Simington square grinder

They look way meaner in hand than the photo.

 

I made some test cuts yesterday, I am happy with it. Things will get better as I tune it to my conditions and wood. I am 7 chains into this journey. Only 53 more sharpenings and it’s paid for.

 

Looks fast, and smooth! I'm a big fan of the smoothness w/square.

 

The handfiled pics on the last page would cut Good in red cedar or aspen/poplar and red alder. And by good I mean hoggin out big long noodles fast. But will dull faster in hard or hard frozen wood. The last ground ones on the last page are Great !

 

Some Stihl round file that I converted over to square grind and filed out the gullet.

 

Have been cutting after work, using one of the above chains on a ported 261 by huskihl . Today is the third day of cutting, I have been using between 1/2 and 5/8 a tank per day. Chain is still sharp, I am cutting standing dead spruce and live birch. Will be interesting to see how much I can cut my frozen wood before have to sharpen. The chain is self feeding well, nice and smooth cut.

I have no regrets going down this journey. I am amazed at just how much faster a ported saw with a square grind is.

 

lol your still a slacker lol

 

This is true.

 

Was at the log pile bucking and splitting when I found one of the kids toys with the ported 461 with square grind. What I noticed on the snow was the safety yellow wood chips, I giggled to myself thought that will teach them to leave toys on the log pile. I go about bucking about 4-5 more logs, shut the saw down. Idle up the splitter and get to splitting rounds, after a bit see some yellow under the snow. I am thinking how much is this going to cost to replace on of the kids favorite toys.

Nope it’s a sledge, thought I was lucky to not cut the handle off when I noticed the shinny spot. Then I thought, there goes that chain....no I cut 4-5 logs after I saw safety yellow wood chips in the snow.

The deepest part cut is 3/8. And looked like this.

The chain is one from Dall, that he sent me last winter, have been running that chain on the 461 to see how the angles hold up. Today is the first time to sharpen it.

Thankfully Dallas and Kevin have helped me with my grinder and have the angles set the same on mine. I was able to grind the chain with no issues. A quick touch up and that chain is ready to go.

I decided while I was at it to convert a .325 chain over to square grind for the 024 super. Here is the sledgehammer grind on the .325 chain. The wheel profile and swing arm angles kept the wheel out of the straps.

 

Looking good Tom.

 

Thanks Mark.

 

Hi all,,im new here,,should be getting a simington 451 c the end of the week..i have been reading all the threads i can find and am very greatful for ths knowledge here..im sure ill be picking your brains later

 

There is a huge thread over on the OPE forum in the “just chains” section. Tons of info. Be sure to watch the vids on the Simington web site too.

 

Hi Duane,,thanks, i read 57? Pages twice and took notes..the only thing that o dont quite grasp is how the dressers work/opperate,,but i think when i set it up i should be able to figure it out..if not i will ask here...
I am really surprised there are not more hand filing square or grinding square videos on youtube...been working on my hand square filing and actually enjoy it,,but at this stage its pretty time consuming for me..think the grinder should be faster..

 

When you setup your 451 , you’ll notice that the swing arm stops ,and height adjustment don’t have any way to lock them to keep them from moving . I bought some well nuts at a box store to keep those adjustments from moving while I’m grinding .

 

The dressers are easy to understand once you have it in front of you. The only real drawback to grinding is the chain needs to be somewhat clean. Or you'll be redressing the wheel constantly.

 

As for the dressers ;the shallower you dress the top of the wheel , the less the top plate angle will be .
The more you dress the side of the wheel from vertical , the more the side plate angle will lean forward .
Found this at the Madsen’s site . It doesn’t deal much with the dressers , but it does have some useful info. http://www.madsens1.com/PDF/howtousesimington.pdf?

 

Welcome to the club. I think you will like it here. Great bunch of folks here willing to share humor and knowledge. dall sharpened a chain for me, super nice.