sharpening mower blades

[check]

Unless you're cutting heavy turf with sticks and typical debris etc...you should not need to sharpen blades that often...
...It is recommended to have a smooth cutting edge of about 1/16"...they should not be knife sharp...

Why shouldn’t they be knife sharp?

 

[KennyG]

Why shouldn’t they be knife sharp?

Because they won't be knife sharp in about 10 minutes and you'll be sharpening the blades every day. There's no way to hold a knife edge cutting grass. Sharp for mower blades is "butter knife sharp" at most.

 

[Raul-02]

Because they won't be knife sharp in about 10 minutes

This is an undeniable fact.
But so too is the fact that the degree to which they will have lost their edges is compounded with each use if there is no regrinding.
Sharpening it frequently brings it back to that fresh edge.

What convinced me to do this was having done it just for the heck of it a few times.
I noticed a dramatic difference in cut w quality, the speed at which I could mow, and later I observed I was using less fuel too.
So I tossed all the so-called expert advice in the trash (where an awful lot of it belongs) and now I just do what makes me happy.

Not saying it's better than what the other guy does, but I have concrete, iron-clad, irrefutable proof that St Peter has a speedy check-in gate up there just for me.

 

[GeneV]

The dude likes his blades freshly hones, I see no problem with that.

 

[/pine]

Because they won't be knife sharp in about 10 minutes and you'll be sharpening the blades every day. There's no way to hold a knife edge cutting grass. Sharp for mower blades is "butter knife sharp" at most.

As cited before...rotary mower blades create a suction to lift and hold the blades of grass so they can be sheared (cut) off at a standard level...
That suction lifts grains of sand etc, and other foreign objects like sticks etc or anything that is loose...
As said if you sharpen a rotary mower blade knife sharp it will be dulled and jagged in short order..

Take note...reel type mowers do not create lift and and generally only cut blades of grass....so the blades can be knife sharp

 

[GeneV]

Good to also point out that there are different heights of lift blades: low, medium, hi, super-hi. The higher the lift, the nicer the cut (especially in the summer when the cut height is taller) coz it stands the turf up more. But then the hi and especially super-hi lift blades will also pull up ever branch, sandy soil, etc, which will dull your blades faster.

That's another thing about the oem blades on the Massey deck which I'm not thrilled with, they're low lift blades. I prefer mediums, it's a good compromise.

But anyways, as far anything related to mowing, probably best to just look at what commercial landscapers do, and follow suit. Here's one thing most of them don't do: hassle over the appropriate level of dullness for a freshly sharpened blade lol. I mean come on, this is such splitting hairs bs!

If you got that much junk hiding in your turf to sawtooth your blades, either spend a day cleaning it all up, or mow with a brush hog.

 

[Creamer]

Good to also point out that there are different heights of lift blades: low, medium, hi, super-hi. The higher the lift, the nicer the cut (especially in the summer when the cut height is taller) coz it stands the turf up more. But then the hi and especially super-hi lift blades will also pull up ever branch, sandy soil, etc, which will dull your blades faster.

That's another thing about the oem blades on the Massey deck which I'm not thrilled with, they're low lift blades. I prefer mediums, it's a good compromise.

But anyways, as far anything related to mowing, probably best to just look at what commercial landscapers do, and follow suit. Here's one thing most of them don't do: hassle over the appropriate level of dullness for a freshly sharpened blade lol. I mean come on, this is such splitting hairs bs!

If you got that much junk hiding in your turf to sawtooth your blades, either spend a day cleaning it all up, or mow with a brush hog.

It seems to me the more particular landscapers sharpen blades daily but then they are getting 6-8 hours of mowing time daily as well. I have been told by a few of them that it gives the nicest look to have clean sharp blades - dead sharp blades. A couple I know even stone the blade after sharpening with a grinder.

i prefer a medium lift blade as it is enough to get my grass cut evenly. I Also agree that those high lift blades can pick up a lot of other things that I prefer not to take the chance of throwing out. Not that I have many of those - other than sticks - but I worry about safety and don't like the idea of things getting thrown out the side of a mower.

Balancing I tried on a nail or a screwdriver but I found my detection was not very reliable and just gave up on it. I am just careful to keep both ends visually even and go on without balancing and my 97 lawnmower has never had a spindle issue either.

 

[Will S]

It seems to me the more particular landscapers sharpen blades daily but then they are getting 6-8 hours of mowing time daily as well. I have been told by a few of them that it gives the nicest look to have clean sharp blades - dead sharp blades. A couple I know even stone the blade after sharpening with a grinder.

i prefer a medium lift blade as it is enough to get my grass cut evenly. I Also agree that those high lift blades can pick up a lot of other things that I prefer not to take the chance of throwing out. Not that I have many of those - other than sticks - but I worry about safety and don't like the idea of things getting thrown out the side of a mower.

Balancing I tried on a nail or a screwdriver but I found my detection was not very reliable and just gave up on it. I am just careful to keep both ends visually even and go on without balancing and my 97 lawnmower has never had a spindle issue either.

With no spindle failures, it sounds like you have been pretty good, or pretty lucky at balancing your blades. But you can do better than a visual/guess, with a $6 blade balancer

 

[Gator6x4]

I use the loader bucket on the loader to hold my blades for sharpening. I use a c- clamp to hold the blade and sharpen away with the die grinder. By using the loader bucket I can get the blade to a comfortable height, hold the blades before and after sharpening and lay the grinder down at any time to rotate the blades for sharpening.

 

[GeneV]

I don't clamp them, I just lay the blade flat on the work bench with one end dangling off the table, that's the side I'm gonna sharpen. I use one hand to hold the blade down against the table, the other hand runs the angle grinder with a flap disc on that dangling edge.

A couple 3 passes, flip it around, do the other side, test it with the balancer thingie real fast (just for fun, coz I've yet to have it noticeably unbalanced), and then clean up the curled-over edge with a quick light pass with the grinder on the underside. The whole thing done in maybe a minute. Sharpening mower blades ain't jack...whoever here posted about worrying they'll do it wrong, don't worry so much about it.