tek9tim
Well-Known OPE Member
- Local time
- 6:26 PM
- User ID
- 16030
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 119
- Location
- Winthrop, WA
It was pretty hard to find any info on the relatively new CZ223 square grinder, so when there was some money in the work budget for a square grinder, I decided to buy one and find out myself.
First and foremost, I'm not a super experienced square grinder. For about 20 years, I've bought Oregon CJ and square filed it as long as I could keep the angles good and then started round filing. I just started square grinding in earnest about 5 years ago when I got ahold of a used Simington 451B for my home shop. I have a lot of time on that machine, and I've sharpened a few loops on a Silvey RS2. No time on any of the other Silvey grinders.
To put the bottom line at the top, the CZ223 makes fast chains and does it relatively precisely. I like grinding on it more than I like grinding my Simington.
I called T&S up and had a long chat. He's continuing to refine the machine and plans to make any updates backwards compatible. Since he was so genuine and had a good engineering mind, I don't want to put something out that's mostly small complaints without enough focus on the positive. I'm away from work, so can't make a longer video but have time to write a post so here goes with some cons and pros.
Cons-
More expensive than the Simington, but considering the features, adjustability, and build quality, it's not bad.
Chain grabber doesn't keep the tooth from climbing the wheel. And if you squeeze hard on the chain grabber to keep the tooth in place, it pushes the guide rail and changes how the cutter meets the corner of the wheel. They're working on a fix.
Taking the chain on and off the machine isn't as easy as on the Simington or RS2. I'm used to pulling the chain off to check my corner as I'm dialing in the settings. Turns out it's pretty easy to flip the pawl up and roll the chain back so you can look at it. That way, you don't ever need to take the chain off the grinder until you're done. Works great, in the end not a problem that it's kind of weird to put the chain on the grinder.
The dressers could use some refining, and he's working on a complete change there. In the end, they're fine the way they are, but could be better. His plan is better than I would have asked for.
The direction switch is mounted vertically, and I'd rather have it horizontal so you pull it toward the side you're working on. I'll rotate mine so it's like the Silvey and Simington.
My motor needs to be shimmed to make left and right come out the same without adjustments, but that's the same as any grinder that has the possibility of directly duplicating the grind from right to left.
The carriage has a little bit of flex in it front to back when you're over on the right side of the wheel. The stop is over on the left side, so you can push it a little past pretty easily if you aren't careful. It's actually easy to just push the carriage forward by the stop over on the left side when you're grinding the right side.
Pros-
Very precise and smooth movement. It's genuinely pleasant to run, and takes very gentle movement to push the cutter into the wheel.
Holds the corner on the wheel a lot longer than the Simington.
The variable speed is really nice, I didn't know I wanted that feature. As I've gotten more comfortable with the grinder, I don't need to pulse the tooth into the wheel, first grinder I've used that I could manage the heat well enough to do a slow steady feed.
Range of adjustability is huge and can be tuned finely. That's a bit of a con at first when trying to get started. Once you get in the neighborhood, it's easy to make small adjustments and get it just how you want it. You can precisely raise and lower the carriage, which is really nice for maintaining angles as the tooth wears down or for grinding .325 or 3/8LP chain - which it works great on. It's easy to make marks on the height so you can return to past settings. It would also make it easy to change side plate angle a little if you were running a CBN wheel.
Having a dust port is really nice, especially when dressing the wheel.
Here's a real quick video of grinding some Picco-
Fire away with any questions!
First and foremost, I'm not a super experienced square grinder. For about 20 years, I've bought Oregon CJ and square filed it as long as I could keep the angles good and then started round filing. I just started square grinding in earnest about 5 years ago when I got ahold of a used Simington 451B for my home shop. I have a lot of time on that machine, and I've sharpened a few loops on a Silvey RS2. No time on any of the other Silvey grinders.
To put the bottom line at the top, the CZ223 makes fast chains and does it relatively precisely. I like grinding on it more than I like grinding my Simington.
I called T&S up and had a long chat. He's continuing to refine the machine and plans to make any updates backwards compatible. Since he was so genuine and had a good engineering mind, I don't want to put something out that's mostly small complaints without enough focus on the positive. I'm away from work, so can't make a longer video but have time to write a post so here goes with some cons and pros.
Cons-
More expensive than the Simington, but considering the features, adjustability, and build quality, it's not bad.
Chain grabber doesn't keep the tooth from climbing the wheel. And if you squeeze hard on the chain grabber to keep the tooth in place, it pushes the guide rail and changes how the cutter meets the corner of the wheel. They're working on a fix.
Taking the chain on and off the machine isn't as easy as on the Simington or RS2. I'm used to pulling the chain off to check my corner as I'm dialing in the settings. Turns out it's pretty easy to flip the pawl up and roll the chain back so you can look at it. That way, you don't ever need to take the chain off the grinder until you're done. Works great, in the end not a problem that it's kind of weird to put the chain on the grinder.
The dressers could use some refining, and he's working on a complete change there. In the end, they're fine the way they are, but could be better. His plan is better than I would have asked for.
The direction switch is mounted vertically, and I'd rather have it horizontal so you pull it toward the side you're working on. I'll rotate mine so it's like the Silvey and Simington.
My motor needs to be shimmed to make left and right come out the same without adjustments, but that's the same as any grinder that has the possibility of directly duplicating the grind from right to left.
The carriage has a little bit of flex in it front to back when you're over on the right side of the wheel. The stop is over on the left side, so you can push it a little past pretty easily if you aren't careful. It's actually easy to just push the carriage forward by the stop over on the left side when you're grinding the right side.
Pros-
Very precise and smooth movement. It's genuinely pleasant to run, and takes very gentle movement to push the cutter into the wheel.
Holds the corner on the wheel a lot longer than the Simington.
The variable speed is really nice, I didn't know I wanted that feature. As I've gotten more comfortable with the grinder, I don't need to pulse the tooth into the wheel, first grinder I've used that I could manage the heat well enough to do a slow steady feed.
Range of adjustability is huge and can be tuned finely. That's a bit of a con at first when trying to get started. Once you get in the neighborhood, it's easy to make small adjustments and get it just how you want it. You can precisely raise and lower the carriage, which is really nice for maintaining angles as the tooth wears down or for grinding .325 or 3/8LP chain - which it works great on. It's easy to make marks on the height so you can return to past settings. It would also make it easy to change side plate angle a little if you were running a CBN wheel.
Having a dust port is really nice, especially when dressing the wheel.
Here's a real quick video of grinding some Picco-
Fire away with any questions!
