FYI - Northern Chainsaw Sharpener

[Rspike]

Fyi:

Called Northern Tools and they said the sale runs from Wednesday midnight to Wednesday midnight ( 1 week ) so the sale will end Wednesday midnight or if still on sale after said time then it will be on for another week .
They didnt know for how many total weeks it would run.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Cutters choice has sharpening wheels for $10.95
I think they fit?

Fits Laser "Jolly", "Super Jolly", Bellsaw 8800, Windsor 880, Oregon 511A, Oregon 109179

Since the Northern Tool grinder is a copy of the 511, they should fit fine.

Ian

 

[Uwharrie]

Just in case you are looking for the best wheels available, the Oregon ones are the only ones our shop uses. We have tried many different ones over the years and there's a lot of guys selling some but to date I have not found any that sharpen as good as the Oregon ones. They are not the least expensive but I feel they are the best. We sell the same ones as northern but our price is less. The $27 one
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_53987_53987?cm_sp=Customer%20driven-_-Recently%20Viewed-_-Product%20Page
from Northern is the one you will need for these grinders. It is one wheel. If you check our price we sell the exact same one for $19.95. http://www.amickssuperstore.com/Oregon_3_16_Stone_p/oregon%20or534-316a.htm
Of course I'm only giving this as reference because you guys buy what you want.

 

[Big Woody]

Thats pretty high for a single wheel

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Dont be fooled by price.



I work with grinding wheels every day and theres wheels that work well and theres wheels that last long.



What you want in a grinding wheel is a combination of both qualitys erring on the side of duribility.


Heres the issue.


Wheels tend to "Pack up" with metal as you use them, this is why they need to be dressed occasionally providing a new, clean surface to grind with.


The harder the wheel is, the longer it will last. Also The harder it is the faster it will "Pack up" due to the fact that it is not breaking down as a softer wheel will. A 'Packed" wheel causes heat due to the material its packed with (metal) rubbing on the material your trying to cut,(metal).

This means you need to dress it to prevent it from burning your cutters.


But you might think, why not just buy the softer wheel and let it break down and not have to worry about dressing it? (afterall, your loosing wheel for nothing by dressing it, right?)


Well, OK, this makes sense until you have an understanding of what happens when a wheel bearks down. (Wait here, I need a beer for this.)











OK....

When the wheel is freshly dressed its fairly "True", meaning round and with a proper radius/angle/square face. And it will stay this way for a while, but eventuially it will become distorted somewhat. this can be caused by bumping the work a lil too hard or a tooth shifting upon contact or whatever.



When this happens the wheel starts to look like a slightly flat tire, ie its not round anymore. This out of round condition causes the wheel to loose contact with the work on every rotation, remember how this whole thing got started?

The wheel bumped the work.


Well the wheel is now bumping into the work with every revolution, and every time it bumps the work it gets a lil more damaged. This process creaps its way around the wheel until it gets to where it started and simply continues to chip away at the wheel in tiny increments.


This happens much faster with a soft wheel than it does with a hard wheel.



Youll actually loose 2-3 times as much wheel through it breaking down on the work than if you dressed it for every chain you sharpened.





Better wheels are just better.

 

[SmokinDodge]

Called Northern Tools and they said the sale runs from Wednesday midnight to Wednesday midnight ( 1 week ) so the sale will end Wednesday midnight or if still on sale after said time then it will be on for another week .
They didnt know for how many total weeks it would run.

That's clear as mud. The sale will run until the third Tuesday of next week. But the day after that there will be a special from Noon to 12.

I called them last week and they couldn't tell me how long it would last. I asked if it would run through Christmas and he said "Oh no not near that long." I then said "I thought you didn't know long long it would last?"

I hate talking to people on the phone. I ordered three tonight as gifts and the sale continues.

 

[Kenskip1]

Sharpener, I called the number and spoke to the person on the other end. She told me that they have 331 of them left and they will be the same price until february. Then the new shipment will be in and they will be even cheaper, Ken

 

[Haywire Haywood]

and then in March, HF will start carrying them for $29.99.

Ian

 

[danl]

Dont be fooled by price.


This means you need to dress it to prevent it from burning your cutters.

Thats just great, according to my wife, I can't dress myself right, now I have to dress a grinder

If UPS tracking is right, mine should be on my doorstep shortly.
It will just have to sit there till after 4:00 though.

Dan

 

[Butch(OH)]

Boys,
When all you'ens get to grinding up your chains with all these new chain grinders all the chain factorys is going to need a third shift pronto.

