I like to mill my own lumber, and to do that I use an Alaskan chainsaw mill. Sharp saw chains are a must if you do this sort of work. I wondered if the Harbor Freight chainsaw chain sharpener was worth the money. It’s not an expensive tool, but I also didn’t want to waste money. I have always hand sharpened by chain teeth, but I finally bit the bullet and gave the tool a try.

My first impressions were that it looks and feels cheap. It’s a plastic housing, with a grinding wheel. The vise is essentially a bicycle brake. It does have a miter gauge so that’s nice. I also didn’t expect a lot in terms of quality parts from a $30 electric tool. I have two milling chains that are incredibly dull. They are so dull that they couldn’t cut a foot into a log last time I tried to use them. I’m going to sharpen them using the electric chain sharpener from Harbor Freight and then mill a maple log to see how they do.

Sharpening

Ripping chains are usually sharpened at a 10-15 degree angle. I set the miter gauge and the depth stop, and then started grinding every other tooth. It took maybe a few minutes total. Then, I pivoted the miter gauge to 10 degrees the other direction and sharpened the other teeth. The result was what looked to be a sharp chain in around five minutes.

The Test

I had a maple log that needed to be milled. It was not a big guy; about 15” diameter and around eight feet long. But, it’s a good enough test to know how the sharpener performed. It cut through that log like butter! A much bigger test appeared on the horizon. The city cut down a large maple tree. It was 30” in diameter at the trunk and about 42” at the top. It was so big that I had to trim the width so my saw could fit (I’m using a 36” bar). This tree kicked my butt! There were a million nails inside it and I went through four chains just to slab half of the log. I grabbed the electric sharpener and touched up a chain. I was able to mill the rest of the log in just a few hours.

Results

This sharpener is 100% worth the money. It’s not fancy. It feels cheap. It is cheap. But, it works well and I would definitely buy it again.

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