Chain grinder?

I am looking to buy a new chain grinder and want some oppinions of which is the best out there for under 400.00. Also who has the best price if anyone knows.

ms460woodchuck said:

I am looking to buy a new chain grinder and want some oppinions of which is the best out there for under 400.00. Also who has the best price if anyone knows.

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I'm pretty happy with my Tecomec Super Jolly, same as a Oregon 511AX if I'm not mistaken. Had it over a year now and it was about $300 then on sale at a former site sponsor.

i dont care for them at all. i'd rather file by hand, does a much better job imo.

We have the stihl grinder at my dads shop that I think he paid somewhere around a grand for. I bought 2 of the norhtern tool oregon knockoffs for less than $200. Honestly I didn't do any modifcations but I did instantly upgrade the wheels to the oregon wheels at about $25 a piece which is a must with this grinder. I can put as good an edge on any chain as well as the stihl and the local dealers high dollar oregon. For the price I have one for chains and one for the rakers and have done hundreds of chains with them. If you cut alot I would highly recomend a grinder, my dad is one of the best with a file I have ever seen but unseen nails or hidden barbwire is about impossible to square up your cutters. Once every couple week we put every chain we've used on the grinder just to square everything up. I don't care how good you are, if you freehand file, your angles will get off, no exceptions.

I have the Maxx. Baileys has them, I might've noticed them recently a few bucks off. I paid $399, they may be a little less than that right now, I don't have the flier handy where I saw them on sale.

I just bought a northern tool grinder. I think it is great. I found out just how bad of a job I was doing with a free hand file. I just cut wood for exercise/fun and home heating. I should have bought it when I got a nice saw. I guess you live and learn.

Me and a friend are going to go half on a Maxx grinder, all the reading I've done on the Maxx seems to be a great grinder.

gink595 said:

Me and a friend are going to go half on a Maxx grinder, all the reading I've done on the Maxx seems to be a great grinder.

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It is a great grinder as is the stihl and oregons and several others but I can tell ya that if you know the way a chain should be the northern tool as well as other knock offs will do the same. The big thing is the wheel, put the northern tool wheel on the maxx and you wind up with crap. Put the oregon on the northern tool and you wind up with a maxx.

gink595 said:

Me and a friend are going to go half on a Maxx grinder, all the reading I've done on the Maxx seems to be a great grinder.

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Going into this 'half-Maxx ed'?

Before you buy it, check out MCW's later posts (e.g. post # 85) in this thread:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=89706&page=6
He likes it early on, but has a change of mind after trying some others. Maybe even try sending him a personal message to discuss it before you buy.

I have not personally used the Maxx grinders, and like the reversing idea, but his comments would cause me to take a step back.

huskystihl said:

It is a great grinder as is the stihl and oregons and several others but I can tell ya that if you know the way a chain should be the northern tool as well as other knock offs will do the same. The big thing is the wheel, put the northern tool wheel on the maxx and you wind up with crap. Put the oregon on the northern tool and you wind up with a maxx.

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I know that the castings on these copies look nearly identical, and even the ones on my Oregon 511A needed a bit of dressing to work as smoothly as they should. But I notice a big difference in the appearance of the motors between the made in Italy and made in China versions, and wonder how long they will last on the $100 copies.

Philbert

Philbert said:

Going into this 'half-Maxx ed'?

Before you buy it, check out MCW's later posts (e.g. post # 85) in this thread:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=89706&page=6
He likes it early on, but has a change of mind after trying some others. Maybe even try sending him a personal message to discuss it before you buy.

I have not personally used the Maxx grinders, and like the reversing idea, but his comments would cause me to take a step back.

Philbert

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Thanks Philbert and you're exactly right mate - the MAXX was FAR more inconsistent than I ever would have thought. Owning a chainsaw supply (not actually chainsaws) business I thought that I'd bought the best. I was WAAAAY wrong. There was far too much variability in the side to side sharpening feature for it to be even worth the trouble. I do believe I would have been well within my rights for a warranty claim but hocked it off on eBay for AUD$400. If the MAXX was symmetrical (as claimed) there would have been no problem. I didn't even realise the issues were that bad until I bought a Speed Sharp Auto grinder at AUD$200 cheaper as a backup - only then did I realise that many of my crooked cuts with longer bars were due to inconsistent angles. This had me confused, and quite piss#d off for quite some time.

With good fitment, better chain vice setup, and good quality parts the MAXX should absolutely wipe the opposition off the floor but alas...

