Simington Square Ground Chain Sharpener

[eagles55]

I recently aquired a roll of square ground chain that fits my 044 on craigslist for a great price. I noticed today there is a listing for a Simington Square ground Sharpener model S-450 on E-bay. I have a large quantity of dead pine trees that have to come down on my property, and wondering if its worth it to stay with square ground or just grind the chain round with the grinder I already have? Is square ground that much faster of a cut?

 

[Philbert]

Square ground chain is an acquired taste, that requires special upkeep. If you are not sure, you can try a loop, and always sell the rest back on CraigsList or here on the trading post if you are not up for it

But if you mention a good deal on eBay here, it will probably be gone before you go back to look for it. Fair warning.

Philbert

 

[Clint C.]

I recently aquired a roll of square ground chain that fits my 044 on craigslist for a great price. I noticed today there is a listing for a Simington Square ground Sharpener model S-450 on E-bay. I have a large quantity of dead pine trees that have to come down on my property, and wondering if its worth it to stay with square ground or just grind the chain round with the grinder I already have? Is square ground that much faster of a cut?

Check out my just posted square ground vs. round ground test comparison. I had the exact same question and decided to do the testing myself. Long story short I tested Stihl round ground full skip chisel chain (sharpened by me on my Oregon 511 AX), Oregon round ground full skip chisel chain (sharpened by me) and then a brand new Stihl square ground full skip chisel chain. The results showed that the square ground chain was faster but only by 8%. In the cut the square ground chain did not feel any faster.

I am wanting to buy that new Simington square grinder from Madsen's but it is $1,000. How do you justify spending $1,000 on an 8% gain. When really I only cut firewood that most of the time has been on the ground with dirt and rocks.

 

[redoakneck]

Not worth it unless you are cookie cutting or very wealthy, IMHO.

Most time cutting firewood is moving and positioning wood, clearing brush away from the wood, etc, .

If you want to save time processing firewood, spend money on a splitter.

 

[Greenthorn]

Square ground chain is stupid and a passing fad......
Having said that....did I mention I'm very wealthy..

 

[blades]

I have a customer that must have a square grinder some where in their shop- no one there knows how to use it though as the evidence comes here in short order.

 

[Terry L]

You have to be real careful comparing different sharpening methods. Raker height differences need to be eliminated, and that is difficult if you don't have a raker grinder. My Silvey raker grinder has been worth 100 times what I paid for it. Most square sharpening of chisel chain is not correct. Guess what? Most sharpening of chisel chain round, either with a file or a machine is not correct either. We've moved over 15,000 cords of u-cut wood off our own property, mostly oak, and I have sharpened over 1/2 of those chains. I've offered to make this bet at least a dozen times: I take your sharpened chisel chain, sharpen it right, and mine will out cut your sharpening in the same wood, same bar, same powerhead, same chain, by at least 2 to 1. I am frequently willing to bet $5,000 on that if I first get get to look at your sharpening. If you know what you are doing I won't make the bet. So if you use a Silvey, Simington, Foley, Ziegelmeyer, Doerr or other grinder that sharpens chisel chain square I won't bet you. There is a Stihl shop nearby that is clueless on sharpening, and a mutual customer says my sharpening out cuts the saw shops by a 10 to 1 margin. I generally don't offer this bet unless I know my sharpening will out cut the person I make the bet with by at least 5 to 1. Believe it or not, I find piss poor sharpenings all the time where this is the case-and many are from "professional" sawshops.
I believe that a correctly sharpened chisel chain, sharpened square will cut at least 25% faster than that chain sharpened round.

 

[Clint C.]

You have to be real careful comparing different sharpening methods. Raker height differences need to be eliminated, and that is difficult if you don't have a raker grinder. My Silvey raker grinder has been worth 100 times what I paid for it. Most square sharpening of chisel chain is not correct. Guess what? Most sharpening of chisel chain round, either with a file or a machine is not correct either. We've moved over 15,000 cords of u-cut wood off our own property, mostly oak, and I have sharpened over 1/2 of those chains. I've offered to make this bet at least a dozen times: I take your sharpened chisel chain, sharpen it right, and mine will out cut your sharpening in the same wood, same bar, same powerhead, same chain, by at least 2 to 1. I am frequently willing to bet $5,000 on that if I first get get to look at your sharpening. If you know what you are doing I won't make the bet. So if you use a Silvey, Simington, Foley, Ziegelmeyer, Doerr or other grinder that sharpens chisel chain square I won't bet you. There is a Stihl shop nearby that is clueless on sharpening, and a mutual customer says my sharpening out cuts the saw shops by a 10 to 1 margin. I generally don't offer this bet unless I know my sharpening will out cut the person I make the bet with by at least 5 to 1. Believe it or not, I find piss poor sharpenings all the time where this is the case-and many are from "professional" sawshops.
I believe that a correctly sharpened chisel chain, sharpened square will cut at least 25% faster than that chain sharpened round.

Good post. Funny thing is I did end up buying a brand new Simington square grinder and absolutely love it. The square ground chain definitely does cut faster and smoother than round ground chain. I need to do a new test between my round ground chisel chain and my square ground chisel chain.

It sounds like you are like me and take pride and extra effort in your chain sharpening. When I sharpen my chains I use a digital caliper and make sure the right and left cutters are as close as possible. I then use the Oregon 511AX grinder to take the rakers down and to grind out the gullets if they need it.

To me I want the sharpest and best cutting chain when I do cut wood.

Happy woodcutting and keep up the good work.

 

[blades]

Yep use a caliper here also. 2 - 511ax, one set for each side. Would like to have a square grinder- but I am not about to burn that kind of green stamps on a whim.