HF chain sharpener-- anybody got one?

[cedarman]

Electric Chain Saw Sharpener & Other Chain Saw Sharpeners - Harbor Freight Tools

this looks cheap enough. i know... i know. "you get what you pay for" just wondering if anybody owns one and what they thought of them.

Ross

 

[gloud]

It is marginally better than nothing. If you are careful you can fix bunged up chains with it. (I did a few on mine before I bought a better unit) They are a bit sloppy/flexy for truly accurate Sharpening. Mine ran ok, and I am giving it to a fellow member her this weekend to play with. If all you have is 30.00 and you already have a good file set then you can try one, just don't expect great things.
Some of the HF stuff works ok, but generally you have to tweak them some.

There are a ton of threads about them, and their issues.
So search if you need more info.

Electric Chain Saw Sharpener & Other Chain Saw Sharpeners - Harbor Freight Tools

this looks cheap enough. i know... i know. "you get what you pay for" just wondering if anybody owns one and what they thought of them.

Ross

 

[dh1984]

i got one of them grinders but as long as you keep the wheel dressed and cleaned it will do the job on a rocked chain.i use mine to make sure the teeth are at 30 degress and if they ain't i'll grind it a little and then take a file and sharpen it.where i know it's sharp and i don't have to worry about out of degree teeth.

 

[cnice_37]

I've got one. Use it only on rocked chains or those in need of much more than a sharpening.

After using it, it gets followed by a hand file.

 

[Pulp Friction]

My main grinder is an oregon 511AX but I got one of the HF units on sale and then applied a 20% off coupon for a total price of $24. i got it for just doing rakers so I won't need to change wheels on my main grinder. The wheel it comes with is too thin (1/8") for 3/8"-pitch, or rakers, so I ordered a 1/4"-wide wheel from Bailey's. I did get to spin it and the motor seems to have plenty of power for the thik 1/4" wheel. The largest wheel the HF unit will take is 4-1/4" so I bought the 4-1/8x1/4". BTW, the arbor hole is the standard 7/8". It's angle is fixed at 60 degrees but you can do the other angle up to 35 degrees or so. You also can't do a vie-tilt angle other than 0 degrees (90). This is ok for Stihl chain and others but Oregon calls for a vise-tilt of 10 degrees. I still haven't set it up yet. Just dumpster-hopped and found a discarded pedestal stand at work last week for it but can't give you true feedbak yet.

 

[avalancher]

Do yourself a favor and check out the $100 model from Northern Tools.Everyonce in awhile they send out emails with a coupon worth 20 percent, which basically boils down to free freight. Its far more accurate than the HF model, and has served me well for five years now.Not as good quality of the more expensive model,but if you are just sharpening your own chains and maybe a few for friends, it is money better spent than on the HF model. The plastic chassis of the HF model alone oughta tell you how accurate they are going to be, and when it comes to sharpening a chain there is nothing more aggravating than dealing with a chain out in the woods that has been ground wrong.

There is no reason to spend a boatload of money on a tool that gets used as infrequently as a chain grinder(at least in my book, you need to learn to handfile as your primary way to sharpen) but there is also no sense in throwing away money on pure junk.

 

[Highbeam]

I use one for my 3/8" stihl chain. It works great and has quickly paid for itself since I was having the saw shop sharpen the chains for 6$ per chain. The chain goes from dull, into the HF sharpener, and out onto my saw and is throwing huge chips and slicing logs. I have no built in bias against HF tools so I have no problem calling a good tool a good tool. It could be great and cost 3x as much, but good is perfectly adequate.

I don't believe in hand filing. Don't own a single round file.

I can easily cut a cord of rounds on a single chain, plus I have a second sharp chain in case I find a rock or something.

 

[ray benson]

I got one for a present a few years ago. Took it back as it was not a tight quality unit. I hand file everything.

