Helping Out At The Oasis | How To Sharpen Lawnmower Blades

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How We Can Give Back

We all have a way that we can give back to others. After spending three weeks at my inlaws house, I wanted to give back. Stacie D and I started with cleaning and lawn work.

Sharpening The Mower Blades

Metal seems to be my craft medium of choice, so I was asked to sharpen some lawn mower blades. Turns out that there were six blades. Three were not so bad, but the other three were pretty poor condition.

Tools

It wasn't a very technical project, so I could use some basic tools.

Angle Grinder
Files
Clamp
Saw horse
Blade balancer

Process

I started by clamping the mower blade to the saw horse. With the concrete in the background I was able to see the cutting edge. You can see a solid black line on the edge.

I use the angle grinder to freshen up the bevel and work a new edge. I start by grinding along the top of the bevel and working my way down to the cutting edge. With the speed of the grinding wheel it is important to continually move the grinder. This will prevent over heating the blade. You don't need to put too sharp of an edge on here, because the initial cuts would dull a super sharp blade anyway.

In the garage I put the mower blade in a vice. I use a fine tooth file to touch up the bevel. If you need to remove alot of material choose a more aggressive file. It is very important to use a file handle. This will prevent you from pushing the file tang into you hand.

Start filing at one end of the blade and your file stroke should end at the other end of the blade. Using long and consistent passes will give you a better finish and a straight cutting edge.

When you have the mower blade to the point that you are happy with it, it is time to check the balance. You do this with a mower blade balancer. If it tips to one side you will need to remove more material. Balance is important for your blades so you do not destroy the bearings in your mower.