sharpening burrs

[Turner-n-Burner]

I got an unexpected chance to try out these sharpening burrs over the weekend.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=40928&cat=1,43072,43086

I accidently let the tip of my bar hit the ground and messed up my chain. I'd been lazy about dropping off sharpening another chain that had suffered a similar fate, and then realized that the two new chains that I had been saving for backup were the wrong size. (see my post in the for-sale forum)

Anyway, faced with either the prospect of hand filing a badly mangled chain or making a trip to lowes in peak DIY traffic, I remembered that I had picked up some of these with the intention of touching up my bandsaw blade.

Turns out that they work REALLY well, and cut very fast. no guides or jigs, but if you're any good at hand fileing, you'll find these a nice addition to your tool kit.

-Dan

 

[Jay H]

If you could find the right size dremel attachment, what's to keep you from using a particular grinding wheel on the dremel. I ask because I'm sure I wont be able to find those particular grinding wheels locally but sure can find dremel attachments... and my father has a dremel tool..

Do they make 7/32 wheels for Dremels as my saw chains require that size round file?

Jay

 

[cmonSTART]

Stihl sells special round dremel bits made for sharpening chains.

 

[BrotherBart]

What I could never figure out back in the days before I quit buying gadgets to sharpen chains was how the heck to you gauge how much you cut each tooth with these kind of things. I can count file strokes.

 

[jebatty]

I know we don't all agree, but one long-time logging pro I talked with said that it doesn't make any difference if the cutters are not all sharpened to the same link length. What does make a difference is that on average all the cutters are sharp. If you machine sharpen, you have to sharpen all to equal length, as a practical matter.

 

[Turner-n-Burner]

What I could never figure out back in the days before I quit buying gadgets to sharpen chains was how the heck to you gauge how much you cut each tooth with these kind of things. I can count file strokes.

LOL - that's easy. I sharpen until the dull spot the rocks made are gone! with a hand file, that might be two strokes on one tooth and twenty-two strokes on the next.

 

[Highbeam]

The link TnB posted says that those stones are for dremels. Up to 24000 RPM. You could chuck them into an air powered die grinder too.

 

[granpajohn]

I think my dad used similar from Oregon, and I use actual Dremel brand. (Maybe made at the same place, for all I know.) This is first I've seen diamond.

 

[Turner-n-Burner]

Yeah, I just chucked it right into my dremel.

I can't see any reason not to use a dremel bit, as long as it's of good quality. Some of the dremel type burrs I've used for other things seemed to wear faster than whatever I was grinding. This is definitely a task where you'd want a bit that was 7/32's and stayed there.

-Dan

 

[Jay H]

Yeah, I just chucked it right into my dremel.

I can't see any reason not to use a dremel bit, as long as it's of good quality. Some of the dremel type burrs I've used for other things seemed to wear faster than whatever I was grinding. This is definitely a task where you'd want a bit that was 7/32's and stayed there.

-Dan

Was browsing the local Lowes (I have a coupon) and noticed that Dremel seels a 3/16 and a 5/32 bit but not a 7/32.

However, in the chain saw dept, Oregon makes a 7/32 for a dremel tool...

Jay