Chain sharpener

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Backwoods Savage

Backwoods Savage

Minister of Fire
Feb 14, 2007
27,811
Michigan
For those who want to sharpen their chain saws the quick and easy way, here is one deal I've found @ Northern Tool:

Saw chain sharpener

For many, many moons I sharpened my chains by hand and did very well....until my hands no longer could take it. Now this is the one I use and it works well so long as you are careful. Just keep the angle right and don't leave it grinding very long else it will get too hot and we all know what that can do.

This one also clips right onto the battery. I always take mine to the woods with me so any time the chain needs touching up, I just clip it onto the atv battery for power. Much better than taking it to the barn to sharpen it or taking it to have someone else do it for you.
 
I think i might have to put that on my x mas list. I use a dremel with the proper grinder bit for my saw. It doesn't have any guides but works just fine for me. I also use a power inverter and plug it into the truck when I'm out cutting.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
For those who want to sharpen their chain saws the quick and easy way, here is one deal I've found @ Northern Tool:

Saw chain sharpener

For many, many moons I sharpened my chains by hand and did very well....until my hands no longer could take it. Now this is the one I use and it works well so long as you are careful. Just keep the angle right and don't leave it grinding very long else it will get too hot and we all know what that can do.

This one also clips right onto the battery. I always take mine to the woods with me so any time the chain needs touching up, I just clip it onto the atv battery for power. Much better than taking it to the barn to sharpen it or taking it to have someone else do it for you.
Click to expand...

About 25 yrs ago I saw what may be the exact same tool (labeled as from Oregon) in a catalog.
Thought it might be a useful adjunct/replacement for the Granberg file-guide I'd been using for ~10 yrs.
Still have it, in the collection of "nice ideas that didn't make it." The "points" (stones) gradually become smaller in diameter unless you regularly apply lots of wax to them. And it was really slow.
Meanwhile, I'm still using the same guide from Granberg, and it still works great. Cutters are like razors.
 
CTYank, I don't know what you have but it must be a lot different than what we have today. I'd have still been fighting the file with my bad hands if it weren't for a neighbor using one. I happened to go into his woods one day when he was cutting and when I reached him he was sharpening with the dremel. I watched and then checked the chain. The next day I bought one and have been happy ever since. The stones are not that expensive either, so the time it saves and the ease in sharpening while still doing a good job is good enough for me.

btw, the one I have does have a bar with a guide line that you can line up if you wish to use it.
 
Great. Thanks a lot. I just ordered one from Bailey's for $20.

(Actually, I had a gift certificate I had to use by next Wednesday, so it's ok.)
 
Sorry about the problems with your hands Dennis. Have you tried the PFERD ?

For the same cost you can get a PFERD sharpener that needs no power. The handle is large, easy to hold and sharpen, the tool is now even easier to manage, and
the raker is also done with every stroke.

Husky uses the PFERD tool under its own label. You use a chainsaw, you need to know hand sharpening.

The tool is simple, follow the witness line on top of the chain. The PFERD comes in sizes to fit any chain gauge. With a stump vise, ~ $10. , any chain
can be touched up, rock dings corrected, or dirt grinds sharpened fast and easy IN THE WOODS away from 12v power.

No, boys and girls, I have no investment in the company .
 
I had the same sharpener for 10 years. It worked well until a screw on the inside came loose and jammed the rotor. I got another one made by a different manufacturer from my stihl store. These things work great though and I would never use any thing else.

I like not having to take the chain off to sharpen.
 
Not to derail this thread . . . but this has a tie in . . . I have tried hand filing . . . have watched many videos . . . have had folks show me first hand how to file . . . and it sometimes seems as though I've got it down pat . . . until I inevitably throw a chain on that is so dull that I could probably take a butter knife and cut through some of the wood.

Now I know hand filing is best . . . and cheap . . . and very good. But what would be the second best filing method for someone like me who is a complete filing idiot . . . I need something that may not deliver the best sharpening . . . but something that will be better than what I'm doing . . . and please don't tell me to keep practicing with someone guiding me.
 
firefighterjake said:
Not to derail this thread . . . but this has a tie in . . . I have tried hand filing . . . have watched many videos . . . have had folks show me first hand how to file . . . and it sometimes seems as though I've got it down pat . . . until I inevitably throw a chain on that is so dull that I could probably take a butter knife and cut through some of the wood.

Now I know hand filing is best . . . and cheap . . . and very good. But what would be the second best filing method for someone like me who is a complete filing idiot . . . I need something that may not deliver the best sharpening . . . but something that will be better than what I'm doing . . . and please don't tell me to keep practicing with someone guiding me.
Click to expand...

How do you learn anything Jake: practice.
Get the PFERD (or at least look at it in action at one of the 2 saw dealers in Bangor). It makes hand sharpening professional without any skill.
Look carefully at the witness line on the top of every chain. Then with the right tool, follow that line in one direction to do the tooth. Never bear down, gentle pressure for the files to do the job.
Make every tooth the same length by counting strokes. At first you may want a micrometer to measure the tooth length....but it's not that vital.
Get magnifying spectacles to see the edge: if light shows, it needs more sharpening.
And just concentrate on the one important angle on the chain....nothing else. No one can guide you, just do it.
Both Stihl and Husqvarna and Oregon have excellent guides and diagrams for sharpening.

To practice do what we do with new users in the field: take a older chain near the end of its life. Use any good guide (we like PFERD as you can tell), then go to it.

If you qualified for firefighter, hand sharpening is a cinch compared to that. Think about the hours of training you had to pass.
 
fjord said:
Sorry about the problems with your hands Dennis. Have you tried the PFERD ?

For the same cost you can get a PFERD sharpener that needs no power. The handle is large, easy to hold and sharpen, the tool is now even easier to manage, and
the raker is also done with every stroke.

Husky uses the PFERD tool under its own label. You use a chainsaw, you need to know hand sharpening.

The tool is simple, follow the witness line on top of the chain. The PFERD comes in sizes to fit any chain gauge. With a stump vise, ~ $10. , any chain
can be touched up, rock dings corrected, or dirt grinds sharpened fast and easy IN THE WOODS away from 12v power.

No, boys and girls, I have no investment in the company .
Click to expand...

fjord, I have tried similar products and they do work well but the hands are just shot and they hurt too much for me to go back to that method. But I agree for others it will be nice.

btw, I do know well how to hand sharpen and did it for many, many moons. I also learned without any guides except for the lessons I was given by other loggers.
 
HeatsTwice said:
I had the same sharpener for 10 years. It worked well until a screw on the inside came loose and jammed the rotor. I got another one made by a different manufacturer from my stihl store. These things work great though and I would never use any thing else.

I like not having to take the chain off to sharpen.
Click to expand...

That's strange. Almost the same thing the wife says about me! Only now I have a couple of screws loose.
 
firefighterjake said:
Not to derail this thread . . . but this has a tie in . . . I have tried hand filing . . . have watched many videos . . . have had folks show me first hand how to file . . . and it sometimes seems as though I've got it down pat . . . until I inevitably throw a chain on that is so dull that I could probably take a butter knife and cut through some of the wood.

Now I know hand filing is best . . . and cheap . . . and very good. But what would be the second best filing method for someone like me who is a complete filing idiot . . . I need something that may not deliver the best sharpening . . . but something that will be better than what I'm doing . . . and please don't tell me to keep practicing with someone guiding me.
Click to expand...


Jake, you really need to try the dremel tool. Just be sure to not put a lot of pressure on and don't grind each tooth for a long time. That will just heat up the metal and you know what that will result in. Touch and go.
 
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