How do you sharpen your mower blade?
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Lawn mower blade sharpening
- Thread starter Poppy
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Do you use any kind of a guide? Or do you just eyeball it?
I just eyeball it, and my blade has been so bad in the past, that any improvement is an improvement, but I am wondering if there are any tips and tricks.
I just eyeball it, and my blade has been so bad in the past, that any improvement is an improvement, but I am wondering if there are any tips and tricks.
Yep, same here. Previously, I used a bench grinder with good results. However, when using the bench grinder one must take great care not to let his left hand come into contact with the wire wheel. Another advantage is an angle grinder allows you to watch the progress since the edge is facing you as apposed to when using a bench grinder. This makes it much easier to maintain the factory angle on the blade. The downsides of using an angle grinder are the sparks tend to travel much further and there are a lot more of them.
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, practice, practice.
^ Funny line from the movie Inglorious *******s, but it's also the truth.
Personally, I just eyeball them when sharpening blades. However, I've been maintaining five different mowers for years. The blade is finished when there is one continuous grind, not 30 different angles. Usually, I finish them off with a file. Then check them for balance.
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You can get a sense of the correct edge angle. If you overly think sharpening a mower blade, your day will get long.
May need to hand file a bit, to deburr.
Typing this makes me want to do mine
Chance, I didn't see your post 5 while I was typing ^^^^^^^^
I'm glad you didn't see 5. You stated it better, using fewer words.
Post 5 was the first time CPF auto-edited one of my word choices. It surprised me.
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knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
If your blade is not dinged from hitting rocks or concrete curbs, and you're not pressed for time, using a long mill file will take awhile but also takes off less metal than grinding
Always having a spare sharpened blades is good idea..
.. Five mowers should be enough to Grand 'Ole Opry
Always having a spare sharpened blades is good idea..
.. Five mowers should be enough to Grand 'Ole Opry
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The guy in the video uses a 40 grit flap wheel.
I have just used whatever wheel I had in my grinder. Should I invest in a 40 grit flap wheel?
I have just used whatever wheel I had in my grinder. Should I invest in a 40 grit flap wheel?
knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
Flap wheels are not ridgid and will leave the edge cattywampus. I'd go with resin fiber disc like welders use
I use a dremel bit that is basically a jig with a hardened sanding drum attached, you guide up and down the blade with it still attached to the mower.
If you use it a few times a season it works well. If you use it each Spring, it's faster to use the bench method described above.
Ear plugs and goggles reccomended. I also keep a bucket of water nearby in case sparks cause a fire.
If you use it a few times a season it works well. If you use it each Spring, it's faster to use the bench method described above.
Ear plugs and goggles reccomended. I also keep a bucket of water nearby in case sparks cause a fire.
knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
Lil Dremels are cute, they're great on k9 claws
knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
CG, so if we use four letter words like SH*T or CRAP this new CPF platform auto corrects?
So crap is permitted but sh*tting is not allowed🤬
So crap is permitted but sh*tting is not allowed🤬
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Family friendly site 👨👨👦👦
I don't know. I didn't explore the matter further.
However, ******* is not a cuss word.
The B word ^ for born out of wedlock.
Another thing to be mindful of - Lawnmower blades have a finite lifetime. Sooner or later they will need to be replaced.
Same here, sometimes I use an angle grinder at the end of the season to get it cut to where it needs to be and then use the Dremel attachment during the season to keep it sharp.
last week I told a friend that I was delighted that my ride on mower started right up. He advised me to sharpen my blade.
I said "Yeah, but it is a PIA to drop the deck and disconnect it without a lift."
He said that he doesn't remove his deck.
This is his method:
1. raise the deck as high as it will go
2. pull the spark plug wire
3. shove a 2x4 in the exhaust shoot to block the blade from turning.
4. remove the bolt holding the blade in place and remove the blade.
5. sharpen the blade
6. replace the blade, and tighten it against the 2X4
Fortunately, my blade looks good, because I am going to need a breaker bar and some PBblaster to get it off.
I said "Yeah, but it is a PIA to drop the deck and disconnect it without a lift."
He said that he doesn't remove his deck.
This is his method:
1. raise the deck as high as it will go
2. pull the spark plug wire
3. shove a 2x4 in the exhaust shoot to block the blade from turning.
4. remove the bolt holding the blade in place and remove the blade.
5. sharpen the blade
6. replace the blade, and tighten it against the 2X4
Fortunately, my blade looks good, because I am going to need a breaker bar and some PBblaster to get it off.
