I have dug out 8 dull chain saw blades that needs to be sharpened. 2 new blades would cost more than

the sharpener at HF. Right now with the discount coupon the sharpener  is about 20.00. Just thinking, if

I can sharpen all 8 blades plus the one I'm using before the machine quits I would be ahead maybe??

Yep, have one and IMO works great...have to watch the set-up when changing from left cutters to right cutters to make sure not taking off one side too much; usually just a minor re-adjust. You still have to manually file the rakers when needed but no biggie. 

 

I use to sharpen chains with high $$ professional equipment when in the Farm Equip. trade. With a little tweaking it works every bit as well. Limited to 3/8" since they only offer one stone size. Most of my chains are LP (low profile) and works equally well with those. Beats filing and I do a far better job. I mounted it to a base so I can clamp in my Work-Mate and sit on a 5 gallon bucket while sharpening.

I have not but here's a video where the author seems to approve-

 

Mine's older than the one in the video...doesn't have the hand brake for clamp action, but an adjustable over-center clamp. Not sure I'd care for the hand brake????

 

I can tell you, his trial cut in this video was taking off WAY TOO much; when you hear the motor pull you WAY over did it....any chain sharpening should only be a light cut just taking off minimum amount to resurface and even the cutters...I suspect he went far to deep in the cutter also grinding into the top of the link.  If that's how he sharpens chains, I want to be his chain salesman...he'll be buying lots of them

Go Harbor freight !!

OH

I gotta get one of those , Don't have a chainsaw,  but sure did a lot of them by hand in the past,and this sure beats that. Then when I do get a chainsaw ,I am set up ready to go. Thanks for the post Patch, and update us on how well they work.

Herb

 

 

Don't forget the free flashlight or multi-meter or screwdriver set or 25' tape or the vast array of other cool items.

13 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Don't forget the free flashlight or multi-meter or screwdriver set or 25' tape or the vast array of other cool items.

You can never have to many flashlights...blue, red, black, silver...but I think that I'll just stick with my Dremel and a sharpening stone. Opps, I just replaced a 25 year old Poulan with a Stihl, I better make sure that I don't need a larger diameter stone to fit the new chain. Oh, well, I can still sharpen with a round Rat Tail like I did when I was a young un!

I watched this on Youtube and found something else. Being a Stihl fan and user found a Stihl 2 in 1 sharpener and this is cool., My worry with the electric stuff is taking off too much steel and this this is easy , portable (into the field) and accurate.  Do not have one yet but wait wait till I get home. It is 34.95 at Stihl store and 59 on Amazon a no brainer.

28 minutes ago, Gerald said:

portable (into the field) and accurate.

It is an innovative and interesting design however the accuracy appears to be solely dependent of the user since  there is no apparent cutter angle guide for different angles. I do like the fact it files the raker (depth gauge) at the same time as the cutter although not always necessary to do each time. It is portable vs an electric model, but I have several chains...it's faster to change a chain out and keep cutting than take time to file one out in the woods.

 

One of the things I used to see quite often when someone brought in chain(s) to be resharpened would be cutters on one side filed back much farther than the other side. Not an uncommon occurrence depending if a person is left or right handed. The second most common issue was rakers (depth gauges) never having been filed; gave the feel of a dull chain, so what did most do...go back and file the cutters.

36 minutes ago, Gerald said:

My worry with the electric stuff is taking off too much steel

Valid concern and easy to do if the machine is not properly set-up...H-F or $700 machine. The video Lew posted demonstrated how easy that can be done. As long as a chain hasn't been in the dirt often or hand filed numerous times where the cutters are grossly mismatched, you typically only remove a very small amount. It's really no different than having your circular saw blades sharpened.

