Northern Equipment Chain Sharpener

clr8ter · May 15, 2012

So I have the NE chain sharpener. It cost me $104 on sale, and already has paid for itself. But, I'm looking to get more out of it.

1. One of the main things that bothers me is that it tends to blue the tips of the cutters. I know this is not good, and I'm wondering how everybody else deals with it. Seems like if you sprayed it with a coolant as you did it, it'd make an awful mess, and slow you way down.

2, Rakers: I have never filed them down.......chain seems to cut fast when sharp, even though the cutters are very near the end of their life. Should I file the rakers? I notice that there is about a .010-.015" gap between the top of the teeth and the top of the rakers.....

3. Cutter Length: Admittedly, I have not measured them, but after some sharpenings, the LH & RH teeth seem to be of different lengths. I have this machine set to only sharpen the chains my one saw uses, I just move the table L to R to get both sides of the chain. all the adjustments are tight when I do it, and I gauge off of the back of the cutter directly.......

For those of you that sharpen using this machine, what kind of longevity are you getting from your chains? I have gone thru maybe 2 already, and I'm getting ready to toss another 2 soon. In 2 1/2 years and around 15 +- cords......

PA Fire Bug · May 15, 2012

I have the same sharpener and noticed discoloring of the cutters and one side shorter than the other.

1. I don't have an answer for the discoloring other than using several touches with the ginding wheel rather than one long one. I haven't had any problems with the metal getting too hard to sharpen. Cleaning the chain before sharpening seems to help.

2. I use a flat file on the rakers. I'm not good at measuring so I give them a little work every time I sharpen the cutters.

3. I just noticed the difference in cutter length a few weeks ago. I'm going to try sharpening the longer cutters first and take less off of the shorter side until things even out. I didn't want to waste good chain by grinding the longer cutters down all at once.

I don't know how much wood that I've cut with my chains. The sharpener has paid for itself based on number of times used but having a sharp chain any time I need one is worth even more.

clr8ter · May 16, 2012

PA Firebug - actually, when tool steel blues, that means it's loosing it's temper. Meaning it is not as hard now, meaning it won't hold an edge as long......

Very odd how you noticed the cutters getting to be different lengths, too. I don't understand, the stop is shoved directly up to the back of the cutter. There must be some variable in switching from left to right that we're not noticing......

Anyone else that knows more than us?

MasterMech · May 17, 2012

Keeping the grinding wheel clean and properly dressed will help with the discoloring. You do have a dressing stone right?

Short quick zaps are the way to go rather than a continuous grind.

As for the differing cutter lengths, I have seen that problem from time to time. It's caused by the turn table of the grinder not being exactly centered under the wheel. The more expensive the grinder (usually), the less I see this. I've used the Northern grinder and it is a good unit, but you do have to pay attention to the small details to get a perfect grind.

blades · May 17, 2012

Unless the sharpener has the ability to center the axis of the grinding wheel over the center of the tooth being ground it will be off a bit. Have not seen a current unit that does not do this. There is one unit out where the clamping assembly is adjustable front to back to compensate. Pricy. Not a big deal just have adjust for it. Get a cheap set of calipers to measure the first side done then reset for the other. Only takes a couple minutes. If you are discoloring the teeth when grinding use very short duration taps and not all the way down at once but use a series of taps to get there. Better to go around twice than trying to hog off a badly dulled chain. Some of this is also dependent on the wheel. Oregons are ok, MoleMabs are a bit hard, Firestorms are nice. These are all vitrified wheels. Resinoid wheels are also available which are softer and reduce the over heating but they do not last as long. You must dress the wheel to expose fresh grains and remove loading.

swagler85 · May 17, 2012

blades said:
Unless the sharpener has the ability to center the axis of the grinding wheel over the center of the tooth being ground it will be off a bit. Have not seen a current unit that does not do this. There is one unit out where the clamping assembly is adjustable front to back to compensate. Pricy. Not a big deal just have adjust for it. Get a cheap set of calipers to measure the first side done then reset for the other. Only takes a couple minutes. If you are discoloring the teeth when grinding use very short duration taps and not all the way down at once but use a series of taps to get there. Better to go around twice than trying to hog off a badly dulled chain. Some of this is also dependent on the wheel. Oregons are ok, MoleMabs are a bit hard, Firestorms are nice. These are all vitrified wheels. Resinoid wheels are also available which are softer and reduce the over heating but they do not last as long. You must dress the wheel to expose fresh grains and remove loading.

What is dressing a wheel and how does one go about dressing a wheel?
Was thinking of getting a grinder, so any recomendations?

smokinj · May 17, 2012

swagler85 said:
What is dressing a wheel and how does one go about dressing a wheel?
Was thinking of getting a grinder, so any recomendations?

Its just a tube and push it onto the wheel as its running.

MasterMech · May 17, 2012

Dressing a wheel is like rubbing a pencil eraser on scrap paper to avoid smudging. Usually accomplished via a diamond tipped tool (to achieve a certain shape) or a dressing stone.

Jags · May 18, 2012

MasterMech said:
Dressing a wheel is like rubbing a pencil eraser on scrap paper to avoid smudging. Usually accomplished via a diamond tipped tool (to achieve a certain shape) or a dressing stone.

Also a chunk of old grinding stone will work if you have a discarded one. If you are bluing the tip your taking too big of a bite. I set my grinder to barely zing the edge of the cutter. I have chains that I have machine ground at least 12 times and still have LOTS of meat on them. Remember, its just the cutting edge getting dull. It shouldn't take more than a few thousandths to correct that (unless you rocked the chain or found a hunk of steel).

Edit: if you are sharpening a really dull chain, you waited to long.

clr8ter · May 19, 2012

Ahhhh! Now these are some good suggestions. As a matter of fact, the machine came with a dressing stone. It didn't dawn on me this could be part of the problem. I asked the guy at the saw shop about it today, and he said to dress the wheel, and turn it around, too. I generally don't wait too long before sharpening, since I have this machine, so I try to take off as little as possible, although the adjustment makes it hard to take off enough, but not too much..... As far as the thing to being centered when you turn it, I never would have guessed. I had already come to the conclusion that maybe measuring the teeth and compensating might be the way to go.

Thanks for the info, everybody. Any further comments on the rakers?

oilstinks · May 20, 2012

Grandburg cool or kool(cant remember) works pretty good for me. My grinder does the same with tooth length so i adjust length when changing sides upper end grinders probably dont do that but mine is great for the price. I hit my teeth with taps instead of just grinding away at them. I sometimes put my finger on the back of the tooth to feel for heat. arboristsite as a extremely great write up on this machine full of info. www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/39995-27.htm Be prepared for heavy reading. 54pgs i think

oilstinks · May 20, 2012

Sorry that link puts you on page 27 of thread

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