I bought me some Oregon stock, Carton stock and Stihl stock this morning and I am go'en to cash inopcorn:

 

[Oregon Engineer]

After you all open your Christmas presents and start sharping chain with the Northern Tool grinder, I like to hear:
1) how consistant the angles are in the same chain. Especially right to left hand.
2) if the motor keeps speed during normal grinding without slowing or stalling.
3) how easy is it to use and set the chain sharpening angles.
4) any comments you have to add, both the good and the bad - Give it a fair "first use" evaluation.

Later (6-8 months) I'll post a thread to see how the grinders hold up in the short term.

There is a "Northern Tool 511A knock off" in the test lab for evaluation and I'd like to compare your comments and observations to our lab findings.

 

[spacemule]

After you all open your Christmas presents and start sharping chain with the Northern Tool grinder, I like to hear:
1) how consistant the angles are in the same chain. Especially right to left hand.
2) if the motor keeps speed during normal grinding without slowing or stalling.
3) how easy is it to use and set the chain sharpening angles.
4) any comments you have to add, both the good and the bad - Give it a fair "first use" evaluation.

Later (6-8 months) I'll post a thread to see how the grinders hold up in the short term.

There is a "Northern Tool 511A knock off" in the test lab for evaluation and I'd like to compare your comments and observations to our lab findings.

Is the 511a copy legal?

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Is the 511a copy legal?

You can bet if it weren't, Oregon would have Northern Tool's guts for garters on very short notice.

Ian

 

[tawilson]

I picked up my new 441 today, so took it and my husky 61 with a newly ground chain to see how well I did. I'm happy, seemed to cut well, straight and with good size chips. I didn't have a depth gauge so I had just eyeballed the rakers. For a hoot, I stuck a new chain in the grinder and set the angles per the chart, and the wheel seemed to fit in nice and snug. I didn't try the other side, but will when I have a magnifying glass.
It does seem hard to rotate and angle the vise. I shot some lube on it, but didn't seem to help much.
The wheels seem pretty soft to me. Keep in mind this is my first experience with a grinder. I will be replacing it with Oregon wheels when necessary.

 

[ericjeeper]

Just need to wear the paint off

Mine was stiff at first but after about 20 chains it moves fine.. Just had to get the paint wore off the top of the casting.

 

[Oregon Engineer]

The Northern Tool version of the grinder was not approved by OREGON. The company making the grinder for Northern Tool has reverse engineered it (Chinese design philosophy of measuring and copying).

The appearance looks good, but the difference in quality is judged by the materials and tolerances.

Tawilson - We had the same issue with the vise rubbing against the plate marking the angle.

 

[SmokinDodge]

Sharpener, I called the number and spoke to the person on the other end. She told me that they have 331 of them left and they will be the same price until february. Then the new shipment will be in and they will be even cheaper, Ken

Well, someone must have bought 329 of them today. I ordered three last night as gifts and got an e-mail today saying they were on back order.

What number did you call?

 

[DOLMARatOs]

That was me....sorry. LOL J/k

Nothing wrong with a cheapo knock off, but i still have 2 of the real deals in my shop just in case.

 

[danl]

Angle

I can't figure out how to set the 10 deg. angle.
It also says to dress the wheel to the desired shape. I don't know what shape I desire.
I didn't have much time to mess with it last night, UPS was running kind of late.
I guess I could look at the Oregon manual for more instructions, but I would feel sort of guilty using their instructions. But I guess I shouldn't. I have lots of Oregon chains, files, sprockets, bars, weed eater string etc.

Dan

 

[Butch(OH)]

I can't figure out how to set the 10 deg. angle.
It also says to dress the wheel to the desired shape. I don't know what shape I desire.
I didn't have much time to mess with it last night, UPS was running kind of late.
I guess I could look at the Oregon manual for more instructions, but I would feel sort of guilty using their instructions. But I guess I shouldn't. I have lots of Oregon chains, files, sprockets, bars, weed eater string etc.

Dan

My vise wouldn't tilt (the 10 angle) or swivel due to rough surfaces. Take a look at the thread I started about fixing the grinder. http://arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=40844
The balls center it and 10 is the mark either side. When tilting always tilt the pointed side of the cutter down. This replicates the angle you get by holding your file handle down 10 when hand filing.


Oops forgot, the various desired stone contours are on a template shipped with the grinder, at least was with mine along with a carbide stick to dress the wheel. From my other post, a picture. Look at the top of this picture and in the baggie you will see the bottom edge of the profile gauge and the dressing stic.
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