Sharpening Blades - What are the tools and Methods?

Files, grinders, etc. are not the tools of a professional and neither is a nail. Each is a compromise and each lends aspects to improper blade processing and safety.

Here's the real deal:
http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/gener...ade-sharpening-pros-perspective-part-1-a.html

Sharpening a mower blade is NOT that difficult, any reasonable person can get it right.

There is no reason to over complicate a simple task...
:smile:KennyV

Hi KennyV! I would presume that though sharpening is simple (I tend to agree to this), there still is a need to practice the proper angles and motions. Once practiced, it's a matter of doing it again, and again.

Even so, I would further presume that sharpening a pair of scissors would be more complex than sharpening the blades of a mower. Would these be reasonable presumptions?

adan said:

Hi KennyV! I would presume that though sharpening is simple (I tend to agree to this), there still is a need to practice the proper angles and motions. Once practiced, it's a matter of doing it again, and again.

Even so, I would further presume that sharpening a pair of scissors would be more complex than sharpening the blades of a mower. Would these be reasonable presumptions?

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You are correct in both ...
Your angle can be governed by how tender or coarse the grass or weeds your cutting... soft green vegetation you could approach 20 degrees, dry woody sapling get closer to 40 degrees at the edge...
Stick to the angle the old blade is and you will also be fine...
As to the sharpness... you do not have to be much sharper than the edge of a string trimmer... it is the blade (tip) velocity that cuts...
You could mount a blade blank with no cutting edge, it will still cut... BUT a sharp edge cuts better and leaves the grass in a healthier state, if you get too sharp you risk folding over the edge...

These are some very basic skills that can be easily accomplished with rather common tools...

A reel mower is akin to a scissors... more precise machinery IS needed to make it true and perfect.
But keeping an acceptable edge on a reel is not out of the scope of the owner... :smile:KennyV

Buy or keep an extra blade to set on top of the used one and you will see how muck metal will be lost.. aka for balancing. Use a felt pen and a ruler to trace the correct angle to the lower blade that needs sharpened.
Grind or file, but make sure you take the WHOLE black marker line off. too high..increase angle....too low lessen the angle. Never take too much metal off, the large divots will happen and not affect the cutting quality much.

ingigo said:

Buy or keep an extra blade to set on top of the used one and you will see how muck metal will be lost.. aka for balancing. Use a felt pen and a ruler to trace the correct angle to the lower blade that needs sharpened.
Grind or file, but make sure you take the WHOLE black marker line off. too high..increase angle....too low lessen the angle. Never take too much metal off, the large divots will happen and not affect the cutting quality much.

Click to expand...

you do realize this thread hasn't been active since 2010 right

ILENGINE said:

you do realize this thread hasn't been active since 2010 right

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Its a good thread to bring up because everybody getting their mower ready for the new mowing season. You can spend any where from 500 to a 1000 dollars for a professional blade sharping machine. You can do the same job with a disk grinder and a less then 5 dollar balancer with the same results.