Went to First Monday flee market, great place to buy more junk, in Weatheford because there is a HF there and I also needed a pressure regulator for the water pump at Lowes, so got to kill a few stones with just one bird. And did buy the chain saw sharpener....Two other guys were standing there waiting for an attendent to bring theirs out of the back room so we shot a bull while we waited.... One guy with a cart full of stuff came passing by and I ask him how much the lawn mower battery cost and he said 66.00. I told him I just bought one last week  at Walmart and it was 33.85. I said just go ahead and buy this one and then go by Walmart and see if theirs is still that much cheaper then bring this battery back. He said good idea and went through the line...Walmart was just a block or so away...

   With the 25% discount the sharpener cost 24.44 with tax and the motor runs really quiet which was kind of a surprise.The clerk ask if I wanted to pay for longer warranty, I said no for I would have the 9 blades sharpened during this next week  so if it don't last that long I will bring it back in a couple of weeks . He said sounds like you have it all thought out..I said a person should if it involves money.

  HF and Hobby Lobby I have noticed if they sell things other stores sells they are way higher on those items, like Hobby Lobby had gallons of Elmers white glue-all for 25.95 where Walmart had it for 12.95 so make sure you know prices before you get to the check out stands...Their spray stickum for gluing patterns on to wood is also something much higher than regular stores...

  Before I went and bought this sharpener I checked other stores and internet places and all the sharpeners looked  like they all came from the same maker with the same motors and was priced anywhere from 39.95 to 99.95.

10 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

With the 25% discount the sharpener cost 24.44 with tax and the motor runs really quiet which was kind of a surprise.The clerk ask if I wanted to pay for longer warranty,

Good price Patch...not much more than I gave for mine 8 or 9 years ago. It still works fine and I've sharpened lots of chains on it. Just take time to set it up correctly; you'll be happy with the results. I did add some washers to the chain stop retainer to center & take up excess side play. I also make sure to pull the cutter snug back against the stop when I set the cut depth stop, then do so for each cutter.

 

I had bought an extra grinding wheel some time ago in case I screwed the original up or the radius finally wore off. Never used it...reminds me, I need to see if I know where it's at.

Dave I just found out something about when a person is fixin to post a reply to a post.....I have been typing all about this  sharpener I just bought and all the good points I think it has and  I went to get a snack, came back and there was a post from you and instead of posting my very long typing episode I decided to see what you had to say first, read  yours, then went to load mine and it is gone gone.... Can't find it anywhere...So ,,,I'll try to remember again.

7 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

It is an innovative and interesting design however the accuracy appears to be solely dependent of the user since  there is no apparent cutter angle guide for different angles. I do like the fact it files the raker (depth gauge) at the same time as the cutter although not always necessary to do each time.

Dave what he did not say in the video is this comes for 2 different chain pitches  0.325 and 3/8 inch. I am thinking this is not universal but only for Stihl. I think my chains are 0.325 and maybe the 3/8 is for heavy duty saws? Your point on changing chains is a time saver and since in the field I would only do a quick sharpening makes it a better option.

Dave you mentioned a guy on you tube was grinding into the chain in a demo, the little yellow knob on top can be set to keep that from happening.. another reason I don't put much truth in to what I see until I do the testing my self.

 

Once you set the angle and the depth and as you are holding the little chrome lever down with just a little pressure then with the right hand squeeze the bicycle brake with you right hand this will lock the chain down so you can swing the blade past the tooth without anything moving, so this action can be repeated over and over  hen when all the right handed teeth are ground, flip the chain over, make sure all is reset and grind away. The little chrome lever can be set to hold the right distance on chooses while the bicycle clamp is engaged... Even though the parts to be secured are partly plastic nothing should move out of place when the blade is swung past the teeth.

  Everything thats needs to be set can be secured enough to make continuous grinds.

  I guess this is the time for guys to start cleaning their yards and trimming trees and things  for there were two other guys there standing waiting on the clerk to bring their sharpeners from the storage room so we shot the bull a while waiting for HF stores are always full of people more so than any other store we ever go in except maybe Walmart. One guy pushing a full basket up to the waiting line and I noticed a lawn mower battery and I asked him how much . He said  66.95. I said I just bought one at Walmart last week for 33.85. He acted like he might take it back to the counter he got it from and I said go on and buy this one then go over to Walmart and check their price. If you can save a bunch, bring this one back  and get your money back. Good Idea he said... It was just a block away and maybe this would get guys checking prices before they lay the money down..

