Anyone here used the Ebay chainsaw sharpener, buy one or not?

[J & L Creations]

I bought a clone 511 5ish years ago, back then it was AUD $160-. They have become a lot cheaper since with 'buy it now' prices on EBay under $80. I bought a spare about a year ago for $63 with 4 wheels, tools, dressing stone & plastic spec card. I thought I'd grab a spare as 4 cheap pink grinding wheels cost more than the whole kit. Having said that, I run 10-20 chains through my 5 year old unit each week, other than the light globe blowing 3 times it is still going strong and servicing my needs just fine. The spare is in box being stored as a backup but I'm not sure I'll wear out my old one anytime soon. The chain advancer bracket is a bit worn and will need replacing.View attachment 107435

I wonder if the grinding stones fromTractor Supply will fit your grinder? I bought one of their stones thinking I might try building a chain grinder, the stones look to be good quality. They carry different thicknesses as well.

 

[Crzybowhntr]

Have you used them?

They work great for my no talented self.

I have used them and will continue to for as long as I can foresee. I am very file challenged also and these contraptions make my chains look pretty good.

 

[Dub11]

I have used them and will continue to for as long as I can foresee. I am very file challenged also and these contraptions make my chains look pretty good.

And that's why I have 3 of them now.

 

[jakethesnake]

I’ve got some random sharpening gizmos. I’m sort of a hoe for that sorta stuff. @CR888 do you by chance have a link to these clones you are speaking of? Kinda want to look at one of those now. Not sure how to find exactly what I’m looking for.

 

[CR888]

Not to good with links but I'll give it a shot. Gotta finish cutting a gum that fell with the 40° heat.

 

[CR888]

I wonder if the grinding stones fromTractor Supply will fit your grinder? I bought one of their stones thinking I might try building a chain grinder, the stones look to be good quality. They carry different thicknesses as well.

The full size grinding wheels have a 5/8" arbour hole which is a common size for mitre saw blades, angle grinder cut off wheels etc. Its either 5/8" or 7/8" I forget but Philbert will know. The smaller wheels have a smaller arbor hole that the homeowner grinders use. The Chinese make copied pink wheels in all sizes that can be had for $2-$4 Aud delivered on the slow boat from China. I don't buy the fancy expensive wheels, I like the way the cheap&nasty pink ones grind. Though 2 have exploded on me during use out of about 10 I've used over the last few years. If the wheel don't go boom and wears right down in size, it will have ground many, many dozen loops of chain. I often grind without eye protection but when those pink wheels go BANG!!!!....you start wearing glasses again for a while till you forget about it. Also I like to be able to dress the wheel profile in a way that gives me the hook that I like, for smooth cutting chain a non aggressive hook is nice in hardwoods.

 

[Philbert]

Good grinding wheels are important. They are the part that does the cutting, Just like running good chains on a saw.

I have seem big improvements in performance when putting better quality wheels on cheap grinders. Check out the Molemab wheels at Bailey's, especially when on sale.

With the cheap grinders and wheel I have also found that the size of the grinder arbor and wheel center hole varies by enough to cause severe wobbling - "7/8 inches" is not always 7/8 inches. So you have to check each wheel, especially if you are mixing different brands (mentioned in that AS thread, linked above).

Always do a 'ring test' on wheels: exploding wheels are no fun. Always wear safety glasses.



Philbert

 

[J & L Creations]

Good grinding wheels are important. They are the part that does the cutting, Just like running good chains on a saw.

I have seem big improvements in performance when putting better quality wheels on cheap grinders. Check out the Molemab wheels at Bailey's, especially when on sale.

With the cheap grinders and wheel I have also found that the size of the grinder arbor and wheel center hole varies by enough to cause severe wobbling - "7/8 inches" is not always 7/8 inches. So you have to check each wheel, especially if you are mixing different brands (mentioned in that AS thread, linked above).

Always do a 'ring test' on wheels: exploding wheels are no fun. Always wear safety glasses.

View attachment 107492

Philbert

I agree totally with this Philbert. I had wondered about that, cheap grinding wheels either being out of round ( causing wobble ) at the outermost circumference or center hole being to large causing the same problem. If this problem were to exist and the wheel exploded, could definitely put some ones eye out. I would be on the side of caution here and at the very least wear goggles, full face shield and goggles would be much better and use quality grinding wheels. Safety should be the number one priority here.

 

[Philbert]

1. In that HF grinder thread there appeared to be a difference between wheels made to 7/8" ID and wheels made to a 'metric sort-of-equivalent'. The difference was significant and notable: some would wobble on some arbors, and some would not fit other grinders. One exploded on me. Details in that thread.

2. Comparing better quality wheels with some of the cheaper wheels on the same grinder was like cutting with sharp or dull chain. Get good wheels.

3. Your 'frugal' approach to grinders can work, if you find one that spins true, and upgrade to better wheels. Might not grind as fast, or last as long. But, as noted above, if you build in the upgrade cost of better wheels up front, and consider both service life and resale value, you might as well (as the saying goes) 'buy your third grinder first'.

Philbert

 

[wcorey]

This is evidently a typical example of the latest crop of lower end (around $80) tecomec clones. Shipped from usa locations even.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-C...d=252248728789&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Haven't tried this particular generation but looks pretty similar to the previous ones I have tried, much like northern used to sell for $100 plus.
They seem to work fine in general but there are shortcomings.
Not quite as smooth spinning as something like a 511 but really no big effect on the grinding quality.

My biggest complaint with most of them is the chain clamping, to some degree the cam/actuators but in particular the clamping plates themselves.
The cheaper ones just don't hold the cutter in place all that well.
Even with the tecomec/oregon ones, the higher end model they are, the better they work.
Seems like a materiel issue as much as anything, the cheap ones are soft and don't have the enough spring to them or something.

