I'm thinking about getting one of their bench mounted electric models (410, 520, 620)

Not cheap, but I'm a bit tired of having the shop over grind and butcher the crap out of a chain in three sharpenings. That obviously has a cost as well.

I do not have an electric model sharpener but do have this one https://www.acehardware.com/de...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It works great and only a few file strokes gets it factory sharp. After setting up the angles needed, it takes about 10 minutes to sharpen a 16" chain.

Some years back* I had the same problem of goons doing more damage to chains than helping ,would have been fine for making crooked curved cuts.
I tried files and other gizmos but couldn't get happy with the results.

Back then the Oregon and made in Italy Efco looked to be clones of each other. I went with the Efco that was a little better priced at Baileys.

After some practice on old chains I got very happy with it. Still use it some.

* time is fun when having flies, that was 40 years ago.

I do not have one, as I use carbide chains almost exclusively. But the places that I drop those off to get sharpened all have an Oregon sharpener of one kind or another. FWIW>

There have been several good reviews of the Harbor Freight electric chain sharpener on youtube. If there's one nearby, it may be worth trying one out.

Save yourself about $600 and get one of these.

Stihl sharpener

Wranglerstar (Youtube) has a good review on it.

Quick, easy, much better on the pocketbook, and does a great job.

Had the same problem years ago with a local Stihl dealer years ago. I was working a lot of overtime and did not have extra time so I dropped off two chains only to have them butchered and they also turned the teeth blue and did not do the rakers. I could not believe what I was look at when I picked them up.

Bench mounted electric chain sharpeners are a very good way to go. You get your very important tooth angle consistency with the proper technique. I would think the Oregon bench sharpener would be at the top of the food chain.

Years ago I picked up a off brand bench mounted electric it servered me well for many years. The motor finally died last winter so I picked up a $29 Harbor Freight electric chain sharpener and mounted it on a 2x12x19 chunk of wood. With the right technique it works good for me. I don't know about Oregon one but the cheap ones you have to push down on the tooth while applying the brake before grinding. Something most youtube reviews on the harbor freight and cheap ones don't do or show. The Harbor Freight won't do the rakers but that is no big deal to check and adjust with a file in a separate operation.

Every every 2 or 3 sharpenings before sharpening on the bench grinder I do go in and touch up the gullet by hand with the correct round file to keep the C shape.

I used an Oregon Sharpener for 15 years or so. It worked very well but it finally died and I replaced it with a $40 one from Harbor Freight. I hate to tell you this but I've been using this one for about six years now and it works just as well.

I bought a HF electric sharpener after hand filing for a few years. It works very well and is not expensive.

I bought an Oregon chain sharpener years ago used and it has been performing excellent for years now.
Never any trouble.

I bought the chain saw sharpener kit for my Dremel tool. Best money ever spent. Have sharpened my chainsaws and many others for years.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Save yourself about $600 and get one of these.

Stihl sharpener

Wranglerstar (Youtube) has a good review on it.

Quick, easy, much better on the pocketbook, and does a great job.

^^^This. I've had a few sharpeners, and this one by far is hands down the best. Just make sure you get the right one for the size of your chain.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Stihl sharpener

Pferd also makes these at about half the price of the Stihl branded product. They work great. I don't use my electric sharpener anymore. These work better/faster and take off much less material, meaning the chain lasts longer.

No experience with sharpeners, no.
That said, I paid many years ago for a shop to sharpen a chain... once. Didn't care for the results so I simply did them myself freehand from then on. Not hard to do and I soon got really really good at it.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Kook:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Stihl sharpener

Pferd also makes these at about half the price of the Stihl branded product. They work great. I don't use my electric sharpener anymore. These work better/faster and take off much less material, meaning the chain lasts longer.

I've got the feeling those work great for touch ups, but maybe not so well when you accidentally get into a nail or the dirt. If I understand the way the Oregon models work, you could set the wheel stop to take off no material at all, so setting it for minimal engagement is also possible.

Manual sharpening is simply not in the same league as machined sharpened in terms of time, and results. I have no idea the volume you are talking about, I cut trees for a living and use lots of chains. There is not a chance that me sharpening chains manually makes any sense. If you have a couple then fine, you have dozens and dozens then no. In actuality when you look at the cost of chain the average homeowner should just toss them if they aren't just a touch up.

I hate to admit it but I just buy a new chain, it's such a pain in the ass to file each tooth and they never seem to be as sharp or last very long.
and the dam files don't last long either. I wish they would come out with a device that would sharpen it as you go.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
I hate to admit it but I just buy a new chain, it's such a pain in the ass to file each tooth and they never seem to be as sharp or last very long.
and the dam files don't last long either.

I know guys that do that, but there are downsides. In terms of cost, the Oregon 520 sharpener would be about 10 chains. Depending on how much you use your saw, that may be a month or a lifetime.

More importantly, I just don't like using dull chains. Unless you are going to throw the chain after a day's work (maybe less if you hit something hard), you are going to spend a lot of time using dull, beat up chains. That is hard on the saw and the operator. It is also much more dangerous than using a sharp saw.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Kook:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Stihl sharpener

Pferd also makes these at about half the price of the Stihl branded product. They work great. I don't use my electric sharpener anymore. These work better/faster and take off much less material, meaning the chain lasts longer.

I've got the feeling those work great for touch ups, but maybe not so well when you accidentally get into a nail or the dirt. If I understand the way the Oregon models work, you could set the wheel stop to take off no material at all, so setting it for minimal engagement is also possible.

I have one of these and used it after cutting up a neighbors tree that fell across my fence this spring. Cutting around the fence I know I hit the ground more than once. I bought a new chain and was going to have the old one sharpened but bought this sharpener instead. It made my old chain like new, I haven’t even put the new chain on yet.

I got a few of these sharpening bits for my Dremel and they are awesome.

https://www.amazon.com/HTS-111...id=1606668226&sr=8-1

Only need to hit the top of the tooth with a flat file to lower the depth of bite every other sharpening...