DIAMOND IMPREGNATED SHARPENING STONES

R

RANCHER

I've been sharpening chains for 30 years now and I've tried a lot of gadgets over the years. But I keep looking for better products. I thought I would pass this on.

I've been sharpening free-hand with a hand file for the last 20 years. But, last year I tried the EZE-LAP diamond bit (Oregon is making one now too; saw it at Bailey's) with a Dremmel cordless and I think this the best, fastest, and cheapest way to sharpen my chains.

http://www.eze-lap.com/product/chainsaw.htm
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/ToolDetail.aspx?pid=10.8V+Lithium-ion+Cordless

I have both 5/32" and 7/32". The 5/32" cost me $7.00 at my local saw shop in Novato, CA. It doesn't loose it's diameter, because the diamond dust is glued with an industrial adhesive onto a steel shaft. I was skeptical about how long it would last though.

I've had the 5/32" bit for over a year now and I've gotten at least 50 sharpenings out of it and it's still working great. I'm amazed... I run them at a little bit higher RPM
(6,500 - 8,000) than the manufacturer recommends.

These bits don't take too much metal; they don't ruin the teeth; my chains last longer; they appear to be cheaper in the long run than hand-files; I also use them to square up the damage on some of the cutters, which I occasionally get.

Great product.
 
I never tried the grinding wheel machines. I know some folks like them, some don't. A friend of mine takes his MS310 down to be sharpened and the saw shop uses one of those commercial grinders. He says they take a lot off; but they sure do sharpen well; and they get the angles perfect, every time. His chains don't last as long as mine.

I often wonder if the method I've evolved into is faster or better in some way. My guess is that my way is faster, but less accurate on the angles (basically free-hand); probably just as sharp; probably less expensive; I don't have to take the chain off the bar, and I don't have to mount anything onto the bar, clamp it, sharpen, and move it to the next tooth.

There are also two different camps when it comes to tooth size. Stihl recommends filing each tooth down to match the size of the smallest tooth on the chain. I disagree; but that's what I think the saw shop is doing to my friends' 310. I use the progressive method of filing my rakers, which evens out the bite on all the cutters based on their individual size rather than the constant method, which tries to set everything at the same depth no matter what (Stihl also recommends the constant method). Obviously, I'm in the other camp on this one too.

I guess that's why they have all those different knobs on the candy machine!
 
It may be ideal to make all the teeth the same size as the smallest one but not very practical. I go for uniformity in depth and angle. Im not sure the size of the teeth matter much. A few are always going to end up short if you hit something. No sense in wasting all that chain to match them.
 
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