just got my chain back from being sharpened.....

[Paddy]

just got my chain back from being sharpened, and the teeth are nearly ground to the limit!
This was a new chain and was just starting to show signs it needed sharpening. normally, I just pull out the dremal and touch it up. Because I'm dropping trees, I didn't want it to cut in a curve.

I took it to a local shop that has been in the biz for decades. Is this common? any comments?

 

[WranglerX]

I would not think so... Might have been "shop rat" who was untrained they had doing it.....

I get 10-15 sharpening ( at least) by untrained technician (me) on a chain with mickey mouse HF sharpener....

I would go back and ask for explanation...

Dale

 

[Industrial Toys]

Some guys in a hurry do brutalize their chains. Other guys take more care. Some guys may even see it as being profitable practice if they can sell you another chain sooner.

 

[ericm979]

I take off just enough to get back to clean chrome on the tops of the teeth and to even out both sides if I'm using the grinder. I get a lot of sharpenings per chain. I have too many chains to keep track of the number.

I think a lot of people running grinders take off way too much.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I guess it's also possible that the shop simply keeps the machine adjusted to the worst chain and be dammed the others! In fact, the more I think about that, it makes perfect sense for many shops, with some lacky doing the sharpening.

 

[MossRoad]

Probably would be worth asking them why they took so much off. However, they'll probably tell you they took them all down to the same as the shortest one, or you had a damaged tooth, etc... Or maybe they'll just replace the chain to keep your business. Only way to find out is ask.

As for myself:
That's why I sharpen my own. $5-$10 bucks to sharpen a $29 chain at the hardware store.

A harbor freight sharpener is $29, and I get 10-15 times per chain easily. Just 3 times and I break even. 10 times and I triple my money in savings. And that doesn't count the many times I just touch them up with a hand file.

I'm not saying the hardware store does a bad job, either. They do a fine job. It's just one of those things that doesn't make economic sense to me.

 

[Paddy]

Thanks for all your replies. I'll ask before I have them sharpen again, "just a little off the top"

 

[kenmbz]

I have been hand sharpening for the last 4 years. So far pretty good. Started out a bit rough though
Get the oregon files, they don;t last forever, but they work in my little clip in holder. For rakers I use a raker measure with the small flat file.
There are days where I need to sharpen the chain more than once with these dying Ash trees, some of the wood is damp rot, some dry sawdust and the rest normal wood.

 

[s219]

I have an Oregon grinder that does a great job, but I rarely need to use it. I hand file several times a day while cutting. I only take a chain to the grinder when it gets damaged, or has been filed so many times it needs a serious reset back to symmetry. You need the right touch when running the grinder or you really can shorten the life of a chain. Its definitely not something you use routinely. Even with light grinding, you still take off a lot more material than filing does.

 

[fruitcakesa]

I have an Oregon grinder that does a great job, but I rarely need to use it. I hand file several times a day while cutting. I only take a chain to the grinder when it gets damaged, or has been filed so many times it needs a serious reset back to symmetry. You need the right touch when running the grinder or you really can shorten the life of a chain. Its definitely not something you use routinely. Even with light grinding, you still take off a lot more material than filing does.[/QUOTE]

I have an Oregon grinder too and I agree with you but my old arthritic hands complain when I hand sharpen {or grip and work anything for that matter}.
So I sacrifice some chain life for the ease and speed of grinding.

 

[swampy6]

Did they give you the wrong chain?

 

[Mat4644]

It's common, shops butcher them all the time.

 

[old and tired]

Did they keep the new chain for themselves, and just handed you an old one that was hanging on the wall??

 

[Industrial Toys]

I never sharpen a chain on a saw. I have a pretty good sharpener, copy of an Oregon, that I must start using on account of my friend/small engine customer that used to sharpen them moved away.

But I'm a guy that can't cut anything staright with a hacksaw or handsaw to save my life, so never thought I would get the angles right for hand filing.

 

[RandyT]

It's common, shops butcher them all the time.

And this is unfortunate. There is no practical reason for a shop to be taking off that much material in one sharpening. For a mower/saw business sharpening chains is a loosing money situation and there is very little to no profit is selling chain. There is no reason why the tech can't set up the sharpener to take off just the damaged part of the chain. In most cases there is no reason to take off more than about .010 per sharpening. Been doing it for 23 years, and I don't burn cutters, and have been known to get over a dozen sharpening out of a customer chain with an electric chain grinder.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Gosh, You almost make it sound like there are employees out there that still care, or even care to think about their work.

 

[YLee Kioti]

The HF sharpener has a big following on u-toob......on how to tweak and make fine adjustments prior to sharpening.......I like it because it let's me know I'm in good OCD company....
Also HF has a nice saw blade sharpener and yup, lots of videos on tweaking those as well.......
I just learned this, so don't jump on me, but there is a line on top of the tooth for the limit of material left for use.
Who knew???:confused3:

 

[Industrial Toys]

My friend showed me how to use mine before he left. I forgot almost everything.

You need the right wheel for the particular chain.

You need to keep the wheel dressed and use a plastic gauge thing for that.

You need to take down the guides too periodically.

 

[bobmisi]

When I sharpen I take off the minimum to get the chain sharp. What I hate is when someone brings me a chain to sharpen that they have hand filed and all the teeth are different lengths and every one has a different angle. Most times I have to sharpen the chain twice to get it right. There is no money in that. If you get your chain back and it is blue and the chain has burnt metal hanging off the teeth or just blue, the person doesn't know what they are doing and you should find someone else to do your work. Sharpening a chain is very simple and also most shops sharpen all chains to the same angles even though they should have different angles for different gauge and pitch chain. Not many places care about the customer or their reputation any more. When you sharpen to a set angle you have to grind more off a customers chain to get it to your angle not what the customer brought it.

 

[4570Man]

I could put a chain on backwards and cut a sidewalk and do as good as most of these “sharpening” shops. In their defense you can only sharpen a good chain. If it has damage or has already been poorly sharpened it takes a lot of work to make right without ruining it and the shops aren’t going to do that.