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

[Woodtroll]

Someone on here (I think...) was talking about a cooling fluid for CBN grinding wheels that a chain sharpening business had developed, that helped with the grinding process and with wheel durability. I contacted the company and he said it would be available for sale after the first of the year, but now I don't remember the details. Does anyone here use a dressing for CBN wheels?

 

[Philbert]

There are hard, white, ‘cleaning sticks’ supplied with some CBN wheels, or available from machine tool suppliers.

Here is one example:



Philbert

 

[Lawless]

My understanding was to flip the wheel periodically to keep it “clean” but

 

[Woodtroll]

There are hard, white, ‘cleaning sticks’ supplied with some CBN wheels, or available from machine tool suppliers.

Here is one example:

View attachment 479985

Philbert

Thanks! I have one of those. I finally figured out the post I was remembering was on AS; it was a fluid applied to the wheel periodically that was supposed to make it cut cooler and cleaner. I contacted the vendor twice about it, and the scond time he never replied, so I figured he must not be interested in selling it. Probably don't need it anyway.

 

[Woodtroll]

My understanding was to flip the wheel periodically to keep it “clean” but

Yep, I do that. Makes sense (to me anyway) that it would help.

 

[Duane(Pa)]

I clean my chains before grinding. Sometimes mineral spirits, sometimes Dawn Powerwash. I still get black funk on blue wheel, and teeth start to get HOT.
I can’t imagine what production or even saw shop grinder wheels must look like.

 

[Philbert]

I can’t imagine what production or even saw shop grinder wheels must look like

The Razzorsharp guy cleans chains before he runs then through his Franzen grinders. I don’t believe that most small shops do.

Lots of comments in the threads about guys blasting gunk out of their CBN wheels with brake cleaner.

I clean chains before grinding with my regular / vitrified wheels, unless they are pretty clean to start with.

Philbert

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

I clean my chains before grinding. Sometimes mineral spirits, sometimes Dawn Powerwash. I still get black funk on blue wheel, amd teeth start to get HOT.
I can’t imagine what production or even saw shop grinder wheels must look like.

Our local shop uses on of those franzen grinders and just uses a coarse stens wheel and just use the dressing brick on it once a chain.

 

[Junk Meister]

Our local shop uses on of those franzen grinders and just uses a coarse stens wheel and just use the dressing brick on it once a chain.

Do they clean the chain before sharpening? If so do you know how. Not a big Question just curious as to how much of an issue oil makes for plugging wheel pores. On the sawmill head saw (circle) we cut cottonwood for pallet and used the white wheels lasted longer and CW never left sap on the teeth The neighbor mill cut walnut Oak and Hackberry and used the softer Ruby wheels as they were more sacrificial so they didn't burn and plug. @Philbert has posted that he cleans his as needed then Baggies them with a bit of lube after sharpening. I will find out when I start sharpening with CBN wheels but am curious til the hands on lets me know what I am doing wrong.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

Do they clean the chain before sharpening? If so do you know how. Not a big Question just curious as to how much of an issue oil makes for plugging wheel pores. On the sawmill head saw (circle) we cut cottonwood for pallet and used the white wheels lasted longer and CW never left sap on the teeth The neighbor mill cut walnut Oak and Hackberry and used the softer Ruby wheels as they were more sacrificial so they didn't burn and plug. @Philbert has posted that he cleans his as needed then Baggies them with a bit of lube after sharpening. I will find out when I start sharpening with CBN wheels but am curious til the hands on lets me know what I am doing wrong.

They don't clean. It's pretty well always running as tree companies will bring in crates of chain from Saint Louis.

 

[Junk Meister]

I can understand the time factor Thank you for the fast reply. It helped clear a bit of the concerns in my noggin.

