Lubricating a Chain Saw Sharpener

[matthewsx]

Thanks for the suggestion about Kool mist. I'll look into that or similar products and see how that works.

What will I gain? The satisfaction of doing a job well done. If I can do some task better, I will - it is how I am - and won't settle for bad work. The number of chains I sharpen is irrelevant. I'm surprised you even asked this question - isn't this whole website about doing it well yourself? Somebody recently spent around 10K here for a PM lathe - and is is setting about learning how to use it. I think what he is doing is outstanding! Does it make financial sense? I'll let you answer that.

I hand file my chains more than a few times between using the grinder. I've also offered to sharpen chains for some friends and I'd hate to return one with soft teeth (most of them know very little about sharpening). I've watched garden shop guys take a huge bite off the teeth - and Amish small motor shops do the same. I've had chains returned with half of the tooth gone.

Nuff said.

Didn’t mean to offend.

 

[tq60]

If you set the stop where it just touches the chain, then turn back just a bit, it will stop just above.

There is enough slop to allow it to go ast the stop with gentle pull.

You use an intermittent tap like pull so it only grinds for a tiny fraction of a second.

Less heat.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[mcostello]

I use a hand held Dremel and it does not hardly take anything off. A ground edge is sharper than a filed edge.

 

[Geswearf]

The idea of just an air blast is certainly worth pursuing. No mess except it will send the grinding dust even farther away.

Have you tried different grinding wheels? Have you sharpened more than one brand of chain?

I don't know about an air blast. I've not heard of air being used to cool metal machining operations (but me not knowing is meaningless). I've used a surface grinder and that floods the metal with fluid - which is why I started this thread asking about that.

I have Oregon, Stihl, and Baileysonline.com Woodland Pro chains. I think that all good brand name chains will give good service and are made of decent steel. I don't cut enough to be able to give you an informed answer, but I know that heating any cutting edge to a blue color is not going to be good. While I don't do that often, even a now and then compromised tooth gives me pause.

No, I've not tried other grinding wheels.

 

[chatter chatter cut cut]

cant sharpen carbide? a diamond wheel sure will.dont breathe the dust

 

[Geswearf]

cant sharpen carbide? a diamond wheel sure will.dont breathe the dust

Diamond wheels are available for my sharpener. Expensive but they last a l o n g time.

 

[piper184]

Diamond will definitely sharpen carbide, I use it all the time on my lathe tools. I was only relating what "the guy at the store" told my friend so he can sell him new chains. Some people don't want to learn...
I wouldn't want the mess of flood coolant on my sharpener (not sure how water tight the motor is) but the mist coolant idea is intriguing.
A color change in the tooth shows the loss of temper. Light yellow probably ok, blue would make it soft enough to dull easily. At least that is my modest experience with knife making and sharpening other tools. The teeth were probably tempered to a specific hardness after heat treat, then tumbled to make them shiny before assembly into the chain. Just a guess...