I'm ready for a chain grinder

Hey gang - I've become a decent hand filer but I'd like to move to a powered grinder. Those 28" loops take a bit longer and I've got a lot of falling and bucking in my future. Dropping off at the local equipment shop at $10 a pop would add up quick, not to mention travel time.

Any advice? The various models of Oregon (510, 511, A vs AX, 4 vs 5 vs 6, etc) is dizzying. Then throw on there that it seems that there are several brands that either make the Oregon's or are copy cats (techomec, etc). I'd rather find a decent used model on marketplace but need to know what I'm looking for first.

 

I don't own one but have read a bit about them at one point. Iirr, the super jolly was the best/most options at the cheapest price.

Tecomec Super Jolly Bench Mounted Chain Grinder (120 Volt)

The River (lol) has it for $390.

 

Super Jolly. $387

Amazon.com


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Mike in Okla

 

700-010 - Stens Chain Grinder / Super Jolly w/hydraulic clamp

$385

This is where I got mine. I shouldn’t have waited they were priced stupid low a few years before I bought. I feel like I can get a chain pretty sharp filing it on the tail gate of my pickup. One thing I did notice when I started using the grinder was how inconsistent I am. More pressure with my dominant hand/less consistent angles with the off hand. When I go out to cut wood I just swap chains and sharpen later.

 

FWIW….I only cut and split for our own use and help out two sons who live close by(when my back will allow it) and they are both extremely generous with their time and manpower to help us out. That said, I purchased an Oregon 520-120 a couple of years ago so I could easily correct the chains that got rocked or found the occasional piece of metal when cutting.

I’ve found it more than adequate and easy to set up and operate. Also lets me get cutters back to spec after hand filing several times. My top plate angles seem to drift a bit with my filing. Best advice I could give is to start on an older chain for practice and also don’t take a big bite when grinding. Better to start with light touch and tap tap tap rather than bear down like you’re using a chop saw. Too big a bite and a heavy hand with the grinding wheel will heat the cutters and harden them making hand filing between grinding more difficult.

if I’m not mistaken one company makes both the Tecomec and Oregon grinders.
Best of luck, you’ll really enjoy it once setup especially on those long chains!

 

Oh, another advantage to doing your own is that you’ll not be at the mercy of some chump at the shop screwing up your chain! At $10 a pop your going to pay for your grinder in short order.

 

Tecomec makes all of them. Theirs, stens and Oregon.

 

I still use my Northern Tool knock-off of the Oregon 510 that I purchased a dozen or more years ago. A bunch of us on the other site that must not be named worked on these and made them much better. It still produces repeatable results when you flip the chain to the opposite direction. On mine, I cleaned up and polished the mating surfaces, added shims to tighten up the slop and verified and moved the degree sticker slightly.

You can either pay up front for the quality or you can save some money and spend some time to get the cheaper option up to spec. When I bought mine I had more time than money. Today I would just buy the Oregon or Stens.

 

I use the jolly star
I hand file when out cutting

 

+1 for the super jolly. Once I got it set up and figured out I wished I had found it long ago. Lots of wasted money on chains to Buffoonery.

 

Is this a super jolly?

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I think the 135 is just a jolly. Not super.


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Mike in Okla

 

I second that, and get a diamond stone

 

+1 for super jolly. Problem is, I'm trying to learn square filing so I hardly ever use it now, except when I'm doing my friends chains! LOL

 

I bought the Tecomec Super Jolly a few years back, and just last year, I bought the Tecomec Jolly Star.

Personally, I run the Jolly Star more than the Super Jolly. The Super Jolly doesn't hold the cutters very secure, in my experience. The cutters rock back a bit, changing the angle. The hydraulic clamp, is no where near as effective as tightening a lever, plus, it's just one more thing to go wrong. Once a guy gets in a groove with running the lever to tighten the clamp on the Jolly Star, I don't think the Super Jolly is a major time saver.

 

+1 for the Super Jolly.

I have been super pleased with mine.

 

I’ve been running 511A grinders here.
Purchased three preowned grinders for less than the price of a new one and set one up for .325, 3/8 and rakers.
I would think all of these type of grinders are pretty much the same in operation.

 

Well boys and girls, I'm the proud owner of a new to me Oregon 520 aka not Super Jolly. After researching the various differences and leaning towards the super, I remembered my tree buddy had one in his garage he didn't use so I asked to borrow it to give grinding a try without the commitment. So I brought it home and cleaned it up, found it was missing an allen screw. Tracked that down at the hardware store and mounted up a new wheel he had since the one on it was broken. Tonight I did some tinkering and after a bit I was able to get the angles pretty darn close (despite what the Oregon manual said) and got it dialed in on an old .325/.058/72 chain for my 550xp. Landed on 55/35/10. Which was odd based on the Oregon manual (55/25/10) and compared to my SharpForce files (35)Did a couple test cuts and I'm pretty happy. Buddy said for $50 I could keep it so I dropped the cash off tonight after work. Already went through my other 2 loops for that saw and will hit the 28" loops for the 572XP in the near future. I don't think I'll miss the hydaulic clamp feature of the 620/Super Jolly. You get in a rythm pretty quick.

 

Highly recommend getting a diamond wheel for it as well. Keeps the tooth from getting as hot as a stone wheel.

Diamond 5-3/4" x 1/8" Chainsaw Grinding Wheel