How do yall sharpen your mower blades?

[ucm931]

Put one of these in the vise upside down with the locking lever facing up and the thumb screw readily accessible. The vise jaws grab the rounded portion above the vise grip jaw.

Pop open the vise grip, put your mower blade in, and adjust the thumb screw.

 

[USMC615]

Bench grinder/lightly hit with a 4 1/2" angle grinder if needed if they're in that rough of shape to start with...but mostly all are done with a flex-shaft Dremel 4000 and their coarsest drum sanding wheels. Balance 'em afterwards on a nail, and done with it.

 

[Larry B]

I'm old enough to remember when rotary mowers were a new thing on the market .The blades I think were recycled tin cans not too good,soft .Every so often they'd hit a rock or something and break the end off a blade which would wound somebody 40 feet away .They weren't too safe .In that aspect blades have improved over the years .They are about like spring steel these days .I've bent them but never broken them .

The blades by Ferris, JD, Scag and probably other commercial mowers come with Fisher-Barton Marbain blades. These are the best blades going as far as I am concerned. Most blades are a fairly soft low carbon steel. They are designed to bend and not break. Many years ago most blades had a higher carbon content and were harder and more brittle. Pickup any blade from MTD or AYP today and they are butter steel. Some makers now have harder edge metal on their premium blades to help edge retention. These are pretty good till the harder material is gone.

Maybe we need a premium mower blade vs. Cheap mower blade thread.

 

[RI Chevy]

Oregon Gator blades call that hard edge Fusion technology. lol

 

[Larry B]

I recently put a set of G5 gator blades on my Ferris 3100. Want to see how well the "Fusion technology" lasts.

 

[RI Chevy]

Keep us posted please.

 

[pgk1]

Flap disk and balance for me, manual for my zero turn says sharpen every 8 hours if I have the time I do try and sharpen often but not every 8 hours, I can see a difference in the cut with a freshly sharpened set of blades. In the fall I don't worry about it with all of our leafs that fall and our ground is very sandy which in itself does a number on the blades.

 

[alleyyooper]

I got turned on to Oregon mower blades when a spare set was part of the deal on my Zero turn. I googled them later and found they make them for my Husky awd mower too.

selguide_bladelookup.aspx

Preium blade seem to hold a edge well on the walk behind and the Z turn.

T make every effort to stay away from a mulching blade. I seem to get extra build up of grass in the deck with them.

Al

 

[RI Chevy]

Hmmm. Interesting. I get the same buildup underneath. [emoji848]

 

[srcarr52]

I got turned on to Oregon mower blades when a spare set was part of the deal on my Zero turn. I googled them later and found they make them for my Husky awd mower too.

selguide_bladelookup.aspx

Preium blade seem to hold a edge well on the walk behind and the Z turn.

T make every effort to stay away from a mulching blade. I seem to get extra build up of grass in the deck with them.

Al

I've found that the notched high lifts like what is pictured don't blow the grass out of the deck as well as a standard high lift without the notch. The OEM style blades seem to work the best on my Hustler 60" Super Z.

 

[Larry B]

Most commercial guys seem to like the standard medium lift non mulching blades. Of course they properties more often than most home owners. Mulching blades by design keep clippings under the deck longer than regular blades so they pack wet grass under the deck. After scraping out a few hundred mower decks here is what I find. The wavy mulching blades are the worst for packing wet grass. The toothed gator style pack more than regular blades but much less than the wavy kind. High lift regular blades pack more grass than medium or low lift blades. Deck washout ports really work if you use it after every mowing but they make a freaking mess. If you have a non exhausting dedicated mulching deck if you cut long grass it will ball up under the deck and cut like crap. They are great if you cut dry grass and less than an inch. All the fancy shaped proprietary blades that manufacturers use are no better than a plain bkades. Some of these push mower blades are a PITA to sharpen. Customers bring me mowers and say the engine doesn't run like new and all that is wrong is they have really dull mulching blades. Mulching blades on a mower require more power than regular blades especially in long grass.
On a sad note a local shop near me burned a few days ago.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAJegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw0Kdeu1GbXVSqPDfBiB3jNM

 

[RI Chevy]

Too bad.
I run a Scag walk behind with mulching deck kit. Gives a nice cut. Leaves nothing behind when grass is dry.

 

[Larry B]

Too bad.
I run a Scag walk behind with mulching deck kit. Gives a nice cut. Leaves nothing behind when grass is dry.

What blades you running?

 

[srcarr52]

Too bad.
I run a Scag walk behind with mulching deck kit. Gives a nice cut. Leaves nothing behind when grass is dry.

Keywords... when the grass is dry. So far that is yet to happen this year in Iowa.

 

[RI Chevy]

What blades you running?

Gator G6 mulching blades

 

[RI Chevy]

Keywords... when the grass is dry. So far that is yet to happen this year in Iowa.

Very true sir!!! Mostly everywhere in USA. Wet and rainy for sure.

 

[calbo]

Belt grinder or flap wheels. We have a cheap HF 1x30” belt grinder that does a good job.

That's how I do it. In the last couple of years, started balancing them as well.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

I use one of these with a angle grinder and flap disc. Works great!

Authentic Model 5005 Made in the USA — Authentic All American Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener Made in the USA

This authentic Model 5005 was developed, by request, for customers that have specific needs for mower blade angles. It will adjust and lock at angles from 15 to 45 degrees, in 5 degree increments. The 15 degree angle is the lowest angle needed to sharpen the mulching section of a bi-level mulching b

www.allamericansharpener.com

 

[old saw fixer]

I use a Magna-Matic Mag 8000 blade sharpener. I wish I had known to wait for the Mag 8200B belt grinder.
I do some sharpening in my shop.

 

[EFSM]

I use a Magna-Matic Mag 8000 blade sharpener. I wish I had known to wait for the Mag 8200B belt grinder.
I do some sharpening in my shop.

The only thing I buy from Magnamatic is their blade balancer, which is excellent. I spent many hours sharpening on an old Magnamatic stone grinder on a stand, starting when I was so young I had to stand on a 5 gallon bucket to reach it (I’m 6’ so that was when I was about 12 years old). That really soured me on a stone grinder, and also on their reverse rotation, which does eliminate a bur, but it also requires much more pressure on the blade, and the sparks blow in your face if outside in the wind. Oregon’s modified Burr King is the runaway leader currently. It has paid for itself way faster than any other costly tool we’ve ever bought. Of course we got it at dealer cost in 2015, so it was 2k and some change.