Sharpen chisel chain with a square file: it's Sharper?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
oldspark said:
I worked on a kill floor for 10 yeas and sharpened knives for my job but a knife is a knife and a skate is a skate so your point is?
My father was a butcher by trade and couldn't sharpen a knife. I don't know what my point is except that whatever your station in life does not guarantee you will be good at it. To your point, just cuz you're good at one thing doesn't mean you'll be good at another.

Try as I may to teach my father how to sharpen a chain, he never could master it. I sharpened every chain he ever had. After I left home, he would just go buy a new chain and save the old ones for when I went to visit him. I even bought him one of those jigs that set all the angles and he still couldn't (wouldn't) learn. If a cheap grinder had been available back then I might have bought him one but I suspect he would still have butchered the chains.

I learned how to sharpen Swede saws very early in life. They are nowhere near as forgiving as chainsaws and will have you veering off in a nasty curve if you butcher it. I file/grind hand saws and circular saws too as well as chisels, drill bits, knives, etc. except for the carbide tipped saws and drill bits.
 
oldspark said:
Dont know what to tell ya, my chains are sharp now and the angles are correct so my guess is I did not F it up, I worked on a kill floor for 10 yeas and sharpened knives for my job but a knife is a knife and a skate is a skate so your point is? Any thing can be done wrong but not sure why you think the grinders are all that bad, first one on my grinder was sharp and I did a old beat up one and it came out good also so YRMV. Have a good one.

I think Ligs "cheap" comment was more of a comparison of HF grinders ($39) VS Oregon ($400+) not a cheap shot at you. And the "hack job" comment was aimed at those who don't know the correct angles hand sharpening won't achieve much better results with a grinder. If one doesn't know the correct profile it's not gonna work period.
I owned a top of the line Oregon years ago but we only sharpened feller buncher chains with it (sold it w/feller bunchers). My dad and I and a few fellers we employed could sharpen a chainsaw faster than you could dismount one and put it on the grinder. And do a pro job better than a grinder.
I'm gonna buy that NT grinder in the link. I've heard some half way decent reviews on it. I'll only use it on rocked out chains.I'd be inclined to spend a little more on the Oregon but I doubt I'll use it on more than a dozen chains a year.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.