For those of you that sharpen your own chains with a grinder.... Which grinder do you use? I know how to sharpen my chains with a file but it gets old and it's slow. I'm done paying someone to do it because they aren't always the same. Sometimes you get the right guy doing it and sometimes it is like it was his first day. I plan to buy a grinder, I'm just looking for suggestions. I have 4 saws that get used occasionally. I don't make a living with a saw everyday but I do some land clearing for my construction business. I have probably 20-25 chains for the 4 saws....

Thanks in advance....

I bought a chain sharpener grinder from Harbor Freight works good, faster than a hand file.

Always used a file

A friend has a 12v grinder.

I think WEN makes a little chop saw looking sharpener with a chain stop that makes quick work out of it.
But I don’t think anything is going to dress up a tooth as well as a round file does.

I've used a worn angle grinder disk.

I use these in a Dremel.

Dremel Bits

Run half skip chains, aquire a raker depth guide, keep new files on hand.

Ain't hard to make it easier.

I have an Oregon 520 bench mounted grinder. Very rarely use it unless a chain is really rocked. Much easier and faster to file on the bar, with the appropriate size file. Rakers are maintained with a gauge. Worth taking the time to touch it up when refueling.

I have burned through 2 Harbor Fright sharpeners. But for the money are worth it. I have 2 more in shop now. Once you learn to do it piece of cake. But a file in the woods will do you good. We do a lot of clearing of fence line before bulldozer comes in so cutting a lot sell it to old veterans around here. Cheap 40 $$ a truck load. Keep me out of the bar. I am retired helps keep me fit. Somewhat LOL

Another thing to consider is the cutter profile. Chisel chain cuts faster but will dull faster in dirty wood or by inexperienced operators. Semi chisel will cut a little slower but will not dull quite as quickly. Lot of guys used it for bucking on the landing

I have been using a Harbor Freight sharpener for a couple decades at least....works good and fast correct angle and will only take off the amount of metal that you set the depth gauge at....
It has payed for it self many times over.... heat both my houses with wood .....

After so many years with a hand file, I like the dremel. Good compromise for me, quicker than a hand file, and with the battery powered dremel, on site sharpening. Especially if I hit a rock or something and it takes a while to hand file out. Honestly I don’t want to make room for a bench top grinder I wouldn’t use that much.

Same here.

Dad gave up on the wood cutting a decade ago and gave me his ancient Oregon bench chain grinder. I only use it to straighten out a really messed up chain, so I bolted a hunk of 2x4 to the bottom of it and clamp that 2x4 in my bench vise when I need to use it. Works great. Most of the time it lives in a box under the bench.

Same here have mine mounted on a 2x6 use c-clamps to mount on table.

Since I only run a chain saw occasionally and only then fir fire wood, I still use the old round (rattail?) file in a guide.
I still find a sense of satisfaction in taking a chain from dull to sharp. Not only that, it also gives me a 20 to 30 minute rest period!
If time was money, I'd probably have some sort of battery operated, transportable outfit.

If you keep your chain out of the dirt you'll need a break by the time the chain is dull so it's nice to stop, drink some water, file the chain, and grab a snack. There's only 33 teeth on a 28" bar so it takes longer to disassemble the saw, remove the chain, clamp it in a chopsaw, sharpen them, and then reassemble the saw than it does to just sharpen them as God intended, on the saw.

Now if you are running commercially, swap the chain out with a sharp one and keep rolling then sharpen all the dull ones when you get home at night. That's a time saver.

As for the rakers, I just touch them with a Milwaukie 4" grinder to knock the tops off and rock on. Nothing scientific about it.

I use an old Foley-Belsaw model 308. Not sure how old it is, I got it around 45 years ago.

I'm not commercial but have extra chains for my saws, swap dull for sharp. When I feel like it sharpen the dull ones.

these seem faster than just a file, don't know why/how that would be, but they do seem faster.

if you just want to go through a pile of chains in the garage on a Sat afternoon, probably HF grinder would get you what you need

I have a Carlton Profi 110 set up for 3/8 chain and a Foley 308 set up for .325 chain. I have a number of chains for each saw and simply replace them when they start to dull. Spend an evening sharpening 3 or 4 chains at a time.

