Lawn mower blades and sharpening

Dexter Ewing

Dexter Ewing

Joined
Oct 3, 1998
Messages
4,670
As with anything I own that cuts, I resharpen my lawnmower blades. I'm wondering if there is a special jig available (as an attachment for a bench grinder) that frees you up from holding the blade at the proper angle, allowing you to move the blade side to side across the grinder wheel. I've seen some specially designed mower blade sharpening systems advertised in publications and catalogs that cater to professional grounds maintenance (Pro, Landscaper's Supply Corp). These are a complete system, I'm looking for something that would be used in conjunction with a regular bench grinder (e.g. Delta). The guys who service and sell power equipment must use some sort of jig to get the grind so even. If anyone knows of some sort of jig like this, please let me know. TIA for the help.

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Dexter Ewing
Knife Reviews Moderator
AKTI Member # A000005


 
Paraphrasing here...

"It's 4 AM, what are you doing up, and why are you carrying that hammer around?"

"Don't rightly know, reckon I just kinda woke up with it, mm-hmm."

Karl Childers sure seemed to know something about sharpening lawn mower blades, didn't he?
wink.gif


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Don LeHue

The pen is mightier than the sword...outside of arm's reach. Modify radius accordingly for rifle.


 
Dexter:
Used to work at a shop that did sharpening, the lawn mower blade sharpener was basically a bench grinder with the wheel spinning in reverse. I always went to the hand held grinder because it was much faster.
Now I use my Square Wheel to do my blades for the mower. Set the platen to a comfortable angle, fairly verticle, and use the tool rest table as a constant guide, file the burr of the back side.
Make sure the blade is balanced when your done.

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P.J.
P.J. Turner Knife Mfg, Inc.
Uluchet, What's an Uluchet? Find out at...
www.silverstar.com/turnermfg


 
Dexter,
If you have access to a milling machine, a carbide endmill will cut through that blade like butter! Set the head at the proper angle and remove the same amount of material from both ends of the blade using the dials or readout. This way, you wont have to worry about balancing!
 
Boy you guys are really into to this! Dexter, I just clamp one end of the blade into a B&D Workmate and use a file on the the other end and then reverse the blade and file the other side. It is not really precision sharpening but it gets the job done.

phantom4

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who dares, wins


 
I'd have to agree that a file is one of your better options, unless the blade has hit some SERIOUS rocks. The control with a file would also keep you from removing so much material as to unbalance it.

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Oz

"I didn't think it was THAT sharp!"
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I've tried the file method before but takes too long. Or maybe it was that I was using the wrong type file? What type of files do you use, phantom4?

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Dexter Ewing
Knife Reviews Moderator
AKTI Member # A000005


 
Dex,
I grind my mower blades like my knife blades,
Longitudinally, makes for an easier grind and I find it easy to keep the edges straight, best done on a belt grinder for sure.

G2

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It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me,
it is the parts that I do understand.
Mark Twain

www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Cabin/7306/blades.html

 
Dex, we used to take the blade down to an edge with a die grinder, then take a stick welder and some stellite rod and put a thin coating of that on the flat side of the blade.

This puts a nice hard wear resistant strip that is thin enough to still nicely cut grass even when the rest of the blade has worn down..

This was a trick I learned from working landscaping in Florida where the sand is very abrasive on the blades, but it should work just as good here to keep your blades nice and sharp longer...

Alan...
 
Well, looks like I might need to buy a belt grinder then
wink.gif
Nah, I might give the diamond file thing a try. I've got several DMT Diafolds here including the extra coarse one.

Alan - something like this is already being done in production. Gravely's new 260Z mid-mount ZTR rider has blades coated with tungsten carbide on the cutting edge.

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Dexter Ewing
Knife Reviews Moderator
AKTI Member # A000005



[This message has been edited by Dexter Ewing (edited 07 September 1999).]
 
I use a Dremel to touch up the edge of the mower blade. Cuts that steel like butter. Doesn't take too much off. You can check for balance by placing the center hole on a rounded bolt head or something similar to see how it balances.
 
Dexter, I don't know where magnum 44 gets his mower blades but the ones I use are not "hardened steel". I just use a medium size mill bastard file and it works.

phantom4

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who dares, wins


 
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