A little time with the Oregon 511ax

[NH_Wood]

Hey guys - finally had a chance to get the new grinder up and running today. Took some time to get the hang of setting the angles, etc., and practiced on some old chains for about an hour. Started to feel pretty confident and threw on a .325 chain for my Dolmar. Real happy with the outcome and love the speed of the grinder relative to hand filing. Proof will be on Saturday when I head to my Dad's to cut a couple cord of logs for him - will have a good chance to see how the chain feels (but I'll be spending most of the time trying out my 262xp! - just mounted a new Oregon Powermatch bar with a fresh RS chain - can't wait!). I'll update both after some cutting time! Cheers!

 

[MasterMech]

Don't be surpised if the first cut feels slow and then all of a sudden the chain starts cutting better. It's just the burr on the cutters wearing off. Grinders almost always leave a bit of a burr (it's normal) that gets knocked off the cutter as soon as it finds wood.

 

[NH_Wood]

Thanks for that info MM - definitely noticed the burrs when I ran my fingers around the chain checking my work - was wondering if I did something wrong! Cheers!

 

[blades]

AS the 511ax is single direction grind the rear cutters will have burrs, but as said one trip around the bar in wood magically disappear. I use 2 of these one set for each side of chain, speeds things up for me considerably. Before you change from front/ back or left/right depending on how yoy want to term it brush off all the accumulated grit on chain vise assembly, especially the section the tilts the chain for clearance of the tie straps, otherwise that grit gets down in that section and will wear it out fast. ( this actually applies to almost all of the current crop of grinder with a tilting vise)

 

[MasterMech]

I have my shop vac ghetto rigged to my USG right now as a dust collector. Blades is absolutely right about that grinding dust getting EVERYWHERE in these things. Looking into a quieter and more permanent solution.