Oregon chain saw sharpener or one from hf

[bobcatdan]

Sometime in the near future I want to get a bench mount chain saw sharpener. I'm no lumberjack, but I cut my fair share. I've been thinking about Oregon's 510A sharpener for aroung $300. I have seen them in person, looked nice. Made it in Italy which is better than china in my book. Or should I just save $270 buy one at hf. I'm not going to use it everyday, but I like only buying once.

 

[188slo50]

If you use wood alot for heat and plan on using for a long while I would buy the Oregon. I think in the long run it will pay for itself and you can by every part if something breaks were the HF you just toss it and buy a new one.lol

 

[pro machine Engineering]

I use the 510a oregon. I have had it for 3 years and it runs great. If you look around there are several other name brand ones on the marked that are just like the oregon That may be cheaper. A friend of mine uses a carlton and they are identical except for color. The bad thing with the HF one is it has slop in the head and not as many adjustments for sharpening chains. When chains are not uniform they wear uneven cut crooked and end up costing more time and money in the long run go with the oregon style you will be glad you did. 30 chains sharpened and it just paid for itself

 

[Sterff]

We have an Oregon one that I got from Northern Tool. It works good for me...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_351196_351196

 

[justanengineer]

I grew up in a sawmill (thats been running 55 yrs now) and trust me when I say the majority of pros still hand file their chains. Considering it only takes a few minutes to touch up the chain, and that both files and replacement chain are cheap, investing in a "sharpener" isnt worth it. Also something to consider - hand sharpened chains will last 10x longer than machine sharpened ones.

Buy a file and learn to use it.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I have a Stihl sharpener and they work just as good as a pro with a hand file. The trick is not to over sharpen the chain and ease the stone in and out of the edge several times to avoid overheating the edge and ruining the temper. I like the Oregon sharpeners also but got a nice deal on the Stihl buying a bunch of gear in a neighborhood buy after the tornados this spring.

As noted above, make sure whatever you buy has enough adjustments to sharpen what comes by. Mine will do .404, 3/8, .325 and 3/8 pico (all of them are in use is by my neighbors) and is very tight and precise.

 

[larry_g]

I am of the thought that if you cannot sharpen a tool by hand and know what all the angles are and why the angle is there then you better have the best tool available to do the sharpening for you. If the HF unit is a bit loose and you don't know a good cutter from one that is off a bit then how are you going to make it work? You best buy the Oregon unit and have at least a chance of dialing in the angles and assuming the tool will do the job. If you are already hand filing and know the difference then you can probably make either unit work. Me I hand file and have for more than 30 years. I heat with wood and have for those 30 years. There is a difference in chains for hard and soft wood and they get filed a bit different.

lg
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