Joined the electric sharpener crowd.

Involuntarily because I had no need for an electric chain sharpener.
A friend picked up an old stihl S10 from his family, started asking me questions about saws and next thing I know. I get sent a text to look out on my truck hood.
Pleasant surprise. He dropped off a chicago chain sharpener because he wants me to sharpen the chain on the saw. Ok lol I'll probably still do it by hand, I don't have space to set this thing up without
getting creative.
I need to search back thru the conversations here on these things as I didn't pay much attention.

 

I had thought of getting one but having duplicates of all my chain sizes and seldom going through more than two tanks of mix in a cutting session i see no reason to do so. Hand sharpening never bothered me much save for when you have hit a rock or metal. I have three members here that have grinders and they have offered to sharpen for me. I could always take them up on in.

Doesnt machine grinding remove a lot of metal though?

 

Same, I have no idea how much metal they remove. I'm not hoarding right now. Letting the stacks dwindle to make the move easier in the future.
The only activity my saw has seen this year was cutting up the hawthorne in my front yard that the weather beat up this year. Weather took out 2 of 3 of the trunks and I took down the last one last weekend.

 

Saying machine grinding removes too much metal is like saying that a power lawnmower cuts grass too short.
It's all about the settings and the operator.
You can go from not touching the tooth all the way to cutting it in two.

 

Grinder removes as much as you make it. Like Keith said, it's all up to you.
I enjoyed hand filing too but the unit I have makes a more consistent chain than I was capable of. And like you say, hitting metal or bumping dirt with a long loop kinda sucks. Now I can have it back to razur sharp in no time and little effort. This allows me to get the wood cut up quicker because I'm not being as careful as I was when I hand filed. I'm still cautious, just not a n a l.



I've heard guys complain about the consistency on the cheap grinders. Won't know till ya try I guess.

 

I received a very low quality 'sharpener' for Christmas one year. I tried it once and gave it away. Cheap little thing. If I still gotta do the rakers by hand I may as well have just left it on the saw. It was given away to a coworker.

I want the one I see at the Bunyan where you put the chain in, hit a button and go do something else for 5 minutes.

 

I got a cheapy one from the Out-Laws a few Christmas' ago. I like it. I have 4 chains, so I use them up and sharpen all at once. Good enough for who it's for.

 

Ive never used one or seen one being used so not familiar with it.

 

What's the Bunyun and what is the sharpener that you speak of ?

 

What I like my sharpener for is those oddball times when the teeth get super hard, and the file skips off of them. Since my my grinder isn't kept at my house, I still do quite a bit of hand filing though. I have an Oregon and it does alright for what it is. It's one of those things that you need to use repeatedly to get proficient at.

 

Have you gotten good at using it? Had it for a couple years now?

 

I've gotten... decent at it. Since there's flex in everything, and how hard you pull the chain up against the stop as you clamp it into position factors in, it can be tricky. Once I'm in the groove with my technique, the length of the top plates end up pretty consistent tooth to tooth though. I've verified them with dial calipers and have seen little appreciable difference.

 

The problem is that they have quirks that you have to become used to. A little flex here and there. Definitely have to be gentle and become one with your grinder young grasshopper.
A "machine tool" they are not.

 

When you rock your chain is another perfect instance where having a grinder is slick. Of course you could always rough it in with a dremel before putting the final edge on with your file, but a grinder is nice. Maybe not necessary, but a good tool to have in your arsenal. If you get good at it you could always sharpen chains for cash too

 

Well said sir

 

Unless you wanna spend a couple G's, don't get interested

 

I picked one of those up a month or so ago. I’ve run one chain through it, but haven’t tested it on the saw yet. I have an old 16” chain that’s pretty hammered. Curious to see if it can be brought back to life.

 

Paul Bunyan Show. It's like a County Fair for all things Wood.

Once saw something like this in operation (different maker). I beleive they are around $25,000.

franzen-maschinen.de: Chain sharpener - The Franzen

 

I believe chris has tested a couple of the automatic sharpeners.