Chain sharpening

[Ohiowoodguy]

Filing is excellent for "touch-ups", but if the point is really blunted- grinding is much faster (your time should be worth something). Forget the 12volt toys, don't bother with the junk grinders that use the CBN or pink stone wheels- as others have said, they burn the tooth. Use a Silvey; it uses an abrasive wheel at a slower speed that makes it nearly impossible to mess up the temper of the steel, comes with directions, easy and fast to use, very precise, and the wheel spin is reversable so you're cutting "into" each side as is proper. I retired my little Oregon (Effco) grinder to raker duty. Silvey grinder is around $600, but well worth it.

 

[pdqdl]

Filing is excellent for "touch-ups", but if the point is really blunted- grinding is much faster (your time should be worth something). Forget the 12volt toys, don't bother with the junk grinders that use the CBN or pink stone wheels- as others have said, they burn the tooth. Use a Silvey; it uses an abrasive wheel at a slower speed that makes it nearly impossible to mess up the temper of the steel, comes with directions, easy and fast to use, very precise, and the wheel spin is reversable so you're cutting "into" each side as is proper. I retired my little Oregon (Effco) grinder to raker duty. Silvey grinder is around $600, but well worth it.

Unless I am mistaken, the Silvey turns slower because the wheel diameter is larger. The grinder speed where it meets the metal is probably about the same.

NEVER say bad things about the CBN wheels, they are great. And you can buy them for your Silvey, too. My Oregon grinder has reversible motor, too.

I'm not knocking Silvey, but what makes it worth twice as much money ?

 

[jemclimber]

Exactly what Pdqdl said. Linear speed where the abrasive meets the cutter is probably very close and the oregons are easily fitted with a reversible switch. Silveys are nice though. A larger wheel will heat up less, but with a CBN wheel this is not an issue. CBN wheels cut much better and don't generate the heat a sintered wheel does so size of the wheel is much less of an issue.

 

[Ohiowoodguy]

Unless I am mistaken, the Silvey turns slower because the wheel diameter is larger. The grinder speed where it meets the metal is probably about the same.

NEVER say bad things about the CBN wheels, they are great. And you can buy them for your Silvey, too. My Oregon grinder has reversible motor, too.

I'm not knocking Silvey, but what makes it worth twice as much money ?

Sorry, I was under the impression that CBN burned too . I was also under the impression that all the smaller grinders (Oregon, Stihl, etc.) were now actually made by Effco (in Italy?). I know the older ones were built very well.
IMHO: Silvey is worth it 'cause its overbuilt, easy and fast to use, very precise, and still doesn't go fast enough to ruin the temper even with a larger wheel- unless you really hog into it.

 

[pdqdl]

Spend the money on a CBN wheel (about $200 ! ) and start hogging with your silvey.

I can sharpen a badly rocked tooth in about 2 seconds of "grind time" with no overheating. I use a 6" diameter, 3/16ths thick CBN wheel with air slots for additional cooling. Normally dull teeth take no more time to grind than pulling the wheel down once to the stop and then letting go.

The hydraulic clamp on my grinder makes the whole clamping process semi-automatic, so a decent 20" chain takes about 3-5 minutes to sharpen. That means start to finish, including setup for getting the first tooth ground properly.