Chainsaw grinder questions, tips, tricks, and pics!!!!

[Philbert]

. . . I feel the teeth get the temper taken out of the them with the heat. . .

- clean your chains;
- dress your wheels;
- take small bites.

. . . also you tend to take too much off with a grinder . . .

- just don't take off too much - you decide how much, not the grinder

. . . so I hand sharpen everything . . .

- sell your grinder.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

I have a box of SaveEdge files that I never use. I feel that they ruin the tie straps when I take the gullets down to the rivets. And my left cutters always come out shorter than my right cutters. So I grind everything, even my 8 inch pole pruner loops.


Philbert

 

[penzone]

Speaking of lights...I put an LED bulb in my 511. I really like the white light.

 

[Icepick69]

Speaking of lights...I put an LED bulb in my 511. I really like the white light.

Where can I get that light at? Lowes?

 

[Big_6]

Amazon has all of the led lights.
Minimize the reflective surfaces, you'll go blind!
"The chainsaw transporting vehicle," got some led lights.
In case inclement weather becomes an issue, the led light will lead the way to my OPE pals work bench/ square grinder... :-/

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[penzone]

Where can I get that light at? Lowes?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/281945339942?_mwBanner=1

G12 base, cool white

 

[treevet]

- clean your chains;
- dress your wheels;
- take small bites.



- just don't take off too much - you decide how much, not the grinder



- sell your grinder.

Philbert

Worked for 47 years now son...not gonna quit it now. You a weekend warrior likely.

 

[Philbert]

You can ruin a chain with a file, or a grinder, or with any of the other gizmos out there. Lots of ways to sharpen; everyone has to find something that works for them.

Philbert

 

[treevet]

I don't think a pro can possibly ruin a cutter with a file but then likely a pro won't ruin a cutter with a grinder. Just as I see it....you set the grinder to cut back the most damaged tooth on the chain and have to cut them all at that setting as resetting on every tooth would be too time consuming. For me...I won't cut back all the cutters to match the bad ones if just a few and that way retain the chain longer and eventually the bad ones match up with the undamaged ones. You may get a little sideways on the cut but that is more important in a race than day to day cutting. I guess that is a consideration as well.

 

[Khntr85]

I got an old Stihl HOS grinder I bought in the mid 70's that still works great. I just use it for rakers as I feel the teeth get the temper taken out of the them with the heat and also you tend to take too much off with a grinder, so I hand sharpen everything even 40" plus bar chains. I have found if you can get the right lighting to the chain/grinder and the right seat that puts your eyes at about grinding level...which involves the right grinder stand or set up...you got half the battle won.

View attachment 71641

Nice set-up.....when you say take the temper out, what excactly do you mean, i am just curious...thanks

 

[treevet]

This is just a layman's opinion but as I see it the tooth/chain is made of hardened steel. Then you heat it to blue and it is rendered less hard or brittle and become more malleable and subject to wear more in the course of normal cutting of wood. I've had that opinion for many years but not sure where I got it.

 

[treevet]

- sell your grinder.

Philbert

ps...I do all my rakers with the grinder.

 

[Icepick69]

ps...I do all my rakers with the grinder.

Show some pictures

 

[dall]

Show some pictures

we dont get to see any of your pictures

 

[Icepick69]

we dont get to see any of your pictures

I post pictures all the time.

 

[dall]

I post pictures all the time.

i havent seen any

 

[Icepick69]

i havent seen any

What you wanna see

 

[Philbert]

'You show me yours and I'll show you mine?'

Philbert

 

[dall]

'You show me yours and I'll show you mine?'

Philbert

lol ive shown him mine

 

[Philbert]

Philbert's take (worth what you paid for it):

PART I - 'STEEL'

Lots of things can affect steel, and not all 'steel' is the same: small changes can make big differences. In other words, if you gave Martha Stewart and me the same list of ingredients (eggs, flour, sugar, etc.), she might make a beautiful soufflé, while I might make some glop that the dog would not eat.

Some companies intentionally make their cutters harder (holds an edge better?); some intentionally make their cutters softer (easier to hand file in the field?); some companies have poor process control and the quality of the cutters vary from batch to batch.

Heat can absolutely affect steel, but it depends on how much heat, how long it is applied, how quickly it is cooled, etc. Wikipedia does a much better job explaining 'tempering' than I can in this space:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempering_(metallurgy)

Grinding heats cutters. Technically, filing also heats cutters. So does leaving a chain in the box of a pickup truck on a hot day. The question is 'how much'? If a chain has been heated blue, black, or if the chrome is peeling off, it has likely been over heated. Sometimes, the color change is due to dirt / oil / grease burning rather than the steel or chrome changing color.

Philbert