Madsen's Shop & Supply Inc.

HDG-6 History

Over a decade ago, Silvey built their first HDG grinder. It looked similar to the HDG-6, but had an 8" grinding wheel and a more complex lifting assembly. A few individual users bought this, but this early HDG was expensive and was used mostly in saw shops and in other production grinding operations. When Silvey asked owners of their chain sharpeners why they didn't also purchase the HDG, most said they would love to have one, but just couldn't afford it. After learning this, Silvey built a "smaller" prototype. They simplified the lifting mechanism and fitted a smaller motor with a 6" wheel. The prototype worked very well and was much less expensive to produce -- the HDG-6 was born. Now Silvey had a depth gauge grinder most professional saw users could afford.

Why Every Pro Saw User Needs an HDG-6

Most pro saw users know the importance of depth-gauge maintenance. They realize that "proper height" depth-gauges are just as important as sharp cutter teeth when it comes to their chain's performance.  They also know that doing depth-gauge maintenance with a file is a tedious job. Most pros  use a grinder for sharpening cutter teeth, but rely on a file for cutting their depth-gauges. 

When depth-gauge maintenance is done by hand, many saw users put it off for another day. The next day, their  chains require excess feed pressure to get them to cut. After a day of "pushing" on the saw, most will finally cut the depth gauges.  When they do, they don't measure as they are filing. They just count file strokes. They figure each stroke takes off about the same amount and counting gets you close enough. The next day at work, their saw cuts with no feed pressure. In fact, they have to hold it back. When its in the cut, it tends to chatter. When limbing, it tends to "rip"off the small limbs. 

Hand-filed depth gauges work fine when they are done properly. The problem is, most hand-filed depth-gauges are either run too high, too low, or uneven. When each cutter tooth on the chain takes a different sized "bite" of wood, it is easy to understand why it would vibrate. 

A well maintained chain should be aggressive enough to require very little feed pressure, but smooth and fast cutting. It takes sharp cutter teeth with accurate depth gauges for a saw chain to perform this way.  The best pro saw users know this and never go to work with anything other than well maintained saw chains.

Overview

With a Silvey HDG-6, depth gauge maintenance is a breeze. Unlike a chisel chain grinder, where each cutter tooth is carefully advanced, indexed, and then carefully ground, the HDG-6 uses the chain's cutter teeth as a cam to raise and lower the grinding head. This allows the chain to be fed into the grinder with a hand crank, giving the grinder almost automatic operation. Once set up, an HDG-6 accurately cuts depth gauges within .003"on most any saw chain in a couple minutes or less. Since it is so quick and easy to do, it gets done along with cutter sharpening. This regular maintenance depth gauge maintenance leads to better performing saw chain.

Our Advice

Every professional saw user should have an HDG-6. It is a handy machine that leads to better performing saw chain. Setting up the HDG-6 is little tricky, but once you understand how to adjust it, it works better than you'd think it ever could. Buy a good chain sharpener first, but make this your second purchase. You won't be sorry.

Need parts for your HDG-6? Check out this link to an HDG-6 illustrated parts list.

Interested in information about how to set up an HDG-6? Check out this link to a HDG-6 set up guide.