What metal are mower blades made of?

[minkyung]

Hello Friends in the Forum! Maybe you can help me understand. Mowers work on dry and wet grass, correct. What kind of metal is the blade made of? They do not rust when they get wet, correct? Thank you very much for your explanation. Hope you all have a nice day!

 

[KennyV]

Various grades of steel ... the better ones will have a hardened cutting edge.

They definitely rust... but since they are constantly abrading grass under the deck, they will tend to polish some what.
They start out painted, but that will generally wear off soon... :smile:KennyV

 

[minkyung]

Thank you KennyV!

So, now I see why it is ok to see bare metal on the blade, even if grass is wet. Grass scrapes off the rust. So, rust does not spread and destroy the blade. Very smart, huh?

What is the usual reason why blades are replaced or thrown away? Rust is not among them, huh? Hope you can help me again on this question. Thanks again!

 

[KennyV]

What is the usual reason why blades are replaced or thrown away?

They will in time wear thin...
The back edge, lift wing will generally etch out and come off, especially in sandy areas.
Cutting edge will eventually be ground away during sharpening...
And occasionally they will get hopelessly bent damaged from striking something.
On a multi blade system, that uses staggered placement of blades, the length is needed for the necessary overlap... the tip of the cutting edge is what does the majority of all cutting, it erodes away the fastest, once it is gone the blade will not preform like it should ...:smile:KennyV

 

[SeniorCitizen]

The back edge, lift wing will generally etch out and come off, especially in sandy areas.
KennyV

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This old and new blade is a good example of what KennyV is saying. Yes, my blades are accustomed to sandy soil @ SandburRanch. :biggrin: