Updated on Sep. 06, 2024
A dull chainsaw is not only inefficient but reduces the lifespan of the saw itself. The solution? A chainsaw sharpener. Here are six best chainsaw sharpener options on the market.
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Chainsaws are extremely useful tools for felling trees, as well as cutting up downed trees and large branches. Unfortunately, they’re much less effective and efficient when their chains are dull. Hence, sharpening a chainsaw is essential.
A chainsaw sharpener keeps your chains in top shape. Once you get the hang of it, you can save time and money you’d otherwise spend on a professional sharpening service. Performing power tool maintenance tasks helps me more fully understand the mechanics of the tools, and gives me a deeper appreciation of how they work.
Chainsaw sharpeners can vary. Some may be better suited for you than others, depending on your experience and how frequently your saws need sharpening. Luckily, I’ve made the process of finding the best chainsaw sharpener easy, thanks to hours of in-depth testing. Check out which six sharpeners made the cut (hehe) below.
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Looking for the best of the best? This professional-grade model, the Oregon 410 model, is designed to impress. Its steel construction and multiple safety features indicate that this grinder is ideal for more than the occasional user. If you’re a frequent sharpener, this just might be the tool for you.
As you would expect of a machine of this type, it comes with everything you need to give yourself a professional grade sharpening to your chainsaw chains. It ships with multiple 5-3/4” grinding wheels, a template/gauge, and a dressing stone to keep your grinding wheels in tip-top shape. A bonus is that it can be wall-mounted or bench-mounted.
Assembly of this unit was relatively easy, given its size and weight. All the parts were super solid, and one of my favorite features was the extremely bright LED work light. It was easy to lock the chain with the durable parts.
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The Chicago Electric 63803 chainsaw sharpener comes at an unbeatable price point. This may leave some potential buyers skeptical of its capabilities. But after putting this unit to the test, I was not disappointed and in fact, this sharpener gets great reviews online.
This grinder-style machine is lightweight and uses a fairly small footprint for a bench-mount sharpener. It’s housed in plastic, which keeps it lightweight at only 6.5 pounds. It ships with popular sizes of grinding wheels.
The setup was simple and after reading the directions, all the knobs and adjustments made perfect sense. I was able to adjust the depth of the cut, the pitch, and the angle. When bringing the grinder down for the sharpening, there’s a bicycle-style hand brake mechanism that ensures that the chain is held tightly in place. After I worked on each cutter, I used the rotation knobs to move the chain along to the next position.
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This bench mount grinder should not be overlooked. The Timber Tough Bench Pro has steel construction, multiple grinding wheels, work light, and oh, did I mention that it’s made of steel? It’s going for a special deal now at a price that is unheard of for a machine of this quality.
I’m not going to lie, this machine is heavy. However once it’s assembled and mounted you are off and running. It ships with 3 grinding wheels of 1/8-inch, 3/16-inch, and ¼-inch and can also take 5/32-inch and 7/32-inch grinding wheels.
I did struggle a bit with the assembly and cracked my first grinding wheel on the plastic cover that is meant to protect the user from the grinding wheel. I’m owning this “user error” as I had not properly aligned the protective shield. Once I had the entire thing configured correctly, I was thrilled to see the work light come on automatically with the machine. The chain brake was easily put in place with the lever and the mechanism for adjusting the angle was super sturdy.
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The Oregon 310 model was by far my fastest and easiest setup. It was assembled in the box and merely required mounting to the bench. It is incredibly lightweight with plastic housing and a very small footprint of about 13 inches in height and six inches in width.
It ships with two grinding wheels and more are available for purchase and even comes with a depth gauge and dressing stone. I didn’t wear down my grinding wheel enough to need the dressing stone but should the need arise, it can be used to clean and reshape the wheel if it becomes uneven. The template that comes with it can be used to measure grinding wheels and assist you in setting your depth gauge on the chain.
Along with it being ready out of the box, it was immediately clear to me how to use the chain clamping mechanism, chain stop, and depth limiter. The machine is so small and lightweight that it uses a molded plastic handle that is easy to grip and pull down the grinder into position. Within a couple of minutes, I had one side of a chain done, flipped it, and completed the other side. It was a joy to work with.
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The Sharp Pebble Electric Chainsaw Sharpener Kit comes in at a crazy low price of around $25. It garnered the “Easiest to Use” title for requiring almost no assembly and little practice or training to get up and running. Along with being easy to use, the tool is small enough to fit into a drawer and is great for those with limited space.
This tool looks a lot like a handheld rotary tool because it is essentially a rotary tool. It ships with four round files associated with cutter sizes. You insert an appropriately sized file into the rotary tool and attach an angle guide.
Once you’ve selected the file and installed the file and angle guide, you power on the device (which has variable speeds) and place the angle guide against the chain. The round spinning file fits perfectly into the cutter. The small profile of the tools allows you to see exactly where you are sharpening and you’re left with a shiny and sharp chain.