 

[huskihl]

I use CBN and the green Tecomec wheels. I go a little bit against the grain I guess, as I have never cleaned a chain before I sharpen it. I know from grinding aluminum that when my burs and stones load up, I dip them in oil and it instantly releases whatever is plugging them. One day I was sharpening with the CBN and noticed it was cutting slow either from hard chain or I thought maybe it was plugging up. I did the opposite of what everyone says and sprayed some penetrating lube on the cutting surface. It instantly started cutting better. Haven’t tried it with the green wheels

 

[Junk Meister]

I use CBN and the green Tecomec wheels. I go a little bit against the grain I guess, as I have never cleaned a chain before I sharpen it. I know from grinding aluminum that when my burs and stones load up, I dip them in oil and it instantly releases whatever is plugging them. One day I was sharpening with the CBN and noticed it was cutting slow either from hard chain or I thought maybe it was plugging up. I did the opposite of what everyone says and sprayed some penetrating lube on the cutting surface. It instantly started cutting better. Haven’t tried it with the green wheels

Just a bit of candle wax on a sanding belt helps keep belt clean before doing Aluminum.
I "REALLY" appreciate your tid bit of info and I will bet I am not the only one to learn this today. Thanks.
EDIT

Should have mentioned Grinding wheels as well.

 

[huskihl]

Just a bit of candle wax on a sanding belt helps keep belt clean before doing Aluminum.

Yep I would believe so. A fella in one of the Facebook groups sent me some grinding wax. Does about the same job as oil, but it’s a bunch cleaner. When I’m sanding I still use oil because I want the surface to remain wet for keeping the sandpaper clean

 

[Philbert]

I did the opposite of what everyone says and sprayed some penetrating lube on the cutting surface. It instantly started cutting better. Haven’t tried it with the green wheels

I don’t know what chemicals might degrade vitrified grinding wherls, so, I encourage caution.

Dressing these wheels exposes fresh, sharp, abrasive.

Just a bit of candle wax on a sanding belt helps keep belt clean before doing Aluminum.

‘Kool-Grind’ is a wax crayon sold for this purpose on grinding wheels.

I tried it a long time ago, and did not notice a significant difference, however, I try not to run really grungy chains through my grinder.

Philbert

 

[Khntr85]

I like my CBN wheel, but it did take a different head angle than the stone wheel I had hand-profiled to get the tooth hook shape I like. I got a cheaper one, because I didn't know if I'd even like it or not, and I didn't realize when I ordered that it was made of steel instead of aluminum. If I ever have to buy again I'll make sure to get an aluminum wheel - I can just imagine the start capacitor on my grinder groaning trying to get that thing up to speed. LOL. It does well once going though, and luckily my hinge spring is strong enough to keep it raised.

Did you move the head tilt or other angles to try and get the cutter profile you want??

 

[huskihl]

I don’t know what chemicals might degrade vitrified grinding wherls, so, I encourage caution.

Yep I wouldn’t try it on the green wheels. Easy enough to re profile the edge to expose new grit

 

[Woodtroll]

Did you move the head tilt or other angles to try and get the cutter profile you want??

Yes, I just increased the angle a little more to keep the rounded edge doing the cutting, to simulate the shape you get when you round file. My machine scale says it's 55 degrees, but I don't know if that's accurate or not (it's a Vevor grinder that I went through and tightened up). I usually either hand file or use my Timberline sharpener when I'm doing cutter teeth, and the profile left by the grinder is now extremely close to what I get from those two methods. At 60 degrees with the CBN wheel, to get deep enough into the cut I was starting to catch the flat side surface of the wheel, and my profile would look a little like a square ground chain (just at the top of the tooth).

I never saw enough advantage in the 10 degree downward offset some chains call for to make it worth fooling with, so I always leave my clamp table flat at 0 degrees. If I was racing, the slight radius change might be worthwhile, I don't know. I always use a 30 degree cross angle because I'm almost always cutting some pine mixed in with various hardwoods.

