Chainsaw Repair

I bought an old Herr Breaker and Spinner duo off the Bay the other day for a lot less than what the Harbor Freight combo costs.

The spinner frame has "Herr" cast into the frame.

Doesn't look like it was ever used? There are no wear or sweat rust marks anywhere, not even were you would bolt the frames down.

The original cast "A" and "C" anvils are missing from the spinner but there is a late model metric Oregon "Si" version "B"(.325) anvil mounted in the spinner which fits fine and looks like it has spun a few rivets.

Both spinner back up levers came in the box but look like they were never used. The spinner handle turns smoothly with no feeling of grit in the thrust bearing.

The original early type punch mounted in the breaker looks as though it never punched a rivet out. There is a extra new style Oregon metric "Si" version punch that came with the deal which looks well used.

There are two breaker anvils that came with it. What looks like a short cast anvil with Oregon and the chain sizes cast into it and then a longer anvil with just the chain sizes and part number stamped on it. There is a hand punch with the original point broken off and a new point ground onto it free hand.

I know Herr made the Oregon heavy duty spinner and breaker up until the year 2000. I also know that Herr made some of the Foley Breakers and Spinners but the Foley's are blue.

Mine is RED!

My question is . . . Was this bought as a Oregon Heavy Duty or as a Herr breaker spinner set. I doubt if it really makes any difference?

Herr must have petered out about 5 years ago?

You can still get the old style spinner anvils and breaker punches from Oregon sources. The 3/8" "A" spinner anvil is Oregon 26889 and the .325 "C" anvil is Oregon 26890. The old style breaker punch is Oregon 26870 and is made a little more robust than the current style punch.

Here are some pictures from the web of a pair of Herrs just like mine except mine doesn't have as much surface rust. Note that the spinner anvil in this Herr is a late model Oregon Metric anvil and not the original Herr type but it has been cut-off so that it is the correct length to align with the guides.

They look like good strong units.    The one I have right now came from Bailys.    I do not like the punches that came with it and have broken two of them with ease.  I finally made my own from the shaft of a broken tap.  I may keep an eye out for one of the Herr's.

Wow that looks pretty nice and looks like most of it is there.

I now have new spinner anvils and a extra punch for the Herr Spinner/breaker duo. I got them from Equipatron of Chicago in 2 days as Oregon parts. So I'm all ready to make up some chains with the Cadillac of chainsaw chain assembly tools. I already have the Stihl presets for the chains I want to make up.

I also have a Grandberg chain mender setup that looks like an adaptation on a pair of Vice Grip pliers.