At one point I though about making some improved plates but eventually came into deals on better grinders so never got around to it.
Now I have a small collection of the things...

That said, if I had a limited budget for a new grinder, say under $200, I'd get one of these $80 ones and a cbn wheel...

 

[J & L Creations]

That said, if I had a limited budget for a new grinder, say under $200, I'd get one of these $80 ones and a cbn wheel

Say Wcorey, do you have a link to the cbn wheel? I would like to compair it to one I already bought from TS.

 

[wcorey]

I don't have a specific link, I'd just be doing a google search to find it same as you.
Don't recall offhand where I got mine, of the two companies that come to mind,
might have been diamond wheel and I know it wasn't dinasaw.

 

[Philbert]

I bought 2 of the Diamond Wheel, Inc. CBN wheels, at about $100 each (for different size chains). Still trying them, but so far, not very impressed.

Less dust generated, but still prefer a well dressed 'pink' (aluminum oxide) wheel.

Philbert

 

[wcorey]

I'm really impressed with my cbn wheel and can't imagine going back to pink/salmon/brown/blue/white wheels for anything other than doing depth gauges.
Runs way cooler and has been holding up very well, have done at least a couple hundred chains on it over the past few years.

Maybe they just don't make them like they used to?

 

[CR888]

I have never had a issue with the arbor hole being sloppy on cheap pink wheels, but that's not to say it doesn't exist. The clear plastic wheel guard really show their purpose when a wheel explodes, they send all the shrapnel towards the ground and not your face. I've found with slightly out of round or not flat wheels that wobble, not turning perfectly true can be greatly improved by just using them. By grinding chains with them they tend to true up as the steel cutters wear off the high spots that make it wobbly. I have always wanted to try a CBN or dinosaw type wheel but at a $100 a piece it gets expensive when you run 1/4"-.404 pitch chain. Even the Oregon pink wheels (resonoid?) are $50ish here. I can't complain one bit with the results I get, I dont cook cutters & my chains cut very well. You want to see what a chain looks like after the local stihl dealer grinds it .I just ordered 4 new pink wheels from Hong Kong for less than $12au delivered.

 

[J & L Creations]

$100.00 a wheel is very steep when you consider the price of a new complete knock off machine for $80.00 and the grinding wheel I bought for $12.00 at Tractor Supply that looks to be absolutely perfect, with a little ingenuity and maybe a few modifications to the knock off machine it might work to ones advantage very well, not sure till I get ready to buy and test it though.

 

[wcorey]

For me the difference in the cbn wheel was enough that I wouldn't ever want to go back to pink wheels,
where going back to a cheap grinder I could live with.

I held out a long time on spending the $'s for cbn also but if I'd of known how much I liked it there wouldn't have been any hesitation.
I do find it disturbing that Philberts' newer ones aren't working out so well, not sure how I'd feel about replacing/re-coating mine after hearing that.
Needs further investigation...

But If you want to keep the whole budget to less than a cbn wheel then how you're looking at it makes good sense.

 

[Philbert]

I have never had a issue with the arbor hole being sloppy on cheap pink wheels, but that's not to say it doesn't exist.

This is from the A.S. thread I linked:
Sample of 2 grinding wheels that are supposed to have the same ID. One fits one grinder, the other fits the other 3. Note the white ring of the blotter on the smaller ID wheel.



7/8-inch equals 0.875-inches or 22.225mm. Using a dial caliper, I measured arbors and grinding ID's ranging from 0.863 to 0.920 inches. A range of 57 thousands of an inch (not quite 1/16 of an inch). . . simply put: Some wheels will not physically fit onto some grinders. . . Be careful when buying wheels, and check to see if they fit.

$100.00 a wheel is very steep when you consider the price of a new complete knock off machine for $80.00 and the grinding wheel I bought for $12.00 at Tractor Supply that looks to be absolutely perfect,

I have bought several Molemab brand 'pink' wheels at Bailey's for $15 (sometimes go on sale for $12 if you are patient), and they work pretty good.

I do find it disturbing that Philberts' newer ones aren't working out so well, not sure how I'd feel about replacing/re-coating mine after hearing that.

Still trying mine. Maybe they will 'break in'? Yesterday they were still lifting a lot of chrome off some STIHL chains, even though they did not appear to be overheating the cutters. 'CBN' is a general class of wheels - could be different size grit, different bonding, different brands, etc.


Philbert

 

[concretegrazer]

This is from the A.S. thread I linked:
Sample of 2 grinding wheels that are supposed to have the same ID. One fits one grinder, the other fits the other 3. Note the white ring of the blotter on the smaller ID wheel.

View attachment 107865

7/8-inch equals 0.875-inches or 22.225mm. Using a dial caliper, I measured arbors and grinding ID's ranging from 0.863 to 0.920 inches. A range of 57 thousands of an inch (not quite 1/16 of an inch). . . simply put: Some wheels will not physically fit onto some grinders. . . Be careful when buying wheels, and check to see if they fit.



I have bought several Molemab brand 'pink' wheels at Bailey's for $15 (sometimes go on sale for $12 if you are patient), and they work pretty good.



Still trying mine. Maybe they will 'break in'? Yesterday they were still lifting a lot of chrome off some STIHL chains, even though they did not appear to be overheating the cutters. 'CBN' is a general class of wheels - could be different size grit, different bonding, different brands, etc.


Philbert

Are you running a reversible grinder Philbert?

 

[Philbert]

Are you running a reversible grinder Philbert?

These are all one-way grinders. But I have not had problems with the chrome lifting when using the AO wheels.

Philbert