So Are Electric Chainsaw Sharpeners Any Good?
Are they any good?
Nowadays, many electric chain sharpeners are considered good enough to be preferred to the old manual chain sharpening methods.
This is because they do a decent job but require less time and effort to perform the task!
Of course this general view is not universally accepted.
It goes without saying that those who have perfected the art of sharpening a chainsaw chain manually with a file see no reason to change.
They have a point!
However, for the general public, and especially those people who are new to chainsaws, learning how to manually sharpen a chainsaw chain is not high on their list of priorities!
Enter the electric chainsaw chain sharpener!`
How Good are Electric Chainsaw Chain Sharpeners
Today there are a multitude of electric chainsaw chain sharpeners to choose from.
If you are new to the chainsaw world, this array of options can be quite mind blowing.
There are:
- battery operated ones
- corded ones that need to be plugged into a power source
- hand held electric sharpeners
- bench mounted sharpeners
- wall mounted ones
- Sharpeners for well under $100
- Other chainsaw chain sharpeners that go for over $400
So is a chain sharpener that retails for $400, four times better than one that goes for $100?
The answer to that and other similar questions lies in knowing what you need the sharpener to do for you, and where.
More about that later.
What Can Electric Chainsaw Sharpeners Get Wrong
These sharpeners do everything faster. They sharpen your chain faster because the filing function is driven by an electric motor, not a human hand.
The upshot of this is that if you get the set up wrong, lots of bad things are going to happen very quickly!
It is probably not too much of an understatement to say that, with one of these machines, you can probably ruin a perfectly good chain faster than you can sharpen it!
Some people complain that the fast speed heats up the chain metal and this causes it to lose its hardness.
It also changes the color a bit – hence the term “bluing” (usually only the tips of the cutting part).
When this happens the thought is that this deterioration in hardness will result in the chain becoming blunt faster.
Its a debate that doesn’t seem clear cut as opinions differ.
But lets agree that, if you are going to use an electric chainsaw chain sharpener, you need to:
- Understand how the tool works
- Know what you need to do to get the chain sharpened without causing damage
- Don’t be heavy handed
- Take it slowly until you understand the nuances of using the tool.
Which Electric Sharpener is best for you?
The answer to that question will depend on how often, and how many, chainsaw chains you need to sharpen on a regular basis.
Most people that own one, maybe two, chainsaws that they use from time to time would probably not need anything more fancy than a small handheld electric sharpener.
Oregon has a small sharpener that is worth looking at while the Sharp Pebble sharpener and the Seesii Cordless Chain sharpener are examples that you could also consider.
As the number of chainsaws and frequency of sharpening increase, so the capacity of your electrical chain sharpener needs to increase.
This is where the bench and wall mounted machines step in and take over.
Click here to see the Oregon range that caters for a wide range of users.
Conclusion
The wide range of electrical chainsaw chain sharpeners on the market indicates that they not only work, but they are pretty good at getting the job done.
It’s really just a case of deciding what your needs are and then choosing the appropriate one!
PS For more chainsaw insights and info, click here.
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