Economical chain grinding

[fields_mj]

I don't see any reason for flames. Based on the opinions given and the work Philbert did, it sounds like a cheap HF grinder plus a sufficiently skilled operator will yield a reasonably sharp chain. However, it does require the user to know what they are doing, the grinder doesn't have a lot of HP, and the wheels are an odd size. The HF grinder is going to be a bit slow if you're trying to do more than one or two chains at a time, and it requires more skill to get acceptable results. That's not going to be a good match for my potential application.

 

[David Ellis]

I have 2 of these so that I don't have to remove chains for grinding.

Grandberg direct grinder

I have one setup for 3/8 chain and the other setup for .325 chain. I think they do a dandy job. I have killed several belts in the other versions that require belts, but the direct drive grinder has been rock - solid dependable.

I have discovered that swapping stones on a single grinder didn't work very well. This is because the stones don't repeatedly"seat" the same on the mating surface. This resulted in a a slight wobble that made the stone vibrate slightly and not work very well.

I use a file to remove some raker material occasionally.

 

[J D]

My thoughts...
Get an old bike carrier that clamps on the tow bar, cut the top off & weld/bolt a vice to it to assist with holding chainsaws being worked on.
Get 3 of the cheep bar mounted 12V grinders... they're nothing to write home about but they work ok & can easily be made a bit more accurate with a few tweeks (shims etc). Set one up for 3/8, one for 3/8 lo pro/ .325, & keep one as a spare.
That setup removes the need for any generators or expensive inverters & people won't need to remove & refit chains. It also fits your budget & gives you some redundancy.
Scrounge up a couple of used but servicable car batteries if you can so you don't have to worry about draining a vehicle battery.

 

[Sidecarflip]

In my case, the inverter genny isn't an issue. I own a Champion 2000 watt inverter and it weighs less than 40 pounds so moving it from the side by side to the shop or wherever is a non issue and 2000 running watts is plenty enough to run any 110 volt chain grinder as well as my corded power tools. Very frugal on fuel as well, even the corn squeezed variety but I do add Marine Stabil to the gas always.

 

[Sidecarflip]

I have 2 of these so that I don't have to remove chains for grinding.

Grandberg direct grinder

I have one setup for 3/8 chain and the other setup for .325 chain. I think they do a dandy job. I have killed several belts in the other versions that require belts, but the direct drive grinder has been rock - solid dependable.

I have discovered that swapping stones on a single grinder didn't work very well. This is because the stones don't repeatedly"seat" the same on the mating surface. This resulted in a a slight wobble that made the stone vibrate slightly and not work very well.

I use a file to remove some raker material occasionally.

Problem with that as well as the Dremel with the stones in it is, you still have to manually maintain the correct tooth angle whereas with a chain grinder with a rigid mount motor, the tooth angle as well as the depth is adjustable, but built into the tool so they remove to a great extent, the human wiggle factor and sharpen very uniformly all the cutters and / or depth stops. Why I have a pair of grinders actually. One is for sharpening the teeth and the other is dedicated to cutting the rakers and I don't use the bonded wheels at all. I use the aluminum rimmed CBN wheels that never need dressing, just an infrequent cleaning with a soft. white cleaning stone. I can get upwards of 250 loops from one wheel and maybe more because I have not found the end of the wheels at 250 loops.

I have zero issues removing the loops either. Gives me a chance to inspect the bar, clean the bar grooves, clean the oil holes in the bar and flip it over as well.....