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The Stihl 2-in-1 Easy File is a no-brainer for those who already have hand-sharpening skills or a strong predilection toward manual tools. It requires no electricity, which makes it ideal for field work, and doesn’t require a dedicated sharpening location. As a bonus, sharpening is done on the chain bar so there’s no need to remove the chain.
It’s housed in a plastic holder that doubles as the handle. Even cooler than the holder doubling as a handle, the holder is also used to maintain the ratio between your cutters and the depth gauges making it one of the most practical sharpeners I’ve used. Aside from the steel files, the plastic construction is extra heavy-duty.
The instructions are minimal (just pictures) and a little practice is required to start sharpening with this tool. The tool must be held at 90 degrees to the chain bar and approximately 30 degrees (or as appropriate for your chain) to the cutter and cutting must be done in one direction. Releasing and re-locking the chain saw brake is required to move the chain for further sharpening which will add a few steps to your regimen. But once you’re moving, you’ll use a tool that is almost guaranteed not to break down.
Selecting a chainsaw sharpener can be a challenging proposition for many users. First and foremost, you will need to select a sharpener that works for the chain. As I mentioned earlier, a chain’s anatomy can be confusing at first, but the most important things to know about your chain for sharpening are the angle specification (which will show in degrees), pitch (which will show in inches) and the type of chain (most home users will have a basic steel blade).
Most chainsaw sharpeners and grinders are either purchased for a specific pitch or come with various files or grinding wheels so that your pitch can be matched. Keep this sizing in mind when selecting a sharpener. Another consideration is space. A lot of sharpeners require mounting to a bench or wall. If you don’t have a location in which to mount a sharpener, then a handheld sharpener might be a better fit. That being said, handheld sharpeners, especially files, have a bit of a learning curve and may require some practice.
As a home user of chainsaws, you will need to decide how far you want to go with your chain maintenance skills. Many sharpeners only sharpen the cutters but don’t address the depth gauge. For a chain to cut safely and efficiently, the depth gauge needs to be at a certain ratio to the cutter and sometimes requires the use of a tool to measure its height. Since I don’t always have access to the right tools for this procedure, I often take my chains in for a professional “tune-up” after a couple of sharpenings, or if I notice the depth gauge seems off and sometimes I simply replace the chain.
I’ve been testing products and tools for over 30 years. As a product reviewer for Family Handyman, I’ve been able to review a gasoline-powered chain saw as well as a round-up of the best mini chainsaws. Owning a landscaping company and managing a couple of large properties of my own, I’ve had my fair share of chain saw use. Since chainsaw blades can be quick to dull and require some diligence to remain safe and effective, blade maintenance is critical and a skill that I have learned over the years.
I also consulted with Danny Keithline, owner of a tree service in Palm Bay, Florida regarding his favorite tried and true ways of keeping his arsenal of saw blades in working order.
We started with 11 chainsaw sharpeners that we acquired based on popularity and usage. From there we narrowed down the round-up to six chainsaw sharpeners that we thought were best geared for a variety of home user’s needs.
For this list, we are presenting manual sharpeners, handheld sharpeners, and mounted sharpeners so that we can cover many use cases. We have sharpeners that are for the occasional user and the novice sharpener. We even have sharpeners that may be used by professionals but are also economical. We also included sharpeners that sharpen blades on the chain bar and those that sharpen blades off the bar.
The first thing we needed to test these sharpeners was some dull blades! Luckily, we had recently done a slew of tests on chainsaws and mini chainsaws, so we had a nice collection. We even dirtied up some of the things we were cutting to wear down the blades.
After assembling each sharpener and reading the directions, we were ready to get tested. A full chain sharpening was done on each chain. A visual inspection of the sharpening was done for all the chains and, I must say, it is a satisfying thing to do. Afterward, the chain was put back into rotation and we got to cutting. Since we were testing both mini chainsaw blades and larger 16-inch and 20-inch blades, the cut we made matched the tool size. We ensured that the cuts felt smooth and were fast.
Most professionals employ a variety of methods to sharpen their chainsaw blades and each pro will probably give you a different answer. In general, many will carry a hand file or battery-powered handheld sharpener in the field for on-the-spot sharpening. Once back in the shop, visual inspections are done and often a grinder is employed. That being said, many professionals go “old school” and stick to their hand files.
There is no “best way” to sharpen a chainsaw blade. The only surefire thing is that your blade will need sharpening. Unless you sharpen blades all the time by hand, it’s best to use a tool that will help you maintain the proper angle when sharpening your cutters. And, there are even tools that will help you maintain your depth gauge while sharpening your cutters at the proper angle.
Neither option is better or worse. It’s certainly less expensive and less wasteful to sharpen a chain but purchasing a new chain is an option. However, even if you care for a chain by keeping it oiled and sharpened, it will eventually need to be replaced with a new chain.
They most certainly do! Sharpeners can help you by filing or grinding. Some sharpeners only work on the cutters but others will assist you with the depth gauge as well. But remember, you are doing the sharpening, so give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.
