Chainsaw Sharpener 2024 Test: Which Brand Wins?
This 2024 head-to-head test of 7 chainsaw sharpener options has the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Timberline
Price shown in test: $125, most expensive product tested
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Spec
- 1Timberline
USA-made carbide-burr manual sharpener, two-piece chain stop, larger-diameter thumb screws and knobs than the Totile knockoff, correct clockwise-tightens rotation (unlike the knockoff, which loosens when turned clockwise)
- 2Stihl two-in-one chainsaw sharpening system
manual file-based system with an integrated depth-gauge file in the center, replaceable files, made in Germany
- 3Granberg
cast aluminum, molded polycarbonate, and zinc-plated steel construction, powered via alligator clips to a 12V battery, made in USA, claimed up to 24,000 RPM and achieved close to 18,500 RPM
- 4PRETEC
battery-powered, rechargeable, titanium-plated burr grinding stones (5/32, 3/16, 7/32 in), spindle lock button, includes light-duty gloves and goggles, made in China; claimed 5,000-18,000 RPM adjustable, achieved around 5,800 to 16,700 RPM
- 5EzzDoo
titanium-plated diamond bits, claimed 20 percent longer wheel lifetime versus non-titanium-plated wheels, sizes 5/32, 3/16, 7/32 in, adjustable speed, made in China; the only corded sharpener in the lineup; claimed 10,000-35,000 no-load RPM, achieved around 20,000 to 33,500 RPM
- 6Honoson steel chainsaw file set
three files, sizes 5/32, 7/32, and 3/16 in, manufacturer claims high-strength steel, plastic handles, made in China
- 7Totile
described in the transcript and by the description as a Chinese knockoff of the Timberline; hand-crank tungsten carbide cutter, only one cutter included, two fixed sharpening holes, standard 30 degree sharpening angle, made in China; build quality noted as inferior to Timberline (one-piece chain stop vs Timberline's two-piece, smaller thumb screws, and its chain-stop screw loosens when turned clockwise instead of tightening)
Weight
- 1Timberline
not stated directly; narrator says it weighs about 50 percent more than the Totile (0.665 lb), implying roughly 1.0 lb, but this is a derived approximation, not a stated figure
- 2Stihl two-in-one chainsaw sharpening system0.72 lb
- 3Granberg1.555 lb
heaviest of all 7 sharpeners
- 4PRETEC0.62 lb
- 5EzzDoo1.445 lb
heaviest of the first four products tested (later exceeded by the Granberg at 1.555 lb)
- 6Honoson steel chainsaw file set0.1 lb
- 7Totile0.665 lb
Sharpening Time
- 1Timberlinejust over15 minutes
slowest of all 7 sharpeners despite the quality of the result
- 2Stihl two-in-one chainsaw sharpening system8 minutes2nd
for both sides of the chain, second fastest of all 7 sharpeners (about 9 minutes faster than Honoson's cumulative time)
- 3Granbergjust over4 minutes
fastest of all 7 sharpeners
- 4PRETEC
not clearly stated as a single total; the sharpening stone included in the kit was lopsided/bent and had to be swapped mid-process, with at least one segment taking 4 minutes
- 5EzzDoo6 minutes2nd
second fastest of all 7 sharpeners (behind Granberg)
- 6Honoson steel chainsaw file set8 minutes
for an initial pass (12 passes per tooth); narrator returned for additional sharpening, bringing the cumulative total to 17 minutes
- 7Totileabout10.5 minutes
for an initial pass on both sides; narrator returned for an additional 16 minutes of sharpening, bringing the cumulative total to 26.5 minutes
Sharpness Score
- 1Timberline225
by far the sharpest of all 7 sharpeners (lower score = sharper; new-chain baseline was 330)
- 2Stihl two-in-one chainsaw sharpening system2952nd
second sharpest of all 7 sharpeners, sharper than the new-chain baseline of 330
- 3Granberg
no explicit numeric score given; narrator states it 'performed very well on the sharpness tester, just like the Stihl'
- 4PRETEC365
sharper than the described-as-dull Totile result but slightly duller than the new-chain baseline of 330
- 5EzzDoo390
best/sharpest among the first four products tested at that point in the video
- 6Honoson steel chainsaw file set625
after the initial 8-minute sharpening attempt (still very dull); 460 after the cumulative 17 minutes (better, but still described as needing more work, and the top of the chisel remained too dull to cut efficiently)
- 7Totile365
after the initial pass, but narrator notes the tester could only reach the sharp side of the chisel and not the dull working edge because the carbide cutter's diameter was too small to reach the part of the chisel that needed sharpening; 370 after the cumulative 26.5 minutes (essentially unchanged)
Cut Test Seconds
- 1Timberline11.1 seconds
(first cut), 10.5 seconds (second cut, fastest of all sharpened chains), 10.5 seconds (third cut)
- 2Stihl two-in-one chainsaw sharpening system11.6 seconds
(first cut), 10.6 seconds (second cut), 11.6 seconds (third cut)
- 3Granberg11.46 seconds
(first cut), 11.1 seconds (second cut), 10.8 seconds (third cut, fastest of its own three attempts)
- 4PRETEC14.7 seconds
(first cut), 15.7 seconds (second cut), 14.8 seconds (third cut)
- 5EzzDoo15.48 seconds
(first cut), 15.8 seconds (second cut), 16.7 seconds (third cut)
- 6Honoson steel chainsaw file set31 seconds
after the first sharpening attempt (625 sharpness); 27.1 seconds, 29.5 seconds, and about 32.1 seconds ("5 seconds slower than the first") on the three cuts after the second, more thorough sharpening attempt (460 sharpness)
- 7Totile47 seconds
after the initial sharpening (almost as bad as the unsharpened, sand-damaged baseline of 50 seconds); 36.1 seconds after the cumulative 26.5 minutes of sharpening
How it was tested
- sharpness tester (Best Certified Sharpness Tester downward-force score; lower score means sharper)
- sharpening time (minutes to fully sharpen both sides of a dulled chain)
- cutting speed through a test log made of nine 4x4s (three passes, seconds, 5 lb of downward force on the bar)
- build/construction quality comparison
“As far as chainsaw sharpeners, I really like the Stihl, Granberg, and Timberline. All three of those are very good. However, the Timberline does take a little bit longer to sharpen a chain than I'd like.”
Data notes and caveats
The closing verdict names three co-favorites (Stihl, Granberg, Timberline) without ranking one above the others, so winner/runnerUp/budgetPick are left null per spec. On the two objective tests the video itself frames as decisive (sharpness score and cutting speed), Timberline scored best on both, Stihl was a close second on both, and Granberg was fastest to sharpen a chain by a wide margin (about 4 minutes vs Timberline's 15+); products[] is ordered by best recorded cutting-speed result, the more real-world-relevant of the two objective metrics, since sharpness-score comparisons for the bottom two products (Honoson and Totile) were contaminated by testing/tool limitations the narrator called out on camera. Four brand names are auto-caption mangles resolved via the description and, for Totile, the transcript's own explicit self-identification as the Chinese knockoff of Timberline: 'Honesun' resolves to Honoson, 'Pretek' resolves to PRETEC, 'Easy Do' resolves to EzzDoo, and 'Total' resolves to Totile. Granberg's sharpness-score number is a genuine data gap (the narrator never states one, calling it only 'very good' like the Stihl), not a caption error. Timberline's weight is never stated as an absolute figure, only as 'about 50 percent more' than the Totile's 0.665 lb, so the roughly 1.0 lb figure given here is a derived approximation, flagged as such rather than presented as a directly-measured number.
