Sharpening lawn mower blades

[Lillikai]

I too used a hand file to sharpen my blades. Man that takes a lot of patience and strength!

Got tired of it and had my Dad sharpen my blades for me with his bench grinder. Took a whole 5 mins instead of an hour by hand!

Also get you a "blade balancer" its basically a cone that you put your blade onto to make sure each side is evenly balanced.

Good luck to ya!

 

[andyd]

My bench grinder is 30 yrs old. I use it for all sorts of stuff,including sharpening my mower blades.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Lillikai
I too used a hand file to sharpen my blades. Man that takes a lot of patience and strength!

Got tired of it and had my Dad sharpen my blades for me with his bench grinder. Took a whole 5 mins instead of an hour by hand!

Huh? An hour with hand file? It takes me 5-10 mins with a hand file, with the blade clamped in vise.

 

[Picky1]

Thanks all for the advise....now I am torn between the dremel and the bench grinder. The bench grinder seems like the cheaper way out, just wondering what size I need 1/3, 1/2, 3/4 hp?

I do have two sets of blades for my tractor, a set of regular blades and a set of gator blades for the fall to chop of the leaves.

http://www.gatorblade.com/

 

[dlundblad]

I prefer an angle grinder myself. I find it easier to clamp the blade down to a bench.

 

[Errtt]

If its rough, I'll start out with the bench grinder or hand grinder. Then work a hand file and keep checking with the balance cone thingy. Sometimes I'll finish off using a Speedy Sharpener.
I just sharpened the blades this morning on the HRX mower which we'll be cutting the lawn in an hour or so.

 

[Picky1]

Just surfing around Craigslist looking at grinders, bench grinders, and dremels and came across an ad for a Dremel 200 with the accessory kit. Will this do the job? not sure about how strong the various Dremel models are?

I am sure I could get the price down since this item has been listed for like a month now.

http://newhaven.craigslist.org/tls/4453087568.html

 

[spasm3]

dremel is a great tool but a bit small in my opinion. An angle grinder will shapen a single blade in under 2 minutes. Its so fast and easy to control the grinder. If you are looking for low cost then this will work well for $18.99

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-4-1-2-half-inch-angle-grinder-91223.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiMzc2ODMxNzAiLCJza3UiOiI5MTIyMyIsImlzIjoiMTguOTkiLCJwcm9kdWN0X2lk%0D%0AIjoiMjMwMCJ9%0D%0A&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2414b&utm_source=1021&cid=mEmail_s1021_c2414b

 

[DBMaster]

A friend of mine operated a family metal working business with his dad. For newbies, he recommended coloring the blade edge with a sharpie. You then file, grind, etc. to remove the ink evenly across the blade edge. It can help you avoid removing too much material or missing a spot.

This method works for sharpening scissors and knives, too.

Some of you must have rocks in your yard. Hand sharpening mine with a file takes about fifteen minutes. Using a small grinding wheel on the Dremel cuts that down to five or ten. My blade usually only needs a bit of honing. I haven't seen any dings in it.

 

[sleddriver]

I used a bench grinder (with white wheels) for years. After getting an angle grinder though, it's now my tool of choice. I clamp the blade to a sawhorse and it's done in no time.

Not only does a sharp edge produce a fine cut on the grass, but when shredding leaves with the mower, really cuts them up fine, leading to quicker composting.

Lastly I use a Dremel jig for chainsaw sharpening. My neighbor lets me use his CS, I sharpen his blade. Win/win. Didn't realize they had a jig for mower blades.

 

[tom slick]

I use an angle grinder also. Clamp the blade to something stationary and Takes 2 minutes.

It seems like a Dremel would take forever

 

[PhilsSmallEngine]

I too use a clamp and my Makita angle grinder. However, the Dremel kit with the blade adapter makes balancing and detail work infinitely easier at the end. The chainsaw adapter is nice if you have a battery powered Dremel, you're on a jobsite and waste your last chain.

 

[BHopkins]

Originally Posted By: tom slick
I use an angle grinder also. Clamp the blade to something stationary and Takes 2 minutes.

It seems like a Dremel would take forever


It really doesn't. It is very fast. The advantage of the Dremel method is the guide. It helps set the correct angle, and aids in gliding the tool along the length of the edge. Unless the blade is in very bad shape, 4 or 5 passes, each taking only a few seconds, and the edge is done.

Another advantage to the Dremel is you are less prone to taking off too much material. I have never had an issue with a blade being out of balance when I sharpen with the Dremel. Thus, I never have to go back and sharpen again to balance a blade.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I've always used a bench grinder to sharpen blades, and then put a finishing edge with a hand file. It takes perhaps 5 minutes to do all 3 blades once a week, and about 5 minutes to change them on the mower.

I've never needed a guide nor have I had a problem with unbalanced blades.

 

[chewy781]

vise and 4 1/2 in. Small Angle Grinder then balanced using arnolds blade balancer

 

[wally6934]

Since no one got the correct answer, i will post it. A bench mounted belt sander. Very gentle and easy to control. Not crude like a grinder that leaves gouges.

 

[Vikas]

I was very surprised to find double side blade on my Scots self propelled lawnmower. I had ordered the replacement blade from ebay and did install it but it was not exactly like the OEM. So I sharpened the OEM using the Dremel adapter. During the sharpening I noticed that the unused side had factory edge on it. The owner's manual lead me to believe that the blade could not be reversed. I wonder how the double sided blade got installed on this mower. To the best of my knowledge, it was never taken in for a service.

Next cutting, I am going to do with the ebay blade before going back to the OEM blade.

By the way flap wheel on grinder works quite well for sharpening the blade if you do not have the Dremel thingy.

 

[Rick in PA]

I've been using a hand held belt sander like this one from B&D for many years now. It's a neat little tool, you'll find other uses for it. Like you, I use to hand file mower blades, but that got old.

I clamp the blade in a vise and sand to a match the angle ground in the blade. One nice thing is the hand sander takes off the metal slowly and consistently, this yields: 1. Equal number of quick passes on each side of blade maintains blade balance. 2. It doesn't overheat the blade. It probably takes the same amount of time (or a little quicker) than hand filing, but it's effortless work.

Just watch that the exhaust of the hand sander isn't aimed at your shirt, or it embeds steel particles in the shirt which then rust forming a red stain, but hey, it's a work shirt anyway...

I'd also advise getting a premium belt. I got a bunch of premium sanding belts from McMaster when I got the sander and I haven't worn through them yet.

 

[morris]

when i started working at a trencher mafg i hard faced trencher teeth. many many years ago. i have also have hard faced mower blades. but after that you cant resharpen them. but i never found out how well they hold up on a mower.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: wally6934
Since no one got the correct answer, i will post it. A bench mounted belt sander. Very gentle and easy to control. Not crude like a grinder that leaves gouges.

I like the 4.5" grinder for the mild serations it leaves. Cuts real well for a while, maybe not as long as a smooth grind. Anyways, almost any sharpening is better than none IMO.