 The only thing I can think of is the motor might have bushings instead of bearing!!!  A person could drill a very small hole in each end for a little oil from time to time but once the setting are made it should not take that long to grind each side of the blade. Also there should not be any extra pull on the motor to just touch the grinding wheel against the teeth, no extra pressure for that at all.

  The bicycle brake is a good addition for it will hold the chain secure to let the grinding wheel engage the teeth each and every time for all the teeth.

  Gerald I think yo aught to at least check one of these out. the 25% off was just for this weekend but a person can get 20 % off each and every day on any one purchase.

The motor can't be tilted for it is set as is.. The chain angle can be moved with a knob under the angle gage.. Or or maybe I haven't looked up there to see if it can or can't be changed but no, it is one setting, but hey I bought an on and off switch for my oscillating spindle sander and it cost more than this machine cost..

   They could make the chain lean at different angles !!! but that would I'm sure would cost some  which I don't even know if any anywhere is able to do that?

Dave and Jesse I guess you have talked me into trying one. I do have two chaines and maybe a third hidden in the tool caddy and that would be easier in the field.

Gerald I do want to tell you I just brought this thing home a couple hours ago so I have not sharpened a blade yet and for sure I have not ever used a chain saw with a blade that has been sharpened with an HF sharpener...

It does look like I will be grinding just a little different angle than what my little round file has been putting on the teeth  over the years.. I for sure have not been completely happy how the machine cut after what I tried to do so there you go.... I hope next week or so I will find out but first I have this pump to install so wife will stop using city water which I can't afford..

 

3 hours ago, Gerald said:

Dave and Jesse I guess you have talked me into trying one. I do have two chaines and maybe a third hidden in the tool caddy and that would be easier in the field.

Gerald, I wasn't sure either when I bought mine but that's been over 8 years ago and glad I did. It was one of my first H-F purchases so was a bit skeptical about that also.

I think it will do .325" inch too, but not 100% sure. I've never tried to find different width stones to use. I have some from the old days which are the correct diameter, but the arbor ID is too small.H-F is 7/8" arbor.

 

You can download a copy of the user manual to preview here...H-F Chainsaw Sharpener User Manual

I'll try to get some pictures of mine posted here in the next couple of days. It's similar to the one Patch bought. It looks identical to this Oregon model priced at 3x the price. Per the specs for this one, it will do the .325 pitch chain with the same wheel specs. 

 

With H-F, try it, it it doesn't work, take it back within 90 days for a refund. BTW don't forget the free flashlight Coupons

4 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Dave you mentioned a guy on you tube was grinding into the chain in a demo, the little yellow knob on top can be set to keep that from happening.

Yeah it was the video Lew posted. I don't recall if he (the guy, not Lew ) even checked the depth stop adjustment or the cutter position...he did set the angle...I could just tell by the sound of the motor, the spray of sparks and the grinding sound he didn't really set the machine.

3 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

It does look like I will be grinding just a little different angle than what my little round file has been putting on the teeth  over the years..

Unless you've been using a guide, the angle has likely shifted over time from the original angle so you may need to reset the angle. Your chain may (or may not) have a "witness mark" on the top of each cutter or at least a few of both left & right. This mark indicates how far back a tooth can be safely sharpened and also represents the correct sharpening angle for that chain.  I'll look at some of my chains but pretty sure I have some with the "witness mark."

 

Edited April 1, 20188 yr by Grandpadave52

The oregon model has 3 grinding wheels so a person can do 1/4 .325, 3/8' and .404. but hey it cost 174.31 and my little 16" electric model don't need all that I hope... 

   I have done lots of settings all on dry runs and no grinding yet......I like to do lots of what ifs before I screw up some blades.. I did use to have a 14" electric model so I got a few of those blades I can practice on...