How do you sharpen your blades

i remove mine twice a year. i live in the country, so i do have un-even ground with the heavy equipment that gets move over every so often. i use an ofset grinder, and balance them. for the balncing they do sell a tool for around $5, at most mower parts store. if you dont balance the blades, you can get heavy vibritions that can ruin the shaft bearings. you end up spending more money faster if you dont balance them.
 
I use an angle grinder with a sanding pad.:thumbsup: I hold the blades in a vise on my work bench.:biggrin:
 
I inherited a little kit with a screw on jig to a dremel and a little cone balancer. Worked great on my craftsman rider and black amd decker cordless but I haven't tried it on me grasshopper that has the gator mulching blades.
 
I place the most comfortable outdoor chair I have at the garage entrance so sparks go outdoors. Most often dressed in shorts and moccasins, I set there with my old Makita rt. angle grinder and yell at that woman "YA GOT THAT BLADE OFF YET". Woman " almost".

Finally she delivers it to me and I tell her " it has 2 so get started on that other one cause I'll be finished with this one in just a minute or two. In my best chair I set there with that blade across my thigh extended a little and sharpen away and I'm done. Yep, stuck my knife blade through the hole centered and it's balanced perfect.

"YA GOT THAT OTHER BLADE OFF YET". Woman " almost". OK, put this one back on and turn the nut the other way. I'll be done in a minute or two. Yep, stuck my knife blade through the hole centered and it's balanced perfect too.

"Here woman is the other one. Put my grinder and chair back where ya got um, I'm headed for the recliner.:laughing:
 
I used to sharpen my three blades on my bench grinder. I thought I was doing a good job until I took them to a professional. For $4 a blade, I will never do it myself again. The difference like night and day.
 
my uncle has a hand mower. he usually sharpen it by himself. but it was really an arefull work. i was told if it wasn't sharpen correctly.it will harm to your grass. teared grass may be more easily infected by bacterial.
 
Vise and a file, I have done it that way for over 40 years, about every 5 mowing's I resharpen them.
 
I have 3 sets that I rotate on my IZ4818. I take a dull set off (5 mowing's or so) and replace them with a sharpened set. I then sharpen the ones I just took off with my 4 1/2" angle grinder and 60 grit sanding disc and I then hang them on my shop wall where they will make it back under the mower after the other 2 sets complete their turns. As I said I rotate 3 sets, but I also rotate them under them mower as the middle blade seems to wear faster than the other two.

The 3 set rotation looks to keep me from having to buy more than a set or two each year, I mow 3 acres every week starting 3 weeks ago and will run thru late September or mid October here in south Georgia. The Gator Style Blades I run cost me around $29 a set, not sure if they are the real ones or not.
 
I use an angled grindstone wheel which happens to be2 inches diameter with a plastic guide attached. It does the job. I sharpen my reel mower with a hand file. I used to be an engineer so I can file well.
 
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