Mower Blade Sharpening

[Peter Stahl]

For those who sharpen their own blades how do you do it? Do you freehand it on a bench grinder, Have a jig for your bench grinder or use a file? I have a Honda mower with 2 blades and at $5 a blade I thought I'd try it myself.

thanks, Pete

[Kurt Aebi]

I usually set the tool rest at the angle of the bevel and then grind them.

I have a finish nail to hang them on to check for balance. I then freehand grind the backside of teh blade to balance them out.

I hope I helped. Oh yea, rough grit wheel - don't use your turning gouge wheels for this one! :eek:

[Gary Herrmann]

I use a grinder to get close and then get the final edge with a file.

[Matt Meiser]

I use a 4" angle grinder with a fiber disk and then finish with a file. You have to make sure to grind "downhill" to prevent catches.

[David Fried]

I just have an unpowered push mower but I bought a blade sharpening attachment for my dremel tool and it seems to work great.

[Jim Becker]

Free-hand on my "other" bench grinder...the one I don't use for my turning tools.

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

I just use a hand file.

[Bruce Page]

I usually takes me about 5 min. to file them.

[Randy Meijer]

A hand file and a good vise!! Count strokes and you don't have to be so concerned about balancing. Takes more time to mount and dismount the blade than the actual sharpening. Since we are not talking about brain surgery here, jigs and guides to maintain precise angles are pretty much overkill, IMO, except perhaps with reel type mowers.

[Bill Lewis]

I used to use a high speed bench grinder, or a file or both. Now I use a 4 1/2" angle grinder, definately the fastest way to go.

[Peter Stahl]

Thanks for all the replys. I think I give the angle grinder a try. I have one that I bought years ago that I tried to use with a bisket jointer attachment from sears.

Pete

[Chris Padilla]

You can buy a little device that you put in a handheld drill and just grind it that way if you like. To that end, they have a balancer, too. Maybe cost you $10 in all.... Check your local h/w store.

[Hal Flynt]

I use my old high speed grinder to set the bevel and take out major nicks about once a year. I also "try" to flatten the back some on the side of the wheel. This is pretty much free hand sliding it across a poor excuse for a tool rest on the old grinder.

Once balanced and run for a while and the rest of the season, I use a big mill file to put a new edge on it and maybe a slight back bevel towards the end of the season, trying to keep in mind that I will regrind the bevel and do't want to take too much off, maybe a 32nd.

Anything to keep the SWMBO happy with her lawn mower :D