Chain Sharpening

[fredx]

Does anyone sharpen their chains with a dremmel?

 

[Jusgunn3]

I have before with my father in laws setup, worked pretty good I think. I have a grinder that I use though.

 

[Woodtroll]

Does anyone sharpen their chains with a dremmel?

I have, and I think it works pretty well if you don't get heavy-handed. If you try to cut too much at a time or cut too fast (high RPM) you can overheat and ruin the tooth.

Do yourself a favor and get the guide that Dremel makes for their tool for sharpening chains, and follow the set-up instructions for the size chain you're working on. The guide helps keep the cutter at the right vertical depth to get the correct amount of hook on the tooth. I had good luck buying a pack of diamond grinders from Amazon; I liked them because they don't wear down quickly and change diameter like the stones provided in the kit do.

The challenge, like any hand sharpening, is keeping the cross angle consistent and keeping the tooth length consistent. I think the length of the tool and the lighter touch actually makes the angle consistency easier with the Dremel than with a file. I bought a cheap pair of small brass vernier calipers to help keep tooth length consistent.

I still hand file most of the time, and now I also have a Timberline sharpener and a bench grinder, but I do think Dremel sharpening can be effective if you approach it with the limitations in mind.

 

[hacskaroly]

Does anyone sharpen their chains with a dremmel?

I had customers that said they had great results using a Dremmel and other not. I would suppose those who didn't, did not have a good grasp on sharpening chain to begin with and were expecting this to be a miracle cure. I am sure with patience and care, you could do well with a Dremmel.

Same thing with Stihl's 2-in-1 sharpener, you can still jack up a chain with it.

 

[Wilhelm]

I even purchased a dedicated chain sharpening dremel type setup, with diamond burs and guide plate.

Didn't like it and passed it on to a neighbor, and his out of control dog chewed it to bits.

It was similar to this

 

[fredx]

what didnt you like about it?

 

[Wonkydonkey]

I even purchased a dedicated chain sharpening dremel type setup, with diamond burs and guide plate.

Didn't like it and passed it on to a neighbor, and his out of control dog chewed it to bits.

It was similar to this
View attachment 476870
View attachment 476871

I got one of those.
I think they work great, well once you get the hang of using it.
I found very light pressure and a couple of strokes per tooth.
I do all the left or right cutters but from the same side. Eg. So the spinning diamond bit is pulling it down into the tooth. As I found it wants to jump out of the tooth and takes any hook out of the tooth. Your see what I mean when you use one a few times (one side will have no hook and the other will)
I don’t use the guide in the pic on the right, it got in the way and I couldn’t see jack-all.

However. I still use std files at regular times to help maintain consistency of the cutters as it’s very easy to over grind the teeth

 

[edisto]

I do all the left or right cutters but from the same side.

Probably a good idea. For knife sharpening there are a lot of opinions on whether edge-leading or edge-trailing works best, or where in the process to use one or the other. With a Dremel on a saw chain, it seems like the most consistent way to position the grinder would be on opposite sides, but then half of the teeth would be sharpened edge-leading and the other half edge-trailing.

 

[EFSM]

what didnt you like about it?

I imagine it is hard to keep the teeth cool.

 

[Duane(Pa)]

I have a friend with a part time tree service. He uses a Dremmel. He can sharpen a long chain in a short amount of time. Usually kneeling over the saw in someone's yard or driveway. He can run a file just as well as anyone. I think the dremmel is faster. Time is money...

 

[gorilla]

I had a tree gang, we shared about a dozen saws, when you used a saw it was your job to file it, if the next user said it was not cutting properly, you got to file it again. Great way of learning to do it right.

 

[IffykidMn]

I have and use one at times it is easier to use when sharpening remote and one does not have a vice or other means to hold the bar securely for filing yes I have wedged the bar tip in the corner of the truck box used a stump vice, lean over the power head etc etc.

I have had the best luck using the gray Oregon bits and found the diamond and pink Dremel bits to be the worst, Oregon bits average about three chain sharpening's on a 24"chain obviously the duller the chain or rocked is going to wear the bit out quicker.

I started hand filing about 50 years ago own 4 grinders and a Dremel still hand file in a bench vice most of time. change is hard.

 

[IffykidMn]

I imagine it is hard to keep the teeth cool.

Not much different than using a grinder.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

I imagine it is hard to keep the teeth cool.

If your only giving it 2 strokes , then it’s probably like using a usg or any other bench grinder.

However, I’ve found if the teeth need more than 2 stroke's. ie bucking dirty wood., it’s better to just go around a second time , by the time you go around a second time those teeth would have cooled, it is still a lot faster than a file

Everyone's mileage varies.

 

[Brad Button]

A Dremel is fine if you are touching up a chain, but the grinding wheels pack up too quickly to do a full-on sharpening.