HP chainsaw chain sharpener. It worked better than I expe...

JD Seller

Well-known Member
I did some work for a friend last winter/spring. I did not want anything for the work and did not take anything. He sent me a gift certificate to Harbor Freight.

A few weeks ago I happened to be close to the HF store in Cedar Rapids. So I stopped in to see if there was anything I would want to have to use. I bought a Chainsaw chains sharpener and a 20 ton hydraulic press.

The press is fine for lighter jobs I have at the house. I still take any real stubborn stuff to the main shop at the farm.

I just got around to putting the chainsaw chain sharpener together tonight. I was trimming brush along a fence today and dulled a couple of chains. The sharpener is not a power house which I actually like, in that you don't heat the drag up too hot. You have to slow grind the drag. It is not as stiff a mount as my Oregon sharpener. For just touching up a drag I actually like the extra motion it allows. You can kind of grind the form into a wrecked drag.

So all an all it will work good for just touching up dulled chains. I change chains out as soon as they stop cutting well. I want to be able to just touch the chain up with a grinder. IF I have one that really gets hammered I will take it to the farm and use the Oregon. If you really have to take the drag down it would be slow going on the HF grinder.

The HF one would work well for most homeowners that just sharpen their own chains. I think I paid $35-40 for it. About what you would pay to have a couple of chains sharpened around here anymore.
 
Problem is - it cannot properly sharpen chisel chains. No adjustment for it unless HF has changed them machine. The chain-vise needs to tilt 10 degrees off the standard 90 degrees to do most chisel chains.
 
I had bought one way back when one was on sale for $20 (never seen it at that price since). Use it a lot and have been pretty happy with it. Just yesterday my saw wasn't cutting well but I kept looking at the chain. It felt and looked sharp so I couldn't figure it out. I had enough and decided to sharpen it anyway. When I looked at it with a magnifying headset I couldn't believe it was cutting at all. Used the sharpener and its back to being like a hot knife through butter.
 
I have a similar model sold by Northern Hyd. They are okay for evening up rocked chains, but they will never give a really good grind, much less do as well as a good file.
 
JD Seller,
I like HF's 20 ton press, does what I need to do.

I purchased a HF circular saw blade sharpner. It does better than I expected, expecially on non carbide blades. I like the non carbide blades because they are thinner and uses less power from saw, especially on the cordless saw.
George
 
Yes, they work more than well enough, in my opinion much better than most can hand file. Your"s will work even better when you switch the stone over to an Oregon or other quality Mfg.

JD is technically correct about the vise and I am not promoting sloppy work but in practice hardly anyone worries about keeping the stone correctly profiled yet the profile of the stone affects the underside of the cutter to a degree MANY times greater than the tilt angle of the vise. What that vise tilt adjustment affects is the angle under the top of the cutter. It is affected to a far greater degree by the shape of the stone than the vise tilt and the stone shape degrades from tooth one until it it dressed. Now, ask your saw shop guy when the last time he dressed the stone on the chain grinder and be prepared for a blank stare.

You can sharpen your chisel chains at 0 degree tilt and with a new stone your chain will be closer to being exactly correct than one that was ground at 10 with a stone that has ground two chains and not been dressed.
 

Yeah - I bought one on sale about a year ago but I'm still using a file. I guess it's all about teaching new tricks to old dogs or some such. Once I can't or won't use a file to make it cut I reckon I'll dig it out and try it 8)
 
You may call it a "technical" necessity, I'll call it just plain needed. I have a HF grinder. Even with the proper profile on the stone it's not going to properly sharpen my semi-chisel and full-chisel chains that are 30 degrees and 10 degrees off 90 at the vise. Can I grind away and change their original angle to match the HF grinder? Yes. I'd rather match the grinder to the chains though. My Italian-made Oregon grinder does that fine. 40 years ago I had a Stihl chain grinder. Pretty high-tech with a electric-operated closing chain vise. It TOO lacked that adjustable vise but 40 years ago - it wasn't a big concern. At the time all we were sharpening were 1/2", .404, 7/16" and 3/8" round-chipper chains.
 

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