TEMCo Auto Sharpener - User Review Thread

[panolo]

@panolo
Have you put any of these sharpened chains into wood yet? I am curious how they cut.

Not yet. Might give it a roll tonight. It's supposed to go to arctic mode here tonight for the next two weeks. I think the high for that time period is 9F so I won't be doing much as far as cutting.

I do want to do some cutting as I just acquired a MMS 550xp and 345 converted to 346. Would love to test them as I haven't ran them yet.

 

[RI Chevy]

Cool. TY

 

[usmcbuckwild]

Not yet. Might give it a roll tonight. It's supposed to go to arctic mode here tonight for the next two weeks. I think the high for that time period is 9F so I won't be doing much as far as cutting.

I do want to do some cutting as I just acquired a MMS 550xp and 345 converted to 346. Would love to test them as I haven't ran them yet.

In for cut reports on 3/8 and .325 chains.

Put on the long-johns and go cut some wood!

 

[RI Chevy]

All for the good of the order! lol

 

[Philbert]

First Blood

Looks like @panolo jumped in with both feet and got started, so folks are probably waiting for an update from me. I have been taking a more deliberative approach, trying to understand the grinder.

There are some discrepancies between the Quick Start Guide, the printed manual, and the You Tube videos that I have been trying to work out, and am sending separate notes on these to Gun. But have to get started sometime!

The sharpener is 'Automatic' only once it is set up and running. If you have a chain in pretty good condition, and follow the You Tube videos (my choice), you will likely come out with a sharpened chain.

Some adjustments are made with the 3 manual knobs; you can see movement as you turn them. Some adjustments occur only after you 'Reset' the programming, so it can be a bit of surprise how much you moved something. Some adjustments appear to be linked (e.g. 'Length' and 'Pitch'), and the instructions state that you may need to go back and work on these a few times to get exactly right, but you do not get immediate, visual feedback.

As an experienced user of a manual grinder, I am used to making fine adjustments as the work progresses; it took some time and experience to develop this knowledge and skill. I may make special adjustments for a single cutter that is badly damaged, for example. With the FP1000, I have to stop the automatic process, make an adjustment, reset, and start all over.

**** I am not saying this as criticism of the automatic sharpener, as much as I am sharing my point on the learning curve using it. I expect that with time, I will be able to make more of these fine adjustments on it intuitively, just as I did with my manual grinders. ****

Started with an 84 DL, 3/8 pitch, STIHL, full chisel loop that had some uneven cutters, and a few rocked cutters. I tried to start with a light pass, but ended up taking more than expected (sorry @bark - I will find a way to make it up to you).



84 drive links took 7 minutes and 27 seconds from pressing 'Start' for a full pass. The countdown display (# of drive links remaining) is a nice feature.


This chain needed a couple of passes anyway, but the large bite ended up discoloring the underside of the point a little, so I have to go back and shave off a little more to clean that up. I backed up the cutter, lowered the wheel depth a bit, and cleaned up the gullet a little. Got too cold outside to mess with little screws, so I put off the depth gauge stuff.

Need to try this on a bunch more chains, which is why I asked to keep it for a while, rather than making a judgment on just a few loops and limited practice.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Early Samples

From first full loop. Some of these started out as just dull, A few were rocked. And several were uneven (lengths, angles, etc.).


Before cleaning out gullet.


Before cleaning out gullet.




Cleaned gullet (single pass), but before shaving off discolored corner.


Cleaned gullet (single pass), but before shaving off discolored corner.

I am pretty sure that I can do better with a little more practice and experience, so again, please accept these as a first attempt. The discoloration of the cutter tip was likely due to unexpectedly taking off too much metal in one pass - I did not get this with other cutters when taking a light cut.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Initial thoughts on comparison to a conventional grinder

On this grinder, I can adjust: the top plate angle, depth of cut, cutter length, depth gauges; and clean out the gullets, getting pretty uniform results. With my manual grinder, I can also adjust the top plate cutting bevel angle, degree of hook, and make compensating adjustments for individual cutters. I can also dress the thicker (1/8' or 3/16") grinding wheels for special profiles.

Right now, I am faster with my manual grinder, my experience with it makes it intuitive. But I have to stay with it for the entire loop. The FP1000 runs by itself, once set up.

For guys who are fussy and specific about their cutter angles, the FP1000 may not allow as much customization as they might like. For guys pretty satisfied with a sharp chain, and who are usually touching up normal wear, instead of rehabbing damaged chains, this could be a good time saver. If they mostly run the same pitch chains, setup should be even easier.

The small diameter, thin, fine grit wheels are more suitable for final sharpening of edges, than the coarser grit wheels available for manual grinders, which can be used to remove more material from damaged cutters, and to reshape neglected gullets. It would be real interesting to see how it works with the CBN wheels.

Philbert

 

[CR888]

No rush Philbert, I imagine learning the 'tricks of the trade' with any auto grinder would take some time & practice. Everyone will want pics/info NOW but a little patience will probably benefit this thread. Sounds like your going through the motions a first time user would with a manual grinder. We're not expecting to see perfection as you grapple this new art.

 

[RI Chevy]

When will you put the chain into some wood Phil?

