elect. chainsaw sharpeners

[Banjo picker]

Man o man ENTS  you do know how to make a point.  I have already gone on the Silvey site and looked at their products.  Wish i could see them in person. 

Devon I will chech out the Simington would be nice to grind both.  Tim

[ENTS]

Devon,

If I'm not mistaken, and someone will correct me if I'm wrong, Simington grinders were not manufactured for some time.  They just recently came back into production.  Nothing but great reviews from what I could find.  What I have not been able to do is find a web site for them and/or prices.  Got any clues here?


Later,

[Devon]

ENTS,

I've heard that Simington & Silvey got involved in a legal dispute.  The Silvey swingarm is supposedly a real close copy of an early version of the Simington swingarm............many parts will readily interchange.  I do not know how everything was resolved, but Silvey seems to have a decent dealer network and Simington has none (that I know of). 

Simington does not have a website and I don't know of any retailers selling their products.  There phone number is 1-888-247-6702.  He quoted me either $769 or $789, (can't remember) for a swingarm grinder (model 451C).

Thanks,
Devon

[Al_Smith]

 I use a Dremel type on rocked chains but usually hand file .

You can run a chain until the top plate is worn smaller than the kerf .They slow down though once you get to the last rivet .At that point ,resharpen,hang them on a nail for stump cuts,fence rows etc then toss them if you rock them . If not you end up like me with a bucket full of worn out chains you have no idea what to do with .

I suppose a person could cut the top plates and use them for milling if so desired at that point . Chainsaw milling though in my case is my least desirable use of a chainsaw .

[ENTS]

Devon, thanks for the info.  Sure wish I could sell my MAXX and put the money toward a Simington or Silvey.  Maybe I'd go back to bench grinding.

Later,

[ENTS]

Here's a link comparing the elcheapo to the real thing (compliments of Baileys)

http://www.baileysonline.com/PDF/grinder_comparison.pdf

[Banjo picker]

Thanks for that link.  That 1.4 mm thing helps explain why the teeth on one side don't last as long  when I use the sharpening service in town.  I thought he was just grinding them down so I would buy chain sooner.     Tim

[RANGERDALEXP]

I have the one from northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company and found that you can't beat it for the price, It is an exact copy of the Oregon 511a which i used in the past and it is almost made as well out of the box. You do need to to about a half hour of some fine tuning to it and after that it is a great machine. It works as well as the $350.00 Oregon model. After i started using it i did give my Harbor Freight one to a friend of mine. I am thinking of a second northern one so i can stop swapping stones out from the 3/16 to the 1/8 for different chains. look for them on sale for around $89.00 at northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company. 

[Tree tech]

Hi there, i bought an alaskan mill, in the uk, none of the angles are true,depth imposible to set! Hand sharpen for best finish!

[Jeff]

northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company is not a company that I consider as an option for anything.   Many of our members, knowing what they have done to one of our sponsors, boycotts the company and tells our friends that they should do the same.

[Cut4fun]

You want quality, try a Stihl USG sometime. The word solid is a understatement.

You can find them used for cheaper to same price you are paying for those others in the $200 $300 price range.

You will have to scroll down near the bottom of page to see the pic.   

http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/acc_filing.html#usg

[RANGERDALEXP]

northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company is not a company that I consider as an option for anything.   Many of our members, knowing what they have done to one of our sponsors, boycotts the company and tells our friends that they should do the same.

Being somewhat new here i am not sure what you are talking about on this. I was also given a PM and was told that this site has a severe issue with NT and i am not sure what it is and would get a very cool reception on that post, I have had good service with northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company and only wanted to post an unbiased opinion since i have used both of them to compare from side by side. anyway I had no intention to start a problem here and still have no idea why there is a problem, anyway i still stand behind that sharpener and always will unless something changes. It is a good sharpener for the money. Anyway i have seen and used the sthil USG and it is a great tool but i think it is way over priced and i have had some issues with sthil in the past and changed my product line to Husqvarna and Dolmar/makita instead for all my saws. Sorry for posting against the grain here on this......   

[shinnlinger]

I am a hand filer, but recently I have been sticking the file in a cordless drill and doing it.  Thought I might use a clamp on file guide I have with the drill and see what happens... Am I doing something wrong???

[beenthere]

Whatever works for you.

I'd expect you will remove more of the tooth than needed to get it sharp. And I'd be concerned that this method wouldn't get it as sharp, and that I'd jigger up the tooth edge too easily. But will let you report your findings to us. 

Do you make a holding 'jig' at the end of the file to hold it steady?

[Rocky_J]

I think it would render the file useless in short order. Files are cutting tools, and like most cutting tools are designed to cut in a specific direction. Chainsaw files are designed to cut when pushed in a forward motion. Spinning the file will rub the cutting edges sideways and dull the file very quickly. I suspect the file would be garbage before you finished the first chain.

[chucker]

as each row of cutters on a file are twisted away from the cutting edge to keep the file clean probably not a good deal? even at a slow speed with a drill the next row of cutters will burr and dull the next row ahead. thinking this would also set the cutters on the chain to be more surrated then chisle sharpened...

[nmurph]

a bigger issue is the quickly changing diameter of the stone.

[rebocardo]

> the difference between the 30 dollar and the 300 + dollar units

Cheapness of the materials and repeatability of the same angle. After the cheap plastic starts to wear they are no longer accurate, if they were to begin with out of the box.

I have compared my cheap Speedmaster ($150 from Bailey's) and in no way does the <$50 units from Harbor Freight and northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company compare to that. If I had a $99 refurb. Poulan and was looking for a cheap grinder, yea, they might be worth the money.

If I had a chainsaw mill, where getting the angles right is important especially since the cheaper ones only adjust the top plate angle, I would get the more expensive grinder.

Usually when something is 2x-3x cheaper then the market leaders, it does not matter if you are talking grinders, saw chain, cars, trucks, food, etc. there is a reason. You just have to decide if you can live with the reason 

I decided the <$50 were so cheap, it really wasn't worth purchasing to keep in my trailer tool box for on site sharpening.