Tool review: Cummins Tools Chain sharpener

[twstanley]

I bought one of these yesterday at the local Cummins Industrial tools store after cutting some dead trees down on Sunday and realizing I was going to have to drop several chains off to get sharpened ( at $5 bucks each it adds up ).



link to tool

The tool was $39 plus tax, I mounted it on my workbench last night and started messing with it. I did end up putting a washer on the mounting rod for the little metal flip up/down lever that keeps the chain positioned to take out some side to side play but other than that it seems to work great!

In no time at all I had two freshly sharpend chains, it was nice to be able to just touch the tooth with the sharpening wheel, I know in the past some of my chains I dropped off for sharpening came back with a good bit of metal ground off.

Only negatives were that one bit that needed a washer to take the slop out, and the thing is almost all made of plastic except for the bolts and the motor and sharpening wheel.

I will have to see how it holds up long term. I can buy several and throw them away when they wear out for the cost of the Oregon or Stihl one though.

[Pat]

Tim, Thanks for the initial tool use report. I have one of those HF chainsaw sharpener thingies, new in the box. I just haven't gotten around to it. I will proceed with more alacrity and confidence since reading your report.

I have tapped a potential source of a significant number of large trees that will need to be stripped of their limbs and readied for the mill. My networking has produced the intel about a guy who has cleared some riverside property by pushing the trees out with a dozer. I may get access to all I want. I have a friend/neighbor who will help me as he wants some smaller straight limbs to use as fence stays (Eastern Red Cedar). We will both undoubtedly need to sharpen a loop or two during the process.

Now I need to get that sucker mounted and try my luck. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I bought a manual jig with a small round file and never figured ouit how to use it correctly. You have given me hope that the HF unit will be easy to use.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

The tool looks interesting. Glad to hear that it works well.

For years I've been using a manual tool made by a company called Gamn, no not Garmin. This tool clamps to the bar and has a stop to hold the chain link in place. Sharpening is done with a hand cranked flameshaped carbide cutter. It takes about 15 seconds for each cutter. As the jig is clamped to the bar and the cutter runs in a steel bushing it would be hard to screw it up. Sharpen a cutter, retract the carbide cutter, slide the chain forward to the next chain link.

Works well and the cost was only about $30. Of course that was 15 years ago, and guess what? The company's out of business. But I don't care as I'll never wear it out.

Here's a link to a 1981 Mother Earth news article that shows the unit: Mother Earth News

[twstanley]

Gary, that sounds like a good tool to have, I would love to have one like that for touching up a chain in the field.

But...all the ones I found were more of a free hand thing, and while I am sure I could master sharpening that way if I did it every day, I don't do it often enough to get competent, thus my reliance on tools that can do it for me.

[GaryM]

It does work really well. A person who sharpens several times a day can probably do as good a job with less mechanical help, but if you're like me it only gets done a few times a year.

The manufacturer apparently is out of business. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[egon]

Gary:

I've got one of the red one's shown in the link. It's long since been relegated to some well remembered but forgotten spot in the shop.

Found I did not have the patience to use it. Doing all my chains freehand now. Some days I get bummers but most times they cut well. Practice? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

A friend had a similar one, but in yellow as I recall. I tried it a few times but had problems getting the hang of it. One issue I remember was that the guide rod at the top did not move too freely through it's guides. Made it difficult to use. Seems that the bar wanted to move around also. Guess it needed to be anchored in place.

I've not used my little Gamn unit in a few years as the chainsaw didn't get much use. Now that I'm in a rural setting I can see both units being used more.

The book mentioned in the link I posted (Barnacle Parp's Chain Saw Guide) is an excellant book with lots of information about chainsaws and their use. My copy is about 20 years old. I wonder if there's a later edition?

[IowaMan]

I have a "Nick the Grinder" from HF. It is a swell little grinder. I modified it to sharpen Bandsaw blades for my mill. Bought a red HF unit for my brother when we made his mill, and it vibrated so sent it back. The replacement unit is ok.
I had to make a new mount/base to sharpen bandsaw blades.