Pros and cons of a 511ax grinder

Well said.... which grinder do you have????

 

511AX for teeth and NT copy for rakers.

 

So they took the ax and tossed out the vise and got rid of a bit of excess plastic from same. The new wheel shroud and the vise are the only differences between the the 511ax and 520-120. Frankly a great improvement- as that ax vise was/is a dog. It was a nice concept severely lacking in execution.
Hopefully the double cam in the vise does not suffer from a hi wear factor on the lower cam as that is going to be a grit catching area being wide open that way. Yes I know that these are running in one direction( away from operator) only, but a fair amount still kicks out to the immediate frontal area.

 

I disagree Chris. The vice on the 520-120 looks like step backwards. Granted the 511AX has been plagued wit wear issues but the cam is just like the 510A which is pretty crude. It clamps in a single spot and the cutter moves as it is being secured and it is not the same from right to left. I don't see the 520-120 being any better than any of the Tecomec clones which are only a little over a hundred bucks. I am sure it is cheaper to make though.

 

Better look at that vise a bit closer . It is closing both sides of the bar via the stacked cams and sliding plate. The bottom plate is being activated by the lower cam transmitting the movement to the back side- simple and from mfg point cheap to make verses the ax vise. Grit is going to get in there. that portion is going to experience a fairly high wear rate . I wore 4 of those ax vises out in less than 1.5 years. That is too much expense to replace them as not all the parts are available individually, like the main shaft, snapped 3 of those. When the ax vise starts to go it no longer closes properly at the top edge making it impossible to do the pico chains. Don't care what kind of business you run KISS is still the rule. I am a commercial shop. I am also a rather cheap sob at times. That said I look at things from a point of when breaks, and it will, what is repair cost and down time, replacement cost, or can I remfg. it myself. ( full machine shop here) When I am sharpening chains I keep the cutter link tight to the finger as I close it taking out any play. I also add a bit of carbide to the locating edge of the finger - doesn't wear out that way. Left and right cutters unequal- as I use 2 machines one for each side, so that is a mute point for me- had a lot of different grinders all have some variance in l/r cutter grinding- Which is why the vise assembly is adj. fore and aft so that you can locate the cutter to the center line of the grinding wheel. That particular adj. is nothing new as I have a 50 year old unit with same ability. Also as the diameter of the wheel changes so does the center line point of contact due to the arc of the head travel. If it was a straight line into the cutter it would not be an issue, other than the slight offset between the cutters for a single wheel system. The dual closing of the rail is a good idea -again not new- execution of the operation is the plague as well as materials choice for certain areas. That being driven by a marketing /profit margin price point. From an analytical standpoint there is a finite life to the number of sequences before failure. Whether or not that particular engineer is taking into account the additional wear factor of the grit I can't say. ( see this the plague of being trained as an engineer and machinist so many years ago, when the two disciplines are isolated from each other things don't always go as planned) Chris.
I would really like to have one of the Swiss mfg automatic grinders here for awhile- just to see what kind of kinks those buggers have- or spend a day at Carlton or whomever peering into the nooks and crannies of their grinders. That would be a real treat.

 

Chris,

I too am a big fan of the KISS principle. So if you truly want a chain vice to be simple and repeatable, it can't clamp from the bottom. The Silvey pawl system forces the cutter to seat in the rail and without anything you could call a moving part.

I have been working with a friend converting a cheap Tecomec to the Silvey system but the geometry isn't quite right yet. New rails that are shimmed for the different gauges, this has a tolerance of .002" which holds the chain well.



Silvey 510 for reference:

 

Man you must sharpen ALOT of chains a year!!!

How many chains do you sharpen in a week...

 

Ok so how many of you guys use the CBN wheels....since I am just starting grinding chains(having GREAT results already!!!), it seems like I should just go ahead and get one if they are so much better than stone wheels....what's your opinions????

Please let me know if you like or didnt like them.... do the CBN wheels put a better edge on chains than stone wheels......to me the CBN wheel keeping its same size all the way around seems like a huge bonus...

 

I have a two CBN wheels on 2 different grinders. One that is setup strictly for 3/8ths chain and one for .325 chain. Like you said they keep their shape and when you go to regrind your chain at a later time it is still exactly the same and the CBN wheels do leave a nice finish. I am glad I have them.

 

If you don't mind me asking are they the diamond wheel brand???

Also do you clean your chains before you grind them???

 

No I do not clean my chains before I grind them. I do not remember the brand. I actually bought them both from Ebay. I have had them now for about 3 or 4 years and I have ground a bunch of chains on them. I have not even had to clean them yet. I did some chains for awhile for a tree service guy here, he would bring me 30 to 35 chains at a time. Those wheels paid for themselves.

 

Do you know if they are the diamond wheel brand????

People seem to really like the wheels from the diamond wheel brand....did your around $100 or so, I think that's what the diamond wheel brand CBN wheels cost....

One of my problems is I don't know if I should get the 3/16 or 1/8 wheel first.... i would probably get the 3/16 CBN first since my main 2-firewood saws are 3/8 pitch.... I only have one saw that is .325, but I should be getting an 026 finally(been wanting one forever!!!)...

 

I have the small Silvey (310?) here, mine is quite old. No vise clamp on that ya just held on to the chain and kept it tight to the pawl. Rail gap is adjustable. but it is a pain to set it for anything other than 60/30.
3/16 is for .404 chain and some of the full house/height 3/8 , 1/8 for 3/8 /.325 that are reduced kick back or lo pro styles, on some of the pico chains need a 3/32 wheel sometimes even 1/16. Some weeks I might do 50 or more chains.

 

It works good for me.

 

Ya I can see we're the "industrial" type simington, silvey grinder would be best for you, since you do quite a lot of volume sharpening....

I would like to get my hands on one of those silvey one day I like the no-vise clamp idea!!

 

Hey thanks a lot for that link, I love reading about sharpening (as weird as that sounds)....

I also believe we can get the chains as sharp as new, using the right angles and just kissing the cutter... do you use the stone wheels or pink wheels???

 

Hey how long have you had your grinder...

I ended up getting the Oregon 520-120, I like it a lot!!!!!