Tips for a new grinder user

I recently got an Efco grinder (similar to the oregon 511).

I have the basics down and have done a few chains with good results.

Any good tips you long time grinder users can give to us newbies?

What's the goal with a dressing stone?

Since this grinder only "cuts" from one side of the wheel, should I flip the wheel over in the grinder after X number of chains to cut from the other side so it wears evenly?

Thanks guys.

grinders......I like steak and cheese, myself. When I order them, I ask for everything on it.....the only tips I can give you.

"tap, tap, tap" to sharpen. don't plunge it into the tooth and overheat the cutter!

the dressing stone is for putting a round profile on the wheel, so that it mimics a round file. the wheels are usually a little square in profile, out of the box.

sometimes you need to make adjustments to the tooth indexing when you flip from one side to the other, since these cheaper machines (and even the expensive ones, for that matter) don't always pivot perfectly.

Practice on your friends' chains first

Just did 3 for my buddy..... he said they cut great. Did one of my own and I was not impressed compared to my usual hand filed chain.

I got a little "beak" on one of the chains....what causes that?

overheating and overgrinding........

At the risk of sounding like an amateur (hey... I am), what's a "beak"?

Ok another question to ask is do I use this to take down the rakes as well? Seems I saw people say they take down the rakes with a dremmel.

I'm going to guess (being an amateur myself) a bur on the top of the tooth leftover from filing.

Use the grinder to take down the rakers. It's the most consistent and quick tool you have for this job. You can always round off the leading edges with a file afterward, if that's important to you.

Different size chains will sharpen better with the correct size (thickness) wheel. Make sure you're using the appropriate size wheel.

You just need to shine the cutter very light touch I normally tap 2-3 times.

This pic's was awhile back and not so clean anymore. Lighting and magifing glass is Nice!

Looks great smokinj.

top tilt of 60-65 per the gauge on back, 30 or 25 for across the front of the cutter. Don't go too deep you do not want to be grinding the tie strap on the other side of the cutter. 1/8" wheel for lo-pro and similar, now for some of the electrics I use apx 5/64 width wheel for those really tiny chains. full size ( like a 72 series) as a 3/16 wheel. With some of the new chain styles you will have experiment a bit to see if the 1/8 or 3/16 is better, but are trying not to get a real deep gullet in the side of the cutter. Yes you can flip the wheel over to wear it a bit more evenly but as the mfg's of the wheels are a bit lax on arbor sizes it really does not help much.If you tighten the cam clamp a bit ( just enough to hold chain steady but still letting slip through) when you do the depth gauges you will get a better grind on them. Get a cheap caliper ( plastic is fine) do not need the dial indicator as you are just going to use it as a gauge to transfer cutter length between the 2 sides. Grind off the tapered knife edges to the point where the 2 flats meet and the narrow down the back side of each jaw a bit so that they will fit between the depth gauge and the cutter. This gives you a quick way to check cutter length for each side rather than taking chain off and trying to hold the 2 cutters together. Hope this helps, Chris

What do you guys use on chains calling for 7/32" files? I've been using a 3/16" wheel, but thinking I should find a 7/32" wheel to replace it.

3/16" is pretty common for 3/8" chain.

It would seem that's the case. Still... a lot of my 3/8" chain calls for a 7/32" file.

File yes stone no......

I just did an 84dl chisel chain 3/8 pitch with the 1/8th stone & it came out very well. Caveat: the chain got rocked pretty hard, so the cutters were a little past 1/2 gone. A C

Hmm... this is all new to me. I always tried to use a wheel of the recommended file size, but it seems that's not what others are doing. How do you choose your wheel size? What's the amount of cutter left have to do with the chosen wheel size?

The file diameter determines the depth of sharpening on the cutter. (Did that make any sense?) The stone width doesn't have to be exactly the same because the depth of the cut is determined by a setting on the grinding machine.

So much to learn! Side question: If I file my rakers down a little more than recomended, can I determine how aggressive the saw cuts by how much pressure I apply to the bar? IMO, that might be useful when cutting both hardwood & softwood.

Yes you can but if your riding with rakers lower than they should be then your going to need a very light hand and if your filing them flat can make for a bumpy ride! Stock height you will be able to even tune the saw by purssre though out the whole cut. Most cant hear where a saw should be but once you have it your golden!

That's why you don't go back and forth from file to grinder. Pick one and stay. You'll waste lots of chain otherwise. The stone will have a specific contour that can't be perfectly round like a file. Every time you recontour the tooth to the new sharpening device you waste metal.

The remaining amount of tooth on the chain makes no difference. You will waste some of the remainder converting to the wonderful world of grinding but throw the hand file away. Bring two or more chains with you to the woods instead and just swap as needed. I can easily get a cord of wood on one chain.

The teeth or cutters slope upward by necessity to make the edge the high point. As the cutter gets sharpened & cut back it gets shorter, thus lowering the height & gullet size. Same reason the rakers need to be lowered slightly after a few sharpenings. A 3/8 pitch chain will have almost exactly the same height cutter @ the 1/2 way point of it's life as a new .325 pitch chain does . Hence the reason for the smaller diameter file as the chain gets toward the last 1/2 to 1/3 of it's life. I tried the 1/8th wheel for kicks just to see how it did, & was very pleasantly surprised @ how sharp the chain came out. Cut very well today too. I just play around with stones & angles a little to see what I get. If someone is paying me to sharpen a chain, it goes to original angles. My own chains get tweaked a little here & there for my preferences. I run short bars on big cc power heads, so I like a real aggressive fast cutting chain. A C