 

[usmcbuckwild]

Great info Philbert. Eager to see the progression of learning/experimenting. It looks to me you can get a pretty darn good sharpen once dialed in. While it may not be feasible for short loops to go through all the adjustments and changes loop-to-loop, it appears to be worthwhile on long loops especially since you can walk away and be productive with something else while its running.

 

[bark]

@Philbert don't worry about making anything up. If that particular chain stayed with me there is a good chance it would have never been used again as some of it was in pretty bad shape for a hand file. Thanks for taking the time to fully review the entire process.

 

[jakethesnake]

Very impressed with your personal skill philbert. Way to keep the grinder up and not undercut the tooth. Almost looks like you know a thing or few about making a chain cut.

That chain is a better job than the other fellas first try where the grinder went too deep.

Bravo. Shows some know how. Good work. It’ll cut well without a doubt.

 

[Philbert]

That chain is a better job than the other fellas first try where the grinder went too deep.

Again, there is a learning curve here. Where did I try to place the grinding wheel, and where did it actually go? Tried to 'finesse' my way in, starting by not touching the cutter at all, but got a shower of sparks! Like a lot of things, it becomes a combination of knowledge, skill, and experience.

Hope to be able to post some better results over the next few weeks (ground blizzard here in Minnesota right now, and I grind outside).

Philbert

 

[RI Chevy]

Jeeesh. Take care Phil

 

[jakethesnake]

Again, there is a learning curve here. Where did I try to place the grinding wheel, and where did it actually go? Tried to 'finesse' my way in, starting by not touching the cutter at all, but got a shower of sparks! Like a lot of things, it becomes a combination of knowledge, skill, and experience.

Hope to be able to post some better results over the next few weeks (ground blizzard here in Minnesota right now, and I grind outside).

Philbert

Yeah I think I’m understanding what you’re trying to say.

You told the grinder where he should go and he disobeyed and did what he thought you told him to do.

I’d imagine you’ll end up with the swing of things in short order.

I’m curious about when you get a handle for him (the grinder) How much faster is he gonna be than a grinder which you already know

 

[Philbert]

I’m curious about when you get a handle for him (the grinder) How much faster is he gonna be than a grinder which you already know

I don't believe that it will be any faster (start to finish). What it would do will free me up to do other stuff. Or allow guys who don't like to sharpen to leave more of it to the machine.

Philbert

 

[panolo]

Again, there is a learning curve here. Where did I try to place the grinding wheel, and where did it actually go? Tried to 'finesse' my way in, starting by not touching the cutter at all, but got a shower of sparks! Like a lot of things, it becomes a combination of knowledge, skill, and experience.

Hope to be able to post some better results over the next few weeks (ground blizzard here in Minnesota right now, and I grind outside).

Philbert

Yep. I've done a couple others and it was a simple depth adjustment. I knew I was a tich too deep on the first chain. I set mine up in my work space in the basement so it's plenty warm. I'm still not sold that I can be fine enough with my adjustment like I am with my cheap grinder but I'm guessing alot of that is familiarity. The videos make it look easy and it is not at first. Like you say there is a curve to it and once a guy gets that down it should do a nice enough job.

Had to work late last night so I never got to cut any timber. Maybe Sunday. It's a bruiser out there right now. Windchill at -25 and real temp of -1.

 

[Philbert]

. . . it was a simple depth adjustment.

Yep; with a manual grinder I know exactly where the cutter and grinding wheel are before I turn on the power. When surprised with the auto grinder - once I have gone too far, I sort of need to do the rest of the cutters like that.

I think that the key is to start 'outside' (zero cutter contact), and slowly creep in a hair at a time, if you only want to touch the cutters. Since the machine rotates 5 teeth forward each time the 'RESET' button is pressed, you also need to drag the chain back 5 cutters if you want to calibrate off the same tooth (with uneven chains). Small things . . . . Soon, it will be muscle memory.

Philbert

 

[GunTemco]

I just wanted to pop in and say that I've been lurking and reading everything, but didn't really want to interject myself since everyone's playing around with the unit. I've refrained from commenting how to do something cause I'm also interested in seeing how everyone naturally uses the product, even if it's being used incorrectly. This sort of information lets us know what needs to be worked on.

However, anyone with the unit should be aware that if you ever can't figure something out, I and the company are at your disposal to troubleshoot and resolve the matter.

I'm really excited to be reading along and learning about what you guys are doing with it. Lots of us here at TEMCo Industrial are reading this as well, so just a reminder that our designers, engineers, customer service personnel, etc. are all reading - your technical criticisms allow us to grow, and so far you guys have been amazing about backing up your critiques with sound reasoning, which truly allows us to solve these problems and work on user experience.

 

[CR888]

Seeing one of the close up pics Philbert posted of a cutter on the Temco, I noticed the chain 'stopper' that sits behind the cutter holding it in place or from going backwards appears quite wide & square ended. Maybe its the close up pic but I wonder if that will get in the way when trying to grind cutters that are nearing the end of their service life. I know on manual grinders this stop usually is tapered too a smaller end section to prevent the wheel touching it, I really need to replace mine as I've hit it a few times trying to sharpen well used chains in an attempt to get one more sharpening. Here's a pic of a 511 style chain advance stopper.