How sharp should a mower blade be?

[wosadczuk]

I just received a new set of Gator mulching blades. The blades are made by Oregon and appear to have the tips of the cutting edge (about one inch) tempered for hardness. This is great since most of the cutting and blade wear occurs at the tips. The problem is that the blades are about as sharp as a dull butter knife. Is that sharp enough ? I normally sharpen following the original angle to an edge which can cut skin. Am I over doing it? How sharp should a mower blade be?

 

[reddragon]

i think anywhere between your own edges and the new blades ones:thumbsup:

 

[Black Bart]

The sharper the blade the easier it is to damage the edge.
I sharpen my blade to the point of making them cut good and no more than that.

IMO yes you can over do it, The new blade would be about what I would try to duplicate.

 

[Oddball]

I don't know how sharp they should be, but I sharpen following the original bevel just until a wire edge develops on the back side of the blade. Then I flip it over and, keeping the file flat against the back side of the blade, I run the file over that edge to knock it off. Too fine an edge will just dull quickly and require more frequent sharpening. I've discovered that if I do it this way I will usually only have to resharpen once during the cutting season.

 

[JDgreen]

I just received a new set of Gator mulching blades. The blades are made by Oregon and appear to have the tips of the cutting edge (about one inch) tempered for hardness. This is great since most of the cutting and blade wear occurs at the tips. The problem is that the blades are about as sharp as a dull butter knife. Is that sharp enough ? I normally sharpen following the original angle to an edge which can cut skin. Am I over doing it? How sharp should a mower blade be?

Sharp enough to cut skin without pressing very hard is a bad idea....normally I leave about a 1/16 inch high thickness at the very end of the cutting edge. Sharpening blades to the extreme that you mention will dull them very fast.

 

[reynoldston]

I worked for a mower repair shop as a part time job just help them get caught up on work. One of the things they always did was sharpen the blades on most repair jobs. When we sharpen a blade whey wanted no nicks left in the cutting edge which to my way of thinking took a lot of life out of the blade because some of them would have deep nicks. This is it is their business I just worked for then and I think they did that for looks and I don't take the nicks out of mine. Another thing was after the blade was sharp they would have me take one very quick pass down the sharp edge to make it dull.

 

[JDgreen]

I worked for a mower repair shop as a part time job just help them get caught up on work. One of the things they always did was sharpen the blades on most repair jobs. When we sharpen a blade whey wanted no nicks left in the cutting edge which to my way of thinking took a lot of life out of the blade because some of them would have deep nicks. This is it is their business I just worked for then and I think they did that for looks and I don't take the nicks out of mine. Another thing was after the blade was sharp they would have me take one very quick pass down the sharp edge to make it dull.

Agree 100%, removing deep nicks is a huge waste of money because most nicks have almost no effect on the cutting performance of a sharp blade. And what you say about dulling the sharp edge is basically what I recommend...leave about 1/16 inch thickness at the edge.

 

[LandN]

The only way to tell if the mower blade is sharp enough is to bend down and pluck a blade of grass(AFTER A MOWING) and look at the tip of it. if the blade of grass looks like it was cut with a pair of hand scissors then you're good.if the blade of grass looks ripped (and/or) scraggly ends, then the mower blade is dull. therefore any dings or nicks in the blade is not good.grass blades should be sheared and not ripped or shredded because of the health of the grass blades.they are then susceptable to desease and browning . its to hard for a ripped grass blade to heal itself as opposed to a sheared grass blade, to keep the nutrients inside the blade of grass.thats why a reel/cylinder mower (when properly set) will give the best and healthiest cut,because those blades act and cut like hand scissors. i usually sharpen my blades several times a season and avoid the damaging twigs branches etc.

 

[KennyV]

If your cutting very lush green tender fine bladed grasses... you can go toward razor sharp...
But most of us are not cutting that type lawn... In later summer and towards fall when things dry up and grasses toughen up, a razor edge will fold back and waste away quickly as has been mentioned... if you can get the edge down to about the thickness of an 18 to 20 gauge wire, it will be fine work well all season... Love those Oregon Gator mulching blades.... :smile:KennyV

 

[benski]

I don't spend too much time trying to put a fine edge on my mower blades. A factory new edge is usually so much better than what comes into the shop it's plenty adequate. I put a quick edge on a dull blade with my 4.5" angle grinder, balance it, and bolt it back in with a dab of "Never-Sneeze", torque the bolt, and move on to the next project.:thumbsup: