Carr’s Billington Safety introduces to UK market the Vallorbe V|OAK automatic chainsaw sharpener

Imagine the time and money saved if there was a chainsaw sharpener that could cut operative time to just one minute per chain*, was 100% consistent and increased the longevity of chains.

Well, Carr’s Billington Safety has the answer and is proud to be the sole UK distributor of the new V|OAK automated chainsaw sharpener from Swiss precision tool experts Vallorbe (Usines Métallurgiques de Vallorbe) reducing the time manually spent on sharpening a chainsaw from 15 minutes to 1 minute, that’s an average saving of £7,450/year based on sharpening 40 chainsaws/week!

 Equipment, such as chainsaws, used by those working in forestry, arboricultural and horticultural sectors is subjected to tough conditions and require specialist maintenance to guarantee maximum user safety.  Vallorbe’s V|OAK automated chainsaw sharpener is a revolutionary product, a first of its kind, that is specifically designed for use by skilled technicians in workshops. 

Neil Thomas, Commercial Manager, Carr’s Billington Safety, comments: “We’re delighted to be able to offer our customers the V|OAK as a cost effective, highly efficient tool for the essential, yet laborious, task of chainsaw sharpening.  We have demo units available for workshops to trial for two weeks, without any obligation, and will be providing full training.  The compact unit only takes 10 minutes to programme, however, as with all new technology, operatives of the machine will need time to familiarise with the settings but in essence customers can start to see a significant return on their investment after six months of using the V|OAK.  

The V|OAK costs £3800 however, when you take into account the operative time saved the sums all add up.  In addition, customers will benefit from increased consistency, less mess with chains lasting longer as there are no sparks or heat created by the machine unlike those when using a grinding wheel.  What’s more, when using files to sharpen the chains by hand there’s no way of telling if you are using a blunt edge.  The V|OAK guarantees efficiency as it indicates then the cylindrical file needs rotating 45 degrees and the flat file 180 degrees so that you are always sharpening chains using a new file face.”

Training will guide customers through the process of programming the machine, which involves selecting the chain you need sharpening, the sharpening angle required and adjustments to the settings suitable for the specific chain, including the sharpening pressure, file diameter etc.   Once set up is complete the machine gets to work and throughout the sharpening process it indicates the number of links remaining and allows the user to adjust the sharpening pressure.  More on how to use the V|OAK can be viewed in our video below:

Read more about the V/OAK here

*When based on 20 chains/week taking an average of 5 hours by hand and just 20 minutes by machine.