Chain sharpening

Can anyone out there point us in the direction of a reliable & reputable sharpening service for Mafell ls103 chains?? Mafell UK suggest a saw doc should do fine but all local guys have been unable to help.

1 Ask Nathan
2 Costs us a fortune, and we dont get a very good job done, so Im interested in the reply.
3 Id also like to know what exactly defines a worn out / unuseable chain - we dont seem to be able to get a satisfactory response to this question.

Dear Bill, Thanks for the reply,Nathan told us that a saw doc should be able to do it, that has turned out to be awkward round here ,everyone wants to put it in a vice & use an angle grinder!!I've e-mailed Germany & am following up other leads, i'll report back.

As yet no response from Mafell in Germany, all other leads have so far come to nothing, how frustrating!! I guess i could send it back to Germany or even to the states! That to me seems absurd though, especially with the price of the damned thing- i so wish i bought the Makita!!

Via Nathan of MnM err.....NMA

These are the details of the saw doctors who both have proper sharpening machines for mortising chains, could you please post their details on the TFG site so Rick Lewis and others have access.
Norfolk Saw Service, Dog Lane, Horsford, Norwich. NR10 3DH 01603 898695
Tewkesbury Saw Service, Trading Estate, Newtown, Tewkesbury, Glos GL20 8JG 01684 293092

Dennis of mafell Nth America reports:

1. As a general rule in oak, a chain should last through at least one average size frame before it needs to be re-sharpened. This could be more or less depending on the number of plunges and the dryness of the wood.

2a. We sharpen chains in our shop.
2b. We have two different sharpening machines here. One of our machines is about 10 years old the other in about a year old.
2c. We got our last sharpening machine from SLYP Machine Fabriek in IJuiden/Holland and paid about $1600 US

We only charge $15 here.

Thank you Dennis

[This message has been edited by Bill Keir (edited 11-13-2001).]

hurrah, some positive feedback at last, thanks guys. Bill; I assume neither of these companies are the ones you mentioned in your first response? I'll be trying the Norfolk ones out soon & will report back.

Ross Grier of the Cascade Joinery, (and Masters of their craft) advises:

You might think it was simply a matter of grabbing a rat-tail file, a beer and closing ones eyes to sharpen the maffell chain, but it is not. perhaps we are the experts...

Craig has set up a radial arm saw with a 3/16-inch or so masonry abrasive disk of a pink color (specifics not at hand) which he runs past the chain blade, set in a stop-jig that allows the chain to be moved one link at a time. apparently this is quite similar to how typical chain saw blades are sharpened commercially. beer is still handy.

Thank you Ross, anyone else got any good ideas to contribute? Id like to hear more about competitive alternate sources for the chains, DIY Sharpeneing tips, and advice on the allowable wear tolerance before the chains have to be junked, or worse start causing collateral damage - wearing out the bar. - Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Keir (edited 11-15-2001).]

Eventually we found a local service that assured us the would do it properly, it cost us £6.00 and they seem to have done an okay job. It's not as nice and neat as a new factory sharpened chain, but it does work well enough. Next time I may try one of the others just to see the difference (if any). Thanks for all your help & advice guys.