Possible Oregon 511a purchase-Input needed

I've tried a few of them, they will almost all grind chain, but I have noticed a few of them aren't as rigid as the Oregon, I certainly can't speak for all of them, but if I were buying a new grinder I'd buy the Oregon. That's simply my opinion and I'm not putting down any grinder, heck, I've ground many chains on a $30 harbor freight grinder. I just always find myself wanting something a little better. I guess that's how you end up with 900 saws, a half a dozen grinders, and a half dozen chain breakers and spinners. I could've saved myself a lot of grief and money if I had listened to my dad and grandfather when they told me, don't buy cheap tools....

Can you get by with a harbor freight grinder or file? Sure you can, but realistically must of us could get buy with an MS170 or a wild thing, but then there wouldn't be forums about chainsaws and we don't really want to get by, we'd rather get it done, fast and correct.... So buy you an Oregon grinder and a 395xp or 660 with an 18" bar and get to cutting wood....

Funny part is, I don't really even cut wood any more I just love saws, buying them, fixing them, trading them, selling them, collecting them etc... Chainsaws are like heroin to me... The thrill of the chase of finding something NOS, or rare, that's really what keeps me in this game, when that rush stops happening, I'm out...

My social director at home doesn't see much humor in any of it, but I don't count shoes and purses, she don't count saws, it's kind of an unspoken rule... When I started putting NOS/NIB saws in the spare bedroom, any humor she had left about it faded pretty quickly...

 

Man all I can say is VERY well said....subconsciously I know I should get a good one, for some reason I have just been holding out...

I like you, usually just suck it up and buy the quality tool for the job....I already have a small hoard of saws I have rebuilt, but nothing like a lot of you guys have....some of you guys have HUGE collections!!!

 

Sorry I missed your post bocefus78 - I haven't been on the site much lately.

Here's the one that I have: Electric Chainsaw CHAIN GRINDER SHARPENER Comes with 2 wheels and tools

It's similar to the Oregon and identical to the Northern Tool version, just a different color. It was supposed to come with 2 different size wheels, but I received 2 of the same wheel. Which ended up being a good thing, because I dropped one of them on a concrete floor and smashed it to pieces.

It's been a pretty decent grinder. The only other one I've used is a cheapo $40 "Buffalo Tools" plastic one; just about anything is better than that. It does have the tilting base, but the chain vise is not self-centering; therefore it requires an adjustment if you have to grind different gauge chains.

I'm in total agreement about not buying cheap tools, but my budget is not unlimited, and I'm not looking to sharpen chains for a living. To me, this one and the Northern Tool Roughneck seem like pretty decent tools for the price and for my needs.

 

No worries Shawn Curry...I know you have tables to finish

Does that one you linked do rakers also?

 

Yep, any of them can really. Some guys will dress a profile into the wheel specifically for doing rakers. (That's what I was attempting to do when I broke my spare wheel)

 

Yep that is what I do for the rakers.