Oregon 620 grinder - first impressions

[Cider]

So I splurged, and got myself the hydraulic clamping model. I set it up today and sharpened a couple of chains, so I thought I'd share my initial thoughts.

I wall mounted it up nice and high, so it's out of the way in otherwise free workshop space and I get a great eye-level view of what I'm doing. I think it would be a mistake to bench mount one of these and then hunch over it. I just mounted a bit of 6x2 where I wanted it and screwed it to that with coach screws. I can still access the rear tilt angle adjustment knob. Setup was quick and easy, basically you just need to know your angles and install the right wheel and you're good to go.

I wasn't impressed with the standard (preinstalled) chain stop/adjust pawl. It had two immediately apparent flaws: when pulling the chain back against it, it would cause the cutter to tip up slightly; and it had lousy clearance for getting chains in and out of the vice. The kit comes with a taller version - for 3/4" pitch chain - and this fixed both issues perfectly. I can't see any reason not to use this for all chains?

Other reviewers have commented that the main return spring is not strong enough - I agree. It's even more of a factor with the hydraulic clamp, as it doesn't self-return high enough to release the clamp. It's a minor annoyance to have to actually lift the head all the way up after each tooth but a strange oversight by the manufacturer and I will definitely find a way to boost the return spring.

Otherwise it was easy to use, even fun. It only took a minute or two to clean up some banged-up chains, and they certainly look good although I haven't gone cutting yet.

I'll report back if I have anything else to add as I learn more, just thought this info might be useful to anyone contemplating a purchase.

 

[Colonel428]

Hmm. Interesting and informative review, thank you. So putting the taller chain stop on the machine helped keep the chain tooth from standing up when the hydraulic clamp was applied? That's been my biggest annoyance so far with my machine (the Tecomec Super Jolly version). And yes, it does stink to have to physically push the grinder arm back up each time-wears my shoulder out actually if I'm doing several chains at a time. I'd say your review is spot on from what I've experienced as well....Steve.

 

[Cider]

Hi Colonel428. I initially found that the chain moved slightly as the vice closed, but when I adjusted the vice gap knob to the "0" position I found that removed any slop between the free and clamped position so that problem went away for me.

The pawl issue is a bit tricky to describe. The 'standard' pawl sits low and therefore more horizontally. I found pulling the chain back against it, even gently, actually caused the tooth to rotate slightly around the tip of the pawl and up and away from the vice by a couple of mm. it doesn't totally make sense, but that's what was happening. The taller pawl contacts the chain more vertically and doesn't lift it at all, I can pull the chain back against it easily and there's no vertical movement. I really don't understand the need for two versions of this mechanism, but I haven't tried it with anything smaller than 3/8" chain, perhaps the larger pawl is no good with smaller chains?

I'm still not really sure what the fore and aft vice position adjustment achieves, I'm tempted to engineer a way to lock this in as it is too easy to slip out of position when swivelling the vice. It seems to me that the secret to minimal cutter wastage is the precise repeatability of all angles.

It would also be great if there was a way to dial in equal left and right cutter lengths, but I can't see how to do this. Like many others I reckon there's about a quarter turn difference between the two?

 

[user 122190]

Lets see a picture of the high mounted grinder. I had mine set about 4+ feet high, perfect for my stool, and brought about everything up to eye level.

I too really liked the clone grinder I once had. Eventually I grew tired of having to take the B&C off to touch up the chain (before I learned to hand file). It was also easy. After a few years, I tried to handfile again, and immediately the grinder became obsolete. The only rational I can think of to get a grinder again would be to restore hard grounded chains. That rarely happens anymore, and quite possibly I'd opt to just toss the chain.

 

[Cider]

I'll grab a pic next week. I'd say it's about 5 or 5.5 feet off the ground, pretty much my eye level when standing.

I generally only cut a tankful at a time, maybe two if I'm feeling energetic. That gives me plenty of wood to throw in the trailer and dump back at the house. I'm happy to pop the bar off after use, give it all a bit of a clean, flip the bar and put a fresh chain on. This will probably mean wasting a bit of chain for a while until I get really good at touching up with minimal loss, but I'm ok with that.

I have the Stihl 2-in-1 file and can do a decent sharpen in the woods if I have to, I just never found a way to fit it into my routine without resenting it!

 

[user 122190]

I'll grab a pic next week. I'd say it's about 5 or 5.5 feet off the ground, pretty much my eye level when standing.

I generally only cut a tankful at a time, maybe two if I'm feeling energetic. That gives me plenty of wood to throw in the trailer and dump back at the house. I'm happy to pop the bar off after use, give it all a bit of a clean, flip the bar and put a fresh chain on. This will probably mean wasting a bit of chain for a while until I get really good at touching up with minimal loss, but I'm ok with that.

I have the Stihl 2-in-1 file and can do a decent sharpen in the woods if I have to, I just never found a way to fit it into my routine without resenting it!

Same here. One trailer full per trip. The main saw of the day, gets the treatment. The secondary gets only a touch up, a few strokes of the file, and some compressed air.

 

[Colonel428]

Hey Cider. I head to the woods with a carry bag full of chains. All but a few are full chisel which can dull pretty quickly. It's easy and faster for me to just put a new chain on than it is to attempt to hand file. And, I'm not very good at hand filing. I've got a Stihl 2 in 1 file but rarely use it. Sometimes I may end up with 10+ chains to sharpen at the end of the day and all of them end up on the grinder. I too end up with one side of cutters being slightly longer than others at times. I just go back and resharpen the longer side without making any adjustments to the machine. For whatever reason the double passes seem to work and even out both sides of cutters. And as you mentioned I definitely need a fix to have the grinder arm fully return on its own. Steve.