 

[mhyme71]

I just got one of HF grinders and i sharpened all my chains with it. It takes a little tinkering to get it right but i dont have any problems getting sharp chains with it. It isnt a high quality piece of equipment buy any means but it sure is better than nothing. I run the chain through this sharpener and then run a quick hand file through the chain the clean up the grind on the gullet

 

[motoman3b]

I own both, started with the HF sharpener and its sloppy and not very rigid did an "ok" job but never was really happy with it. The wheel it comes with is really only suited for .325 chain, I purchased the northern grinder and have been really satisfied with it much better made and yeah theres a few things I had to do to tighten it up but it comes with 3 wheels to do all size chains and it does alot better job for the 60 bucks more it cost it was definately worth it

 

[iowa]

Spend the money and get the Northern Hyd. grinder. I got one for xmas and it vibrated really bad. I sent it back and they replaced it. The second one still vibrated a bit but not near as bad as first one.

The manufacturer presses on the grinding wheel hub. Looks to me like they're not getting them on the shaft square. Mine was sheared in on one side more than the other. I decided to machine my own. And is SLIP fit on the shaft. No reason to press these on as the bolt holds it all together. Runs like a champ now!

 

[mattellis2]

I just got one of HF grinders and i sharpened all my chains with it. It takes a little tinkering to get it right but i dont have any problems getting sharp chains with it. It isnt a high quality piece of equipment buy any means but it sure is better than nothing. I run the chain through this sharpener and then run a quick hand file through the chain the clean up the grind on the gullet

this is what i do, too since i have a hard time keeping the wheel dressed to properly sharpen the side plate. coupled with a good hand file, i get chains that are very close to factory sharp.

-matt

 

[Wood Doctor]

A Toy But Perhaps Useful

A friend gave me one after he gave up in frustration either repairing it or trying to use it. I replaced some missing parts that broke by making my own and now use it as a dedicated raker dropper. I use my Oregon 511a as the cutter sharpener and then use the HF "toy" to drop the rakers as needed.

That way I don't need to keep adjusting the Oregon for an easy task on a separate machine. The HF $30 sharpener is a hobby machine and don't expect it ever to touch professional equipment.

 

[loadthestove]

I own one like this and it has worked well for me.it uses an aluminum base and has a metal guide for the chain.I paid just over $50 for mine a few years back so I think this is a good buy.NEW RAND CHAINSAW SHARPENER/Grinder/Chain Saw/Electric - eBay (item 190464829680 end time Apr-04-11 07:02:10 PDT)

 

[atvdave]

My main grinder is an oregon 511AX but I got one of the HF units on sale and then applied a 20% off coupon for a total price of $24. i got it for just doing rakers so I won't need to change wheels on my main grinder. The wheel it comes with is too thin (1/8") for 3/8"-pitch, or rakers, so I ordered a 1/4"-wide wheel from Bailey's. I did get to spin it and the motor seems to have plenty of power for the thik 1/4" wheel. The largest wheel the HF unit will take is 4-1/4" so I bought the 4-1/8x1/4". BTW, the arbor hole is the standard 7/8". It's angle is fixed at 60 degrees but you can do the other angle up to 35 degrees or so. You also can't do a vie-tilt angle other than 0 degrees (90). This is ok for Stihl chain and others but Oregon calls for a vise-tilt of 10 degrees. I still haven't set it up yet. Just dumpster-hopped and found a discarded pedestal stand at work last week for it but can't give you true feedbak yet.

Good point... I always wondered what to do with my HF grinder after i got the Carlton grinder. The HF grinder just has too much play in the arm, and chain stop. But it can be fixed or modded.

Rep to Pulp for a good point.

 

[gtsawyer]

I used to have a HF electric grinder. I finally got so frustrated with it I threw it away. I think I was halfway through a 72 link chain, paused for a bit, turned off the grinder, unbolted it from the shelf it was mounted to, opened the trash can lid and chucked the grinder into the can.

Can't say as I miss it. I've been hand sharpening since then, and although I do a crappy job hand sharpening, I'm much happier.