Anyone raving about their MAXX should do some serious checks on their unit - maybe its better than mine was, but chances are its not. My turntable had as much as 5° variation from the indicated angles side to side. Find someone with a Speed Shap or Oregon and do some decent comparisons. Also undo the bottom retaining nut for the turntable - if the plastic turntable can be twisted side to side (like my ex best friend Mr MAXX) due to poor fit on the chassis then I think you'll be very disappointed if you check your angles. Also don't fall for the "no burrs" jargon. With good quality wheels - I use the PAL wheels(Part # FF0027 - grade PA60MV to suit 3/8" and .404"), the burrs when grinding inside out aren't even worth bothering about, if you get any at all. The standard MAXX wheels are garbage bin material.

If you've read Philbert's link to my other posts I've probably doubled up on some of the comments but for the price, I believe the MAXX is seriously over rated. If you don't sharpen many chains then don't bother with the auto vice lock models, but my time is at a premium as I run my business after hours and on weekends (I'm a full time Horticultural Agronomist) and the auto lock feature speeds things up out of sight (I estimate about 40% faster?).

Personal messages are more than welcome in regard to the MAXX but I've pretty well put it all on the table here. There is also a lot of time involved swapping the head on the MAXX from side to side that really isn't necessary and their chain adjustment set up is a shocker with flex. The adjustment for doing depth guages is also lame at best after using the far superior Speed Sharp's setup.

Hope some of the info helps as I spend what feels like more time grinding chains than cutting wood. I'd rather be cutting

Matt

I found new oreagon 511A for 309.00. This is what I am leaning towards. What is opinions on that.:monkey:

Quote MCW

" I use the PAL wheels(Part # FF0027 - grade PA60MV to suit 3/8""

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Where do you buy these wheels, a goggle doesn't turn up anything...TIA

That's disappointing to hear that about the MAXX. Thought we had that one wrapped up!

ms460woodchuck said:

I found new oreagon 511A for 309.00. This is what I am leaning towards. What is opinions on that.

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This is what I have. I have also used several versions of this model (all made in Italy by Tecomec). I consider it to be the reference from which to judge others (better, worse, cheaper, more expensive, etc.).

Mine was not perfect (or maybe I am too fussy). I had to do some minor polishing/dressing of the vice castings so that they moved smoothly, but none of the shimming that the users of the 'knock off' versions report. It is pretty easy to adjust, and seems to hold the adjustments pretty well, with minimal flex.

Because it is in such wide use, it is easy to find parts for it, and it will keep its resale value if you no longer need it. My dealer (in business 50 years) said the only parts she really sells for them, besides wheels, are the springs (which infrequently break), and the pawl (which people sometimes hit with the wheel if not set up correctly).

$300 seems to be a current price for these. If I was replacing mine, I would also look at the 511AX (or the similar Tecomec Jolly Star) for about $50 more, These have the self centering vice (keeps cutters the same length on both sides of the chain), and handles up to 3/4" pitch chain without needing a separate vice (if that is important to you)

http://www2.tecomec.it/database/tec...7D1A6F442C0B7606C12571EA004D8D84?OpenDocument

Philbert

I've got seven (eight?) years on my 511A. No complaints. The features of the 511AX sound interesting enough to be worth considering. I've used the MAXX grinder and like it, too.



But the real question that needs asking here is this: Who sells Tecomec stuff on AS? I want to buy (if it isn't too expensive) the adapter that lets you sharpen reciprocating hedge trimmer blades on the Tecomec/Oregon grinder...

i bought a 511a a couple of months ago. it seems to work well. i still hand file, but about every third or fourth sharpening i touch them up with the grinder to get the angles right.

computeruser said:

Who sells Tecomec stuff on AS? I want to buy (if it isn't too expensive) the adapter that lets you sharpen reciprocating hedge trimmer blades on the Tecomec/Oregon grinder...

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"USA DISTRIBUTOR Tecomec USA distributor For any request from U.S.A., please contact our disributor
www.tiltonequipement.com"

http://tiltonequipment.com/html/totaltecomec.htm

Philbert

WidowMaker said:

Quote MCW

" I use the PAL wheels(Part # FF0027 - grade PA60MV to suit 3/8""

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Where do you buy these wheels, a goggle doesn't turn up anything...TIA

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I got a few of these wheels via GB in Australia.
They don't really have any manufacturer details other than PAL - Precision Cutting Technology. In the GB Catalogue they have different labelling to the ones I recieived and have "PAL Maxicut" on them. I can't find anything about them on Google either!

OOOPs my bad, did not notice your downunder....

I just picked up an Oregon 511AX, but have not had it long enough to really tell much about it. I had an older grinder which I picked up for next to nothing for years, but it has now gone to the recycle plant. Has anybody every used the Sharpboy Bar mounted 12v grinder?