I seldom drag out my grinder, but I've been using it a lot here lately with a diamond wheel because I've been using carbide-toothed chains to cut old pine stumps out of some pasture fields. The teeth hold up well, but the combination of pitch-impregnated wood, dry dusty rotted wood, and dirt play hob on the rest of the chain and the bar. Dries the oil right up. I hand-oil before every cut with a small squeeze bottle but one chain has already "stretched" so much that I'm almost out of adjustment on the tensioner. I'm thinking I may be able to use it on a 72-DL bar now (it's a 70-DL chain) but I haven't tried it yet.

I have another grinder I use much more often - it's set up just for grinding depth gauges, and I use a regular stone wheel that I've profiled to leave a rounded/sloped profile on the forward edge of the gauge tooth. Once I figure out what I'm after on the depth and get my settings right, the grinder makes it simple and easy to keep every tooth the same, much more consistent than multiple strokes of different angles from a hand file, especially on chains with double gauge teeth like the Oregon LPX chain.

I hope this makes sense and answers your question (and then some - LOL).

 

[huskihl]

Yes, I just increased the angle a little more to keep the rounded edge doing the cutting, to simulate the shape you get when you round file. My machine scale says it's 55 degrees, but I don't know if that's accurate or not (it's a Vevor grinder that I went through and tightened up). I usually either hand file or use my Timberline sharpener when I'm doing cutter teeth, and the profile left by the grinder is now extremely close to what I get from those two methods. At 60 degrees with the CBN wheel, to get deep enough into the cut I was starting to catch the flat side surface of the wheel, and my profile would look a little like a square ground chain (just at the top of the tooth).

I never saw enough advantage in the 10 degree downward offset some chains call for to make it worth fooling with, so I always leave my clamp table flat at 0 degrees. If I was racing, the slight radius change might be worthwhile, I don't know. I always use a 30 degree cross angle because I'm almost always cutting some pine mixed in with various hardwoods.

I seldom drag out my grinder, but I've been using it a lot here lately with a diamond wheel because I've been using carbide-toothed chains to cut old pine stumps out of some pasture fields. The teeth hold up well, but the combination of pitch-impregnated wood, dry dusty rotted wood, and dirt play hob on the rest of the chain and the bar. Dries the oil right up. I hand-oil before every cut with a small squeeze bottle but one chain has already "stretched" so much that I'm almost out of adjustment on the tensioner. I'm thinking I may be able to use it on a 72-DL bar now (it's a 70-DL chain) but I haven't tried it yet.

I have another grinder I use much more often - it's set up just for grinding depth gauges, and I use a regular stone wheel that I've profiled to leave a rounded/sloped profile on the forward edge of the gauge tooth. Once I figure out what I'm after on the depth and get my settings right, the grinder makes it simple and easy to keep every tooth the same, much more consistent than multiple strokes of different angles from a hand file, especially on chains with double gauge teeth like the Oregon LPX chain.

I hope this makes sense and answers your question (and then some - LOL).

I know it’s been mentioned a few times in this thread already, but it’s hard to catch up on it all and it’s worth repeating.
Grind with the radius portion on the edge of the wheel, not with the side of the wheel. You want to leave a C shape, not a J shape. And if you only grind with the radius portion of the wheel, you are not going to get down as low as what you want, just like with a file. Every 3 sharpenings or so, back the tooth stop off and lower the grinder wheel down to remove the excess just above the tie straps. If you only grind with the round edge of the wheel, it is identical to sharpening with a round file

 

[Woodtroll]

I know it’s been mentioned a few times in this thread already, but it’s hard to catch up on it all and it’s worth repeating.
Grind with the radius portion on the edge of the wheel, not with the side of the wheel. You want to leave a C shape, not a J shape. And if you only grind with the radius portion of the wheel, you are not going to get down as low as what you want, just like with a file. Every 3 sharpenings or so, back the tooth stop off and lower the grinder wheel down to remove the excess just above the tie straps. If you only grind with the round edge of the wheel, it is identical to sharpening with a round file

Absolutely! "You got to get that gullet", as one Youtube character is fond of saying. LOL