Grinding angles

So, I been playin with my new electric sharpener. It occured to me I could make a few extra bucks sharpening chains for some local guys around here. The problem I can see with that is all the different chains and the angles they require. Is there a place in the web a guy could download the specs for chains without have'n to go to each chain mfg.'s website? Kinda a one stop referance guid kinda deal? Clear as mud, right?

You would have better luck printing out and laminating the spec chart from each mfg and laminating it. Hang 'em near the grinder. No such library that I'm aware of. But I'm listening if someone else knows of one.

Carlton, Stihl, Oregon - 3 sheets ought to have 99% of the chain you'll ever see covered.

Thanks, kinda what I figured too. I'm just in the thinkin stage here for now anyways. Except for the dealers around here, no one else seems to be doing it for a decent price. Local Stihl dealer is getting 12 bucks a pop to sharpen a 16" chain! He does a damned fine job of it but really????

here's a generic one that a couple of us put together over the years.

There is some time/effort in doing it right. $8 a chain ain't worth it if it's a hack job. Professionally sharpened chains (done correctly and with care) are better than new.

That said, $12 is the most I've heard yet.

12bucks a chain? holy cow. might as well buy new... the local stihl dealer whats 4 bucks a chain up to 20" and 5 bucks for 20-24.

Thanks abunch. That seems to cover quite afew more than the 1 that came with the grinder. Saved and printed as we speak.

I know. Like I said, he does a really good job. Soaks them in ammonia and cleans them all up and they look and cut like new but thats still alittle pricey. Even his kid who is in bisiness with him tells him he charges to much.

Ammonia cleans chains ?

Find a good working angle for the types of wood in your area and set it/forget it.Dense wood- smaller angle, softer woods-larger angle . Wheel sizes will be critical.
Start selling chain/bars all at .050 gauge , full comp,semi-skip, or full skip and eventually you'll weed out all the different types out there.
Less types= less hassle.
The different tooth spacing will compensate for different power saws and you'll have less inventory.
IMHO the chain companies have a huge $ making racket with all the different type chains. You can accomplish as much if not more with different filiing techniques as you can changing chain styles.

He soaks all the chains he sharpens in a can of pure ammonia for 15 to 30 minutes depending on how much crap is on them. Then he rinses them with almost boiling water. The hotter the better. Kinda like cleaning a muzzle loader. The hotter the water the quicker it evaperates.

Thats interesting....the hand file guide on my stihl chains is at 30*, while the grinder settings are at 25* ???

Can someone explain the difference?

Are you talking about White's? I've never had any done there, was wondering how good a job they did.

Yeah, we live in different worlds. 26 RSC3 - 74 links (i.e., 18" chain for the MS261) cost me $36 at the local Stihl dealer in 2011, and they want $12 a chain to sharpen it. After that bending over, I bought 5 Stihl chains on the internet for $17 a pop. Getting ready to order the Northern Tools grinder.

Ironically, the guide you posted above is the same exact guide that is in the pdf manual of the Northern Tool grinder. Was looking it over last night to see if it had all the angle settings for the chains I want to sharpen. Lucky for me, it covers my saws and my dad's saw. Read through the manual, and about the only part I do not understand is which way to put the 10 degree tilt angle on the chain. Hoping it is simple to figure out once I have the chain sitting in the grinder. I'll sharpen my dad's POS chains first to see if I have it right. lol

http://www.northerntool.com/images/downloads/manuals/193020.pdf

Page 9

Now, I just need to blow it up on the copier to 11" x 17" so I don't go blind.

This evening I took a look at the chains I need to sharpen and boy are they dirty. Thinking about putting them in the ultrasonic cleaner with some mineral spirits. I use the ultrasonic cleaner on my bicycle chains and other bike parts and it does a fine job with them. Bet the saw chains will come out sparkling.

Only question is whether to clean them before or after sharpening.

I have the northen grinder. The bed tilt will be fairly easy to see once you have everything in front of you. When doing the left hnd cutters, (farthest away from you) you want the bed tilted towards you, and the right side you want it away from you. its prolly clear as mud now, but once you have it in front of you it will be better to understand.

I always soak mine in a bucket of diesel a day or so before I sharpen them, then run the brush in the parts washer over them. then compressed air to dry them off before grinding them. it will save your stone. I also do the same thing for hand filing square chain, as a dirty chain will kill a 10 dollar file faster that a who re running out of church.

thats what he told me he charged. I hand file, but I still have a grinder to take care of the metal hit or rocked out chains. I'd never pay someone to sharpen chains, because I am just a cheap ass

That got a good laugh out of me. Thanks for that.

And thanks for the advice. I will clean the chains before I sharpen them. I'll also come back to this thread once I have the chain on the grinder so I can figure out the tilt angle.I think I understood what you wrote, but it will be a lot easier to apply it when I see it.

The price of stihl chain has almost doubled in the last 5-7 years. I used to pay 27 dollars for 2- 20" 72 DL 3/8 050 yellow RSC chains from my amish dealer back home. If I bought two, the third was 4 bucks. Needless to say I was very spoiled by the cost of chains. He's the only dealership ive ever been in that STOCKS 058 Stihl RS chain for the husky's too. I was running alot of Carlton chain the last 4-5 years as I was getting 100' reel for 150 shipped... that dried up a long time ago too..

It is indeed 30 on stihl RS. the guy I emailed all this info too years ago put this spreadsheet together and did a quick basic... he had another full length one and it ended up being like 6 pages with every chain ever made. it is more of a cross reference, as in 72LG is the same as 33RC, even though it is not, all the other angles should be correct, although oregon an carlton both use 25 degree top plates an stihl uses 30 (at least on RSC, I can't remember the RM off the top of my head)

What is the price of the northern grinder these days? there was 8-9 of us that went in on making up this chart and got to try out a new grinder for less than half of a hundred bucks for our help and info, we surrendered the rights to that info... lol.

So, for 33 RS and 26 RS, the vise angle should be 30 degrees and not 25, correct? Man, there are a lot of Stihl RS chains that are listed in the chart at 25 degrees. Maybe it is like Lees says, certain angles for certain woods. Wonder if a 25 degree angle would be better for me since I am cutting mostly oak and locust? I might have to play around with the vise angle to see if it makes a difference.

Getting ready to buy it for $119 and $14 in shipping. Have been hemming and hawing all weekend about buying it over the twice as expensive Oregon 511, but if you have been using it, that is good enough for me. You guys should work on helping them draft a clearer manual. Had to read it about 3 times to make sure I understood most of it.