I've had a guide for years only used it for wonky filing for ripping with a chain saw mill. But for everything else I don't find 5 minutes to do it by hand a hardship and quicker than screwing around with some kind of device

LazyL + 1 , not workin hard but also donate wood. But I have a cold one in the woods while stroking the file

I have 5-6 chains in a bucket right now as I have not found a way to effectively sharpen them, just bought another new one. If I use one for several days around home (we have a heavily wooded lot) they get pretty dull and I keep them out of the dirt. Whenever I know I'm going to have a big job to do I always buy a new chain. I really need to sharpen the ones on the bucket when I figure the best way, never any luck with a hand file.

If you think an electric grinder is faster you're fooling yourself.

File and guide plus raker set keep me in tune. Only time I think a grinder would help is when I hit steel on one side of the chain.
Have seen friends grind half the chain away in one sharpening using a grinder.

try one of these ( get the right size for your chain)

you will be happy

The shop I used to take mine to had an electric set up made by Stihl. He was very good with it. Always wanted one of those but never bought one.

Will check that out!

If you want the best......

Get a Silvey or Simington square grinder.

Hot knife thru butter sharp.

Yep, ya gotta make sure "the blade" is level.

yes I'm kind of a fan of change sharpening gizmos..
I do have a bench mounted chain sharpening grinder. I've used it a fair bit it works. I know my weakness I try to do too much too fast and get the chain hot and then lose the temper on the tooth and then pretty much make junk out of the chain cuz it will not hold an edge.
I can sharpen one by hand pretty decent but not the greatest.
is your I do really like my grand granberg jig that mounts on the bar I can actually get chains sharper than factory with a little patience it's not very fast but it's very effective.
a good happy medium is the steel 3-in-1 file like you were shown above. I've learned to deal with it and do it in the timber or on a workbench and come out with good results. the easiest way is to put your sawbar in a vice and use two hands on the file assembly works the best in the easiest.

I use a file, DIY, and take at least 3 spares to the woods. Last time I had the local shop do one, a chain with about 1 hour of use on it came back with about 50+% of each tooth ground down. Don't think the kid took the time to do a proper setup.

Back when I looked at them, the Oregon Professional would have been my choice.

Dad gave me a Harbor Freight he picked up somewhere.

It worked, but seemed like a bunch of fiddling around.
Didn't give it a fair shake probably, but by the time I take a chain off, put one on,
sharpen the first and put it back on? It only takes a few minutes on a log or tailgate to sharpen a 24" bar and be done with it.


Plus I don't waste chain.
Rock three teeth?
Fix them, set the rakers, touch up the others and roll.
No need to grind off a quarter of every tooth just because a couple hit a stone.




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They are lining up to tell me this is wrong.



IdHolton,
Dad has used the Granberg file n joint for 40 years.
Just saw it tonight on his bench.
It's slow and fidgety compared to hand filing, but it does an outstanding job.
It's also the best thing for a new saw guy.
Using it for awhile teaches much of what's needed for hand filing.

DREMEL here with chainsaw blade attachment.

5 min to hit all the teeth and also touch the rakers. It will then blow chunks of wood versus sawdust out of my 4 commercial saws from 14” up to my 460 magnum w/ 25” or 28”

Battery powered dremel so I can sharpen in the woods.

Cheap, fast, convenient, small and very effective. What is not to like about it?

I’m not taking chains off to sharpen, not giving up bench space for a large sharpener, not taking time to hand sharpen. I don’t even know where all my files are anymore…..I reckon they are out there somewhere in the pile of unused / retired

Again, cheap, fast, convenient, small and very effective. What is not to like about that? Whatever suits you but I’ll never again use anything but the Dremel

I hav a nice foley grinder I never use
I always file my chains
It’s way faster