Lidl chain grinder

[Woodworks]

I keep seeing folk say these are not decent units and only suitable for hobby use but thats not been my experience.

 

Sure they are not the last word in precision engineering but are more than capable of doing a pro job of sharpening chains presuming they are all of similar quality to mine. The main pivot is good quality with minimum play if any. The chain support is rudimentary but adjustable and consistent. The weakest part is the chain stop as its a bit flexible. They way to work around this is to put a little bit of tension on the chain by hand when grinding as in picture 1. This takes out any slop and again has proved consistent when done like this. Picture 2 is a freshly sharpened chain off the Lidl grinder and 3 is a brand new Oregon 21LPX the same as I have sharpened. The variation in cutter length from the grinder is 0.3mm and the variation in cutter length on the new unused chain is 0.5mm 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Woodworks

[Stere]

Cutter length as in length of the sharpened area or top flat bit of the cutter?

 

Iv'e never though it that important - the idea thay should all match in size,  as chains seems to cut well even with several missing teeth if  the rest are sharp

 

 

[Woodworks]

47 minutes ago, Stere said:

Cutter length as in length of the sharpened area or top flat bit of the cutter?

 

Iv'e never though it that important - the idea thay should all match in size,  as chains seems to cut well even with several missing teeth if  the rest are sharp

 

 

To avoid any confusion I have attached a picture. I find this matters more on the processor. Variation from left and right sides can be big problem with only a small deviation. Less of a problem on the chainsaw IME but it will still have noticeable vibration if different teeth are taking different sized bites 

[Honda]

4 hours ago, Woodworks said:

I keep seeing folk say these are not decent units and only suitable for hobby use but thats not been my experience.

 

Sure they are not the last word in precision engineering but are more than capable of doing a pro job of sharpening chains presuming they are all of similar quality to mine. The main pivot is good quality with minimum play if any. The chain support is rudimentary but adjustable and consistent. The weakest part is the chain stop as its a bit flexible. They way to work around this is to put a little bit of tension on the chain by hand when grinding as in picture 1. This takes out any slop and again has proved consistent when done like this. Picture 2 is a freshly sharpened chain off the Lidl grinder and 3 is a brand new Oregon 21LPX the same as I have sharpened. The variation in cutter length from the grinder is 0.3mm and the variation in cutter length on the new unused chain is 0.5mm 

I have one and agree completely with your post; note the bit in bold above.

[Paddy1000111]

5 hours ago, Stere said:

Cutter length as in length of the sharpened area or top flat bit of the cutter?

 

Iv'e never though it that important - the idea thay should all match in size,  as chains seems to cut well even with several missing teeth if  the rest are sharp

 

 

If they are different sizes then the cut can drift. I borrowed a 661 that was sent up to me in a tree that cut like a banana 😂 apparently different sized teeth can cause that. The teeth have a downward angle on the top plate so the more you cut off the thinner the chain effectively gets. If you sharpen one side then grind the teeth back a lot on the other if you hit a rock etc then the side with the longer top plate will cut more than the short side. In theory anyway.

[gobbypunk]

Hi I have had one of those grinders for yrs and yrs my mate gave it to me and even though I dont use it that often if I hit a nail or the ground cutting fire wood its ace for bringing all the cutters back the same as they all need to be the same length but I do find the granberg 12v sharpener the best as it will do both cutters and rakers and you can run it from your truck battery ,do do like the Lidl one though.

Cheers Mark