How do you sharpen your mower blades? Blade grinder, bench grinder, angle grinder or file? I usually use a file so I don't have to worry about overheating the blade but it takes forever. Are there any methods I'm not aware of?

 

Bench grinder with a 'Fine' wheel.
Bucket of water is kept nearby to cool the blade.

Follow-up with a file to finish the edge.





And thanks for reminding me that I need to sharpen several blades.

 

I use a dremel tool.with a little tiny grinding wheel. Not much chance of overheating the blade and since my mower has the curved mulching blades, I can get the entire cutting edge. Takes a little longer but it does a nice job.

 

I bought this...

http://www.oregonchain.com/OEP/video_bladegrinder.htm

 

I use a file, cause you'll never take off too much when doing it by hand. Pretty sure my dad taught me how. Anyway, was goofing around on the net and looked up blades & sharpening, and found out I've been filing the wrong side all these years. Always got the blades sharp & they cut great, so must not have taken that much off over the years. One blade is original on a 17-year old mower. It's actually harder sharpening the correct side with a file.

 

I use an angle grinder to rough it in, flat file to smooth and a stone to finish up. Then I balance the blades and use the angle grinder on the back side tips to remove metal until balanced.

 

100 grit flap grinding wheel on a hand grinder. Sharp enough to shave with. Literally, I'm not kidding.

 

I use an angle grinder. I usually wear my blades pretty fast due to my farm having lots of rocks and being uneven ground and whatnot. I just do a rough job and it works for keeping the grass trim, for now!

 

New blades are less than $12 at Wal-Mart. I just recycle my old ones.

 

I have been using my old bench grinder on our blades since 1991. Before that I didn't sharpen. After 1991, I had 4 acres of grass so I got to be an expert at sharpening. With 3 blades on my tractor and one on the mower, speed is important to me plus I am too lazy to sit there all day using slow methods.Now I have less than half an acres but still use the grinder.

I use old leather welding gloves to hold the blade and old license plates as spark shields under and behind the grinder. I also wear a leather shop apron so I don't catch on fire from sparks. Goggles of course.

The trick with bench grinding is to always keep the blade moving and pull back if you see a hot spot(glows red) or the blade is turning blue. Also keep the same angle on the edge as original. A shallow angle will cut cleaner and faster but will dull quicker, and will burn thru quicker on the grinder. A deeper angle will last longer.

I use an old piece of angled wire, a screw driver will do, to balance the blade. just hang the blade and take metal off the side that dips low.

I tried to use one of those small blade sharpener grindstones that attach to a hand drill, but it was such a pita that I broke down and tried my bench grinder.

I have a still almost new Harbor Freight bench grinder that has a big fine grit water wheel to keep things coo, but again too slow for me.

A trick a friend of mine showed me... His family used to own a cemetary so they mowed a lot of grass. Their trick was to not only sharpen the blades but sharpen the flat ends of the blades. So you have a blade with a 90 degree sharp surface on both ends. Does speed up cutting and makes a cleaner cut.

Just my experience,

Jim Henderson

 

I just put them in a woodworking vise with the bevel pointing up and use a 4-1/2" angle grinder. I have a fancy ball bearing magnetic balancer, but a nail in the wall or a screwdriver held by a vise is adequate for getting them close enough.
Done thousands of blades this way. Takes some practice, but once you get it down it is very quick.

 

New blades are pretty cheap and normally last a couple of years. I'd rather replace t he blade than deal with an unbalanced balde and filing it until it is balanced.

Tim

 

Couple of years???!!!! I would love to mow that yard! We change blades daily.

 

This is what my boss does that I work for. He mows for a living. Has a couple $30,000+ accounts. So its proven lol

 

Bench grinder with two wheels - coarse wheel to take out the chunks caused by stones, and a coarse flap wheel to finish the job.