on the backstroke. I buy the files bulk but each file lasts me a long time using it like this. One thing, I clean the file with a quick swipe of a parts brush or old tooth brush every tooth or two, probably adds a lot to file life. I get very good chain life too since I only take a tiny bit off each sharpening, far less than most people do grinding although grinding chains yourself you can take off a lot less than the saw shop usually does. Not much profit in sharpening chain and they want to make one pass per loop of chain so they try to be sure the first pass cleans up the worst tooth.
How many chains do you sharpen? So you need to sharpen often? If the answer is not many or very often then the cheaper are fine. I have an Oregon but found that wasn't good enough for how often and how many chains I sharpen. I now own a Stihl sharpener now and use the oregon for the rakes only. Not only are the stones better but the hold downs and action is better. Accuracy is key. Something not mentioned here and also very hard to do by hand is the teeth should be the same length once sharpened. If they are not you cannot get a very good straight cut through the log. Rake height is important. Dressing the wheel is important, especially on the cheaper model saws because the stone tends to be soft and load quickly. Just like on your grinder you can blue the teeth once the stone loads. You now have a fairly useless chain once blued. There is a lot more to sharpening chains than most people seem to realize. Good luck.
When I have time this week I'll go out and investigate the chain that wouldn't cut more closely and see if I can figure out why. I've always hand sharpened using the little Husky jig that has 2 rubber rollers to align things. It's worked fine up until recently. I usually file down the rakers about every few times I sharpen so I don't know what happened to this last chain.
You are right on all counts. I think it is mostly nobody wanting to write a book and all of the details don't apply to the question John asked. I have a loop of the factory safety chain that came with my Makita that I haven't been able to get to cut yet. Haven't wasted much time on it trying though. First thing I would recommend to anyone who is going to be sawing good sized stuff and noodling is to get a decent chain or three if that isn't what came with their saw. Having the saw tuned to local conditions and the gas/oil mix you run can find a lot of go too. My saw was running about 9500, tuning it to run just over 13,000 made a world of difference in how it cuts.
There are a handful of good chainsaw sites and some time spent at any of them will probably unlock a 30-50% increase in cutting performance of the saw someone has if they just bought a saw and threw it on a shelf to take down when they need to cut something and back on the shelf. The plastic wedges already mentioned are a big help as is just cutting some out of wood. The quarter sawn slice of wood made when we cut the pith out of wood makes some nice wedges.
I don't think the current offering is as good but I used a harbor freight chain grinder somebody else had bought a few years ago. Seems like I had to hold a little tension on the chain, I definitely had to hold some tension on the arm assembly. The harbor freight sharpened the chain just fine from all I could see. The box store saw's chain I was sharpening seemed to cut about like new when I was done.
I have never used anything other than a hand file. By now, those that really know how to sharpen don't fall down laughing at my attempts. Most chains have an angle guide on the tooth, and that is simple to follow. Take the same number of strokes per tooth, and try to keep the pressure even. Wear gloves, or at least put a cloth over the bar and teeth that you are pushing into: Dang, I guess it is sharp now... After every couple of strokes, or every tooth, tap the file on wood or what ever is handy. Saw an old logger do this, and it does seem to make the files last longer. File the rakers down every couple of sharpenings, and again, use the same number of strokes per tooth. I don't use mine in the woods any more, but have found the plastic wedges handy. Most of the time it cuts pretty straight. I have also been told to flip the bar over every once in a while. Please be careful with the bar. With the chain running over it, you get a very nicely burnished burr on it, so file that down once in a while also.
