New wheel = better sharpened chain?

I have a timber tuff sharpener that I now only use to get rocked chains back into shape but it doesn't get them very sharp and I believe that to be because I've had the same wheel for about 4 years and it is not very clean. My main question is, are the oregon, grip, etc wheels that are in the $14-20 range going to do a better job then what a new timber tuff would do? I know I can dress and clean the current wheel but am still curious about another branded wheel doing better.

 

Sure, various wheels have various grits which equates to finer or rougher surface finishes.

 

To answer your question those wheels from Oregon will still get dirty and you will still have to clean and dress the wheel. I use a CBN diamond wheel. Never have to clean and never have to dress.

 

It is a wheel made for sharpening saw chains. They make them for 3/8ths and for .325 chains. They are metal with a coating of diamond on them and they will last for a very very long time.
Go to ebay and put (chainsaw CBN wheel).. You can see what they cost and what they look like. They are around 100.00 dollars.

Here is a link. Super Abrasive CBN 5-3/4 In. Chainsaw Wheels for 3/8 and .404 Pitch Chains

 

A new wheel will indeed to a better job - as I found out the 'hard way' last night. Mine was getting a little loaded up on the one side, so I decided to try 'flipping' it to the other side. I fumbled before I could put it back on and it smashed into several pieces on the concrete floor. Luckily there were 2 wheels included with the grinder, both the same thickness (they were supposed to be different). The second wheel was cutting much better.

My understanding is there are basically 2 kinds - the $10-$20 'vitrified' stone wheels like you and I have, and the $100+ CBN wheels mentioned by Mag Craft. I doubt you would see much difference between brands of the same style wheels, unless they're a different grit; as I'd wager most of the vitrified wheels are probably made in the same chinese factory these days.

I think I'll probably stick with vitrified for .325 for now, as I don't use that pitch for milling, so they don't need to be sharpened that often. My milling chains get sharpened after each use, so I'm thinking I might go with the diamond for those.

 

So your not hand filing those milling chains

 

Yeah, not anymore - well at least not the 172DL for the 60" GB bar. 36" full comp were no fun either. I'm liking the grind it's putting on them - haven't had a chance to run any off the new grinder, but I'm thinking there will be less hand filing in my future.

 

I don't even like grinding my 32" bar!

 

CBN is short for Cubic Boron Nitride, a very hard crystal. Not quite as hard as diamond but close, and it is the preferred material for grinding steel and actually last a lot longer than diamond when used on steel. They are not like bonded or 'regular' wheels in that the wheel material itself is a steel plate rather than actual wheel material, and the edge / face used for grinding have a coating of CBN bonded to the steel wheel.

Advantages and disadvantages are basically few and simple: they last a LOT longer and on top of that, they do not really degrade much over their lifespan. The disadvantage is that they are expensive.

Brian

 

Thanks for the info. No way am I dropping a tenth of a thousand dollars on a grinding wheel. Eric VW that's a $100. Lol.

 

I used a vitrified wheel for a while before switching over to the CBN wheel. Expensive or not I really like this wheel and will not go back to vitrified. I sharpen enough chains to make it worth my time and money. I have 22 chains right now for a tree service company and so that wheel will pay for it self with just this one job.

Hey Brian thanks for the info for CBN.

 

Glad you found it useful and thanks for the kind words.

CBN (and diamond on non- ferrous materials such as carbide) make economic sense if they can be used enough. For the casual chain saw sharpener who gets a year or more out of a bonded wheel, then CBN may not be cost effective. But for someone who does either a lot of personal sharpening or especially a professional chain sharpener, I would think CBN would make perfect sense. Not only will the cost per chain sharpened go down over the life of the wheel, the wheel will remain both good- curtting and keep its shape for the life of the wheel. CBN and diamond wheels tend to fail all at once, usually due to them being dull (finally) and overheating so that the coating literally sheds off the wheel. But until that very moment, the wheel will cut nearly as well as it did new and that is not true for any bonded wheel, which will deteriorate throughout its life.

Brian

 

I did the same thing last year and glad I did. $100 for a wheel that you never have to touch again. I won't go back to a stone wheel again. I cut maybe 15 cord a year, and it saves me time sharpening.

 

I hear ya.

 

Dressing and profiling should be done frequently!

Often a dressing brick comes with grinders, a much better alternative is buy a diamond dresser, they work very well and actually fracture the media creating a finer finish.

I like the resinoid wheel much better than a vitrified wheel. The former is dustier but runs cooler, the latter last longer but heats cutters much quicker.

 

Yes, don't forget resinoid wheels. They put a fine, sharp finish on the chain.

 

There are also ABN wheels.

Abn Cyclone Wheels - 3/16" (.375 And .404) | www.www.baileysonline.com.com

 

Wow are those things expensive. They make my CBN wheels look cheap.