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

[Philbert]

Philbert

 

[Lawless]

Today was the day. I set it to 55° and used 30° for the top plate. I left the vise untilted.

First I like the CBN wheel. It imparts zero perceptible heat into the cutter and seems really efficient.

I took a junk chain that doesn’t fit any saw here and used it as my learning sacrificial lamb. It was in a box of chains from my FIL’s stuff. .325 /.050 for a 20” bar. I fiddled with the depth stop and chain stop some to get a feel and it wasn’t long before I had the hang of it.

I didn’t notice much difference in left or right cutters as far as burrs or anything. There is a difference switching sides as it relates to cutter length. I know there is an adjustment to make it even and I will play with it later. For now I backed off of the chain stop and snuck up on the right length to match the other side.

I then got down my 261 and took the chain off to have a go at it for real. I had cut a few small trees and remembered just kissing the ground toward the end.

Some thoughts, stream of consciousness type stuff :

I consider myself a good and consistent hand filer. I use a guide and really try to be consistent. The grinder shows the truth however. It showed slight differences in cutter length, cutter angle and gullet depth. Nothing crazy but there were noticeable issues.

The best thing to me regarding grinding is the consistency cutter to cutter. Angle, depth of the gullet and length are simply the same.

Since I religiously take the bar and chain off to clean out debris, it really isn’t more time to grind vs. hand filing.

A small adjustment in chain stop can mean a lot of relative material removal. I had to make myself do tiny movements to not waste cutter length.

————————

Some pictures

This is the junk chain, this was a rocked tooth turned into a cutting tooth again.








This shows a .325 cutter, hook shape and top. I compared to new Stihl RS chain and the hook profile was virtually identical.







This is a 3/8 .050 28” chain that has been well used and sharpened several times. I cleaned it up with the grinder and put all of the little cutter differences right. I then hand filed the depth gauges. I compared to new RS and the profile is again, virtually identical.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

Today was the day. I set it to 55° and used 30° for the top plate. I left the vise untilted.

First I like the CBN wheel. It imparts zero perceptible heat into the cutter and seems really efficient.

I took a junk chain that doesn’t fit any saw here and used it as my learning sacrificial lamb. It was in a box of chains from my FIL’s stuff. .325 /.050 for a 20” bar. I fiddled with the depth stop and chain stop some to get a feel and it wasn’t long before I had the hang of it.

I didn’t notice much difference in left or right cutters as far as burrs or anything. There is a difference switching sides as it relates to cutter length. I know there is an adjustment to make it even and I will play with it later. For now I backed off of the chain stop and snuck up on the right length to match the other side.

I then got down my 261 and took the chain off to have a go at it for real. I had cut a few small trees and remembered just kissing the ground toward the end.

Some thoughts, stream of consciousness type stuff :

I consider myself a good and consistent hand filer. I use a guide and really try to be consistent. The grinder shows the truth however. It showed slight differences in cutter length, cutter angle and gullet depth. Nothing crazy but there were noticeable issues.

The best thing to me regarding grinding is the consistency cutter to cutter. Angle, depth of the gullet and length are simply the same.

Since I religiously take the bar and chain off to clean out debris, it really isn’t more time to grind vs. hand filing.

A small adjustment in chain stop can mean a lot of relative material removal. I had to make myself do tiny movements to not waste cutter length.

————————

Some pictures

This is the junk chain, this was a rocked tooth turned into a cutting tooth again.

View attachment 480078

View attachment 480079




This shows a .325 cutter, hook shape and top. I compared to new Stihl RS chain and the hook profile was virtually identical.

View attachment 480080

View attachment 480081



This is a 3/8 .050 28” chain that has been well used and sharpened several times. I cleaned it up with the grinder and put all of the little cutter differences right. I then had filed the depth gauges. I compared to new RS and the profile is again, virtually identical.


View attachment 480082

Looks good! Could maybe have a little more hook but it depends on what your cutting.

 

[Woodtroll]

Today was the day. I set it to 55° and used 30° for the top plate. I left the vise untilted.

First I like the CBN wheel. It imparts zero perceptible heat into the cutter and seems really efficient.

I took a junk chain that doesn’t fit any saw here and used it as my learning sacrificial lamb. It was in a box of chains from my FIL’s stuff. .325 /.050 for a 20” bar. I fiddled with the depth stop and chain stop some to get a feel and it wasn’t long before I had the hang of it.

I didn’t notice much difference in left or right cutters as far as burrs or anything. There is a difference switching sides as it relates to cutter length. I know there is an adjustment to make it even and I will play with it later. For now I backed off of the chain stop and snuck up on the right length to match the other side.

I then got down my 261 and took the chain off to have a go at it for real. I had cut a few small trees and remembered just kissing the ground toward the end.

Some thoughts, stream of consciousness type stuff :

I consider myself a good and consistent hand filer. I use a guide and really try to be consistent. The grinder shows the truth however. It showed slight differences in cutter length, cutter angle and gullet depth. Nothing crazy but there were noticeable issues.

The best thing to me regarding grinding is the consistency cutter to cutter. Angle, depth of the gullet and length are simply the same.

Since I religiously take the bar and chain off to clean out debris, it really isn’t more time to grind vs. hand filing.

A small adjustment in chain stop can mean a lot of relative material removal. I had to make myself do tiny movements to not waste cutter length.

————————

Some pictures

This is the junk chain, this was a rocked tooth turned into a cutting tooth again.

View attachment 480078

View attachment 480079




This shows a .325 cutter, hook shape and top. I compared to new Stihl RS chain and the hook profile was virtually identical.

View attachment 480080

View attachment 480081



This is a 3/8 .050 28” chain that has been well used and sharpened several times. I cleaned it up with the grinder and put all of the little cutter differences right. I then had filed the depth gauges. I compared to new RS and the profile is again, virtually identical.


View attachment 480082

Looks like you're getting the hang of it!

 

[Lawless]

Looks good! Could maybe have a little more hook but it depends on what your cutting.

Say I changed the tilt to 50° and created slightly more hook. What does this mean in use? Faster but less durable?

I like new RS and the 55° seems to match it perfectly.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

Say I changed the tilt to 50° and created slightly more hook. What does this mean in use? Faster but less durable?

Yes it would cut faster and go dull quicker. But for general all purpose that's probably perfect.