Unless your yard is pristine golf course like grass i would not worry about sharpness of blades. You run over sticks, stones, sand, dirt, mulch and other things that will dull your blade quickly. Keep it straight edge, but not razor sharp.
New lawn mower blades don't seem very sharp
- Thread starter Donald
- Start date
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- Jul 14, 2020
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Don't comment here to much, but hadda jump in on this, as I owned a lawn mower sales and repair shop for 50 years, and sharpened thousands of blades. I totally agree that blades don't need to be razor sharp to cut fine, and will dull faster if they are, BUT the customers really like them to look like that. Weird thing is even though I sharpened them very sharp, Many of my repeat customers, ( which was most of them), told me that my sharpening jobs stayed sharp longest
Yep, I've sharpened thousands of mower blades. My go-to is still the flap sanding disk on an angle grinder.
I’ve read/heard that blades should be blunt not sharp.
Here are my thoughts;
1)
Is there engineering data to support this opinion?
2)
If we sharpen a blade to a sharp edge like a knife it will blunt (round over) rather quickly and resemble the blunt edge which the (experts) prefer.
During this blunting process the sharp blade is cutting grass like a new razor cuts your whiskers! So wouldn’t a blade with a knife edge cut more grass before it requires attention?
It starts sharp then (blunts) similar to a new factory blade, wear stabilizes until it rounds over.
3)
How are you going to duplicate the factory edge on a used blade?
Blades don’t wear evenly they taper out to end so the only thing you can do is grind it to a sharp edge and call it a day.
4)
I use my blades until the lift and ends erode while always checking for fatigue cracks.
I sharpen them when they no longer cut cleanly and bog the engine down.
I also balance blades every time I sharpen them.
5)
I agree with a previous poster that said perhaps a sharp blade is a liability!
90cummins
Here are my thoughts;
1)
Is there engineering data to support this opinion?
2)
If we sharpen a blade to a sharp edge like a knife it will blunt (round over) rather quickly and resemble the blunt edge which the (experts) prefer.
During this blunting process the sharp blade is cutting grass like a new razor cuts your whiskers! So wouldn’t a blade with a knife edge cut more grass before it requires attention?
It starts sharp then (blunts) similar to a new factory blade, wear stabilizes until it rounds over.
3)
How are you going to duplicate the factory edge on a used blade?
Blades don’t wear evenly they taper out to end so the only thing you can do is grind it to a sharp edge and call it a day.
4)
I use my blades until the lift and ends erode while always checking for fatigue cracks.
I sharpen them when they no longer cut cleanly and bog the engine down.
I also balance blades every time I sharpen them.
5)
I agree with a previous poster that said perhaps a sharp blade is a liability!
90cummins
i got some Predator brand blades through John Deere (has a JD part number) that are gator like. Didn't bother sharpening them as they had a fairly heavy coat of paint on them. Figured it would wear off. It didn't. But had to stop and balance them after about 15 minutes. The mower was shaking itself to pieces. Still not as good as the OE blades I took off.
I just put a pair of the Gators on my 42" Craftsman rider...didn't sharpen them..yard looks like Augusta National.
Something often overlooked is the sharpening angle.
I've seen the edge sharpening debate on professional lawn care forums.
Right or wrong, after I machine sharpen a blade, I use a hand file to put a micro bevel on the edge. Still very sharp, but slightly less prone to folding over/dulling immediately. Otherwise, I have other obsessions that deserve more time than this one.
Butter knife sharp rather than razor sharp.
Now which knife is the butter knife?
Now which knife is the butter knife?
