New mower blades or just sharpen them?

[JWR]

Good practice MitchellB. My BX2200 MMM blades have not been changed since 2003. Fifteen seasons. I sharpen once a year. Never bothered to balance but that is a good idea. I mow 1.25 ac every week in a long southern MD summer and use the bagger at least 4 days each fall bagging leaves with the same blades. At times I mow some neighbor's places too. Rob your blades already look too good to mess with in my opinion but if they are off, go ahead and sharpen. Sharp blades always cut better. Need not be razors as many have said. About 20 posts of generally good advice.

I procrastinate a lot but these blades of mine will be replaced before spring 2019. And for heavens sake go get a grinder ! Yard sales and auctions are good. Harbor Freight is cheap in the worst case. If you have never ground a set of blades go watch someone do it.

 

[hslogger]

Mitchell B is da man.
I too have extra blades and keep a sharp pair and a single for my Honda Walk Behind. I have done maintenance on my own stuff on commercial and municipal gear., REMOVING blades is best in the long run because then you minimize the risk of your attachment bolts getting frozen or rounded off. Plus, you spend the extra minutes looking over the assembly for problems or damage that will affect the machine in the future. I also keep extra set of bolts too.

I remove the bolts, change blades, take the bolt head to the wire brush, never seize or grease, and re install. Sharp blades, clean blades, clean under deck prolong the operation and longevity of the machine. True story.

 

[Wakey]

It has not been cutting so good so maybe the deck is just clogged up.

That is a constant struggle with my Zero turn. I put a clean edge on a 5 in 1 tool with my bench grinder and that works pretty good for me.

I almost bought one of those wheels that you put on a drill but the reviews scared me off.

I guess I'll keep using the angle grinder with the blade in a vise.

 

[Fuddy1952]

As a kid my Grandad and Dad would sharpen blades on a bench grinder until they looked like the top one in drawing. Then I realized that had to me wrong because as the blade spins the tip is what cuts first and most.
I always thought blades should be made like the bottom drawing. They could be sharpened a lot more. That's why I like the sandpaper pad grinder. You want it sharp but not remove much metal.

 

[Thomas]

I use hand grinder w/disc pad,once you get the feel sharping blades it will become second nature...plus hand grinder comes in handy for other uses.

 

[mikester]

Here's one of mine this one has 3 summers worth of grass cutting. I don't have a wheel grinder and i'm not sure how hard it would be to get them balanced. They are $15 each new and a cheap wheel grinder is around $50 so buying 3 blades would cover a wheel grinder plus a balance tool.

View attachment 571988

Wow those look like new! Mine get worn pretty thin after one season...we have sandy soil and it kicks up tons of dust and the blades get sandblasted. I wish I could get more than one season out of mine.

 

[4570Man]

As a kid my Grandad and Dad would sharpen blades on a bench grinder until they looked like the top one in drawing. Then I realized that had to me wrong because as the blade spins the tip is what cuts first and most.
I always thought blades should be made like the bottom drawing. They could be sharpened a lot more. That's why I like the sandpaper pad grinder. You want it sharp but not remove much metal.View attachment 572076

That’s the same thing my grandpa did. Cut quality goes to crap with blades like that. If you care at all about the cut quality blades like that need replaced.

 

[Wakey]

Wow, I picked up a flap disc for my angle grinder and that is by far the best my blades have come out.

I ended up sharpening my ax, hatchet, lopers and all of my shovels and post hole digger.

Thanks for the tip!