Sharpening Lawnmower Blades -- where to go?

[Eric]

I noticed recently that the blade on my lawnmower is incredibly dull, and could likely benefit immensely from a sharpening. I don't have a benchgrinder or anything else that seems like it would be appropriate for sharpening, so I'm trying to find a place that would do this for me.

So the question: where do all of you go for such service? Would your average hardware store do it for you? Auto mechanic? Specialty yard supplies and service? I'm unsure of where to start, so I'm looking for any decent advice any of you can provide. Input much appreciated!

[mapka]

There is a place that sells lawn tractors and other gas powered equipment and they do it. If I need them in a pinch I take them to my auto mechanic and he puts an edge on them. Like the work from the tractor place more IMHO

[poodlesrule]

I think I saw an ad for a Dremel attachment designed for shapening blades.

A quick search shows a few youtube segments illustrating it, actually. So it does exist.

[Spudman]

I used to use a metal file and I'd leave the blade right on the mower. It's not rocket science - just grass. Then I upgraded to a Makita grinder that you could find at a pawn shop probably or one of the cheap tool outlets like Harbor Freight Tools. It's small and easy to put an edge on the blade with, but for what it's worth I can't tell a difference looking at my grass if the sharper edge with the grinder makes any difference.

[sunvalleylaw]

I noticed recently that the blade on my lawnmower is incredibly dull, and could likely benefit immensely from a sharpening. I don't have a benchgrinder or anything else that seems like it would be appropriate for sharpening, so I'm trying to find a place that would do this for me.

So the question: where do all of you go for such service? Would your average hardware store do it for you? Auto mechanic? Specialty yard supplies and service? I'm unsure of where to start, so I'm looking for any decent advice any of you can provide. Input much appreciated!


Out to the garage with the bench grinder. Well, I would if I had one. But I don't. So I go to the small motor mechanic guys who always smoke cigarettes around all the gas powered equipment they work on, and have them do it. They are likely in or around your town. They will have the used mowers for sale out front, and a small sign that says something like "J&R Repair".

[deeaa]

Yep remember that they do not have to be very sharp to begin with...in favt if you make them too sharp the edge will just wear too quickly. Think of the normal trimmer, they just have a round bit of plastic wire and they cut grass just fine.

You could likely just get a largish metal file for a few bucks and just file it some while it's in the machine. I've taken my blade out sometimes, when it's been full of pencil-size dings and bends from hitting stones and then used a grinder to level it again...but I do think you could do it while it's in place. Just make sure you do it when it's cold and take off the spark plug lead & drain the fuel so you don't get soaked with gas or start it by accident while working :-)

[mapka]

Out to the garage with the bench grinder. Well, I would if I had one. But I don't. So I go to the small motor mechanic guys who always smoke cigarettes around all the gas powered equipment they work on, and have them do it. They are likely in or around your town. They will have the used mowers for sale out front, and a small sign that says something like "J&R Repair".

LOL aaaah Americana! Shop you desribed perfectly. It's like you've been to the one out here! And at least one guy needs to have a blue shirt on with oil and/or grease covering most of it with his name above the pocket.

[sunvalleylaw]

LOL aaaah Americana! Shop you desribed perfectly. It's like you've been to the one out here! And at least one guy needs to have a blue shirt on with oil and/or grease covering most of it with his name above the pocket.


LOL!!! Absolutely! They are pretty similar across the country I would think.

[otaypanky]

I take mine off the mower and hold it in a vice and sharpen it using a flat file. Using a grinder is tricky and it's easy to do more damage than good. It's also pretty easy to overheat the edge of the blade. I only do that on a badly damaged blade. If you try sharpening it yourself just use the original bevel of the edge as your guide and file evenly along each cutting edge. Try and take a similar number of strokes or metal from both cutting edges so the blade stays balanced. It's easy enough to do and quick too. I have 3 blades on my tractor's mower deck and it takes less than 10 minutