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Best Chainsaw Chain Sharpener - Money No Object

Discussion in 'Chainsaws and Power Equipment' started by TacMed, Dec 31, 2020.

  1. TacMed

    TacMed

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    Now Im not made of money, but my TIME is the only thing I cannot ever get back.

    I want a chainsaw chain sharpener that gets my Stihl chains back to real sharp without a bunch of time invested.

    I see lots of bench mounted rigs out there but I dont know what from what.

    What would the Hoarders pick if you had a blank check?
     
  2. PA Mountain Man

    PA Mountain Man

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    I use this
    PFERD Chain Sharp CS-X Saw Chain Sharpener
    and mount my saw in the vice in the shed.
    Yesterday I made 2 passes before starting to cut.
    Cutting skidded ash and had to do the same thing twice to resharpen.
    Takes longer to walk to the shed than it takes to sharpen.
     
  3. Rope

    Rope

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    Simington 451C, Silvey SDM-4 or Prosharp. Each cutter takes a few seconds to grind. For the amount of wood I cut, the time savings is worth the money spent. Do you have a ported saw? Are you running square grind yet?

    One thing I learned after getting a grinder, is that hand filing is not as consistent as what the machine can make. A sharp tooth is a sharp tooth, neither the wood or cutter care. The question is what is faster, a uniform sharp chain or a sharp chain with every cutter being a little different? This is where the conversation may get interesting. The fellas that make and compete with race chains may be able to shed light. They know what a wining race chain takes. There is information that can be applied to a work chain but not all. A good nerded out sharp work chain is in a different category then say a quickly round filed chain when one is just busy trying to get it done. If you can ever go to a GTG and run a ported square grind chain against your saw in the same cant, you will see a difference between the two. Let's say it takes 26-29 seconds per cut with the round file and a ported saw with square grind should be around 16-19 seconds with the same cc motor and # of drive links. When I did the comparison my results were 40-50% faster. All dependent on how much wood you cut as to if the juice is worth the squeeze and down the rabbit hole we go. Another consideration is how clean/dirty is the wood you cut. For example skidder dragged sand/dirt filled bark/logs is where the round tops the square grind. The round is a more durable edge. In comes the compromise of what's better for your purpose. So the question is will a $1200+ grinder help you with your time? Or is your money better off with a $300 port job on your current saw? What saw/s do you have? Is you money better spent on upgrading to a bigger saw or a 2 saw option. A nice Stihl combo is 261/461 or 462.


    In the Oregon, Carlton and Stihl chain thread in this section there are a few pics of some round and square ground grinders.
     
  4. TacMed

    TacMed

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    Wow brother that is a ton of great knowledge.

    I have two saws, Stihl MS311 and a Stihl MS391, both with 20" bars. Both stock from the dealer. Didnt even know what ported was. Nor was i dialed in to the grinds you mentioned. I just have been buying lots of chains and taking them back to the dealer to shapen and have been very dissatisfied with the job they do. Then I bought the Stihl branded hand file device and used it one time, never to touch it again.

    The comparison of time in the cut you did yielded amazing results! I wasnt to know more about those grinds and grinder. Off to the interwebs to shop for grinders
     
  5. happysawer4741

    happysawer4741 Banned

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    Well you did say money was no object, so here is a re Chainsaw Chain sharpping Mach. Smiths 11042020 (2).jpeg ally good one for just around $20,000+
     
  6. thebierguy

    thebierguy

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    Do you know if it is automatic!? That's a lot of $9 sharpening's to make up for that investment. Ha.
     
  7. thebierguy

    thebierguy

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    To the OP, I doubt you are ready to purchase a $20k sharpener. The Tecomec Super Jolly Sharpener is on my shopping list. It is exactly the same as the Oregon 620-120, which sells for $450 or so, depending on source. Sounds like it is one of the best ones out there for bench top. Here is another thread you might find interesting. Best chain grinder
     
  8. happysawer4741

    happysawer4741 Banned

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    I think you have to install your chain on the system by hand, then just push the start button when it's finished sharppening your chain you get a message please make payment and thankyou for chosing me to sharpen your chain.
     
  9. Nixon

    Nixon

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    If you are doing round ground chain , the Stihl USG . Use CBN/ABN Wheels .
     
  10. Rope

    Rope

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    Be careful of the rabbit hole for YouTube and square chain and ported saws. Also do a search for round/square grinder & how to's, lots of info. I am not to familiar with the models you have. If you go down the ported rabbit hole you may want to upgrade to the pro series, and capitalize on the longevity that series provides. We are lucky to have a some porters here on FHC. CAD has bitten many people here and you can find that some saws get traded/upgraded. I know some saws are available.

    If your not looking to get into sharpening your own, you may have to try a different dealer. If you go the round grind route, Oregon is in the $450 range, there are many others that are much cheaper and probably made in communist china.
     
  11. Screwloose

    Screwloose

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    Here we go........another person swirling around the rabbit hole.
     
  12. Creekin

    Creekin

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    Talking to my dad about a bench grinder, he used a cheap one for a bit at his work and didn't sound overly impressed, seemed like the same issue others have mentioned about the $80ish specials that there is so much slop its hard to get a really good result repeatably

    Looking at the 620-120, but have to pay some other bills first
     
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  13. JimBear

    JimBear

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    If you want to go round electric I would recommend the Tecomec Super Jolly

    66A22996-0319-4709-A96A-E2E15E47A354.jpeg CC933D84-E592-4981-A278-D65E0628B79D.jpeg 224D85EE-3DC3-48D5-98D3-D31B80E0E04E.jpeg

    If you want to square ground electric the Silveys are claimed to be the cats meow but they are no longer in production, don’t come up for sale very often & sell for whorehouse prices but if you have a blank check... The Simington 451’s are still made & sell for about $1200 shipped to you. Square grind has a substantial learning curve & as Rope has stated there is some serious voodoo that can go into those races chains but most of those are hand filed.

    Here’s the Simington 451C, there are different types of wheels for most types of grinders, everyone has there favorite all purpose or favorite for different types of sharpening: touch ups, working over a banged teeth, etc.
    C1362C2B-B052-4F31-9057-11E489E198FE.jpeg C1E2B0C7-717F-4915-B6E7-11283D7B06CB.jpeg

    Now with the blank check happysawer4741 nailed it with the Franzen, set it & forget it. In my reading I believe they will not do a square grind.

    All that said a blank check & great grinder or filing system doesn’t mean you will have a sharp chain. There is a learning curve with any of the sharpening processes. There is nothing like mucking up a chain then figuring out what you did wrong & trying to improve it.

    After graduation from high school all my buddies played golf & got me to playing. I bought a $450 driver & an overpriced set of clubs but it didn’t make me a better golfer. My buddies still out drove me, schooled me & whipped my arse with their $200 set of clubs bought at Pamida. Lesson learned.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2020
  14. SimonHS

    SimonHS

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    An automatic sharpener would be the most time efficient for you. Logosol do an 'affordable' version, link below. I don't think you can walk away and leave it, but you can be doing other work while it sharpens your chains.

    Automatic Chain Grinder | Chain Sharpening Equipment | Sharpening Equipment | Cutting Tools | LOGOSOL

    There used to be a really budget version by TEMCo but it looks like they have stopped selling it.

    TEMCo Industrial FP1000 Fully Automatic Bench Grinder Chainsaw Chain Sharpener

    TEMco FP1000 Review — Automatic Chain Sharpener for Homeowners

    I'd like one of these to play with but haven't found one yet.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2020
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  15. happysawer4741

    happysawer4741 Banned

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    I asked if they would change their setup for a square grind, they just looked at me and said no.
     
  16. The Wood Wolverine

    The Wood Wolverine

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    If I got a grinder it would certainly do square. If time is precious, square ground/filed chain is faster cutting that round, and I’ve found it to be more durable too. There’s more material to support the cutting edge.
     
  17. happysawer4741

    happysawer4741 Banned

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    If your buying a Simington 451 for square chain sharping machine you need to view this really good video,Goddy Perrigo of West Cost Saw shows you how to setup the Simington machine.
    You can just move forward the video to get right to him setting it up and skip the commercial i think i already have it setup for him speaking.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2020
  18. TacMed

    TacMed

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    Man you guys are awesome. Im doing more reading just to get familiar with options as the posts come in. Thanks
     
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  19. amateur cutter

    amateur cutter

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    I have not gone "square" yet, I have the Oregon as posted above, cut about 100ish cord per year & I think it's the best balance for me time/money. The ported saw option is something you won't regret, but as Rope said, port a couple of pro saws. huskihl ported two for me & got massive gains in cut time, same with the ported 044 I bought already done. The CBN type wheel is a must imo as well. Watch some videos & practice. I can sharpen 5-6 saws an hour including disassembly, cleaning & reassembly. If the chains are ready on the bench 18-20/ hour assuming they're all the same pitch.
     
  20. Farmchuck

    Farmchuck

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    :)
    Haven’t you heard Huey?
    It’s hip to be square!:)