 

[Wood Doctor]

This chain clamping vise on the hydraulic 630 slides forwards and backwards but does not tilt like the vise on the less-expensive 520 or the earlier vise on the old but really good, 511a. Can you or anyone here explain how that forward and back sliding does the same thing as the vise on the 520 or the 511a that I own and have used for years. I am a bit skeptical that this horizontal sliding movement does the same thing as a tilt. TIA.

 

[Colonel428]

Lol. Well Wood Doctor, I honestly don't know what purpose that bottom "in and out" slide serves. I keep mine at 0° and would love to hear what others say about it too..

 

[Wood Doctor]

Lol. Well Wood Doctor, I honestly don't know what purpose that bottom "in and out" slide serves. I keep mine at 0° and would love to hear what others say about it too..

So would I. In addition to a 511a, I have a Tecomec hydraulic assist sharpener that I bought at an estate sale eight years ago and have saved mostly for backup. It also allows sliding the chain holder forward and back and has no visible tilt. I am sure there is a mathematical or graphical explanation for what that movement does, but it's beyond my geometrical imagination.

I suppose what we could do is sharpen four cutters on a dull chain, two on each side of the chain. Try two without moving the slide and the other two with the slide. Then compare them visually to see the difference. I have never done that. Maybe Cider might like to try that experiment with his new 620 and report back.

 

[Mike Kunte]

Hi Colonel428. I initially found that the chain moved slightly as the vice closed, but when I adjusted the vice gap knob to the "0" position I found that removed any slop between the free and clamped position so that problem went away for me.

The pawl issue is a bit tricky to describe. The 'standard' pawl sits low and therefore more horizontally. I found pulling the chain back against it, even gently, actually caused the tooth to rotate slightly around the tip of the pawl and up and away from the vice by a couple of mm. it doesn't totally make sense, but that's what was happening. The taller pawl contacts the chain more vertically and doesn't lift it at all, I can pull the chain back against it easily and there's no vertical movement. I really don't understand the need for two versions of this mechanism, but I haven't tried it with anything smaller than 3/8" chain, perhaps the larger pawl is no good with smaller chains?

I'm still not really sure what the fore and aft vice position adjustment achieves, I'm tempted to engineer a way to lock this in as it is too easy to slip out of position when swivelling the vice. It seems to me that the secret to minimal cutter wastage is the precise repeatability of all angles.

It would also be great if there was a way to dial in equal left and right cutter lengths, but I can't see how to do this. Like many others I reckon there's about a quarter turn difference between the two?

Hi!
The vise fore/aft position allows one to copy the "tilting" vise settings on the 520 models. Once you have set its "centre" position (and adjusted the gauge plate to 0), you can then slide the vise fore and aft, depending on whether you're grinding the left or right cutters. Setting this accurately to the proper central position causes the grinder to grind LH and RH cutters to the same length (or close enough). The included instructions are a little sparse, but there are some reasonably good online videos showing how this works. You can find them here:

https://www.oregonproducts.com/en_c...chainsaw-chain-/c/sharpening-chainsaw-chain-s
The idea is to allow one to emulate the 10 degrees of "up" angle sometimes specified, which one could normally achieve using a hand file by tipping the file up 10 degrees (i.e. not 90 degrees to the bar). Not always necessary, but nice to know that you have the ability. This could be helpful when grinding for a customer who insists on an "original" factory grind. The bottom right pic is the one in question...



Hope this helps!

Mike

 

[Mike Kunte]

So I splurged, and got myself the hydraulic clamping model. I set it up today and sharpened a couple of chains, so I thought I'd share my initial thoughts.

I wall mounted it up nice and high, so it's out of the way in otherwise free workshop space and I get a great eye-level view of what I'm doing. I think it would be a mistake to bench mount one of these and then hunch over it. I just mounted a bit of 6x2 where I wanted it and screwed it to that with coach screws. I can still access the rear tilt angle adjustment knob. Setup was quick and easy, basically you just need to know your angles and install the right wheel and you're good to go.

I wasn't impressed with the standard (preinstalled) chain stop/adjust pawl. It had two immediately apparent flaws: when pulling the chain back against it, it would cause the cutter to tip up slightly; and it had lousy clearance for getting chains in and out of the vice. The kit comes with a taller version - for 3/4" pitch chain - and this fixed both issues perfectly. I can't see any reason not to use this for all chains?

Other reviewers have commented that the main return spring is not strong enough - I agree. It's even more of a factor with the hydraulic clamp, as it doesn't self-return high enough to release the clamp. It's a minor annoyance to have to actually lift the head all the way up after each tooth but a strange oversight by the manufacturer and I will definitely find a way to boost the return spring.

Otherwise it was easy to use, even fun. It only took a minute or two to clean up some banged-up chains, and they certainly look good although I haven't gone cutting yet.

I'll report back if I have anything else to add as I learn more, just thought this info might be useful to anyone contemplating a purchase.

Great review, Cider!

I've also had problems with the teeth "rocking" back and lifting, resulting in inconsistent angles and depths. I'm going to give the included pawl a try! Thanks for the tip!

Yes, the main spring is a bit puny. I'll also upgrade it when the time comes.
Really is a fun and easy-to-use unit. I must say that I almost exclusively hand-file for myself now, and only use the grinder when a customer drops off 20 or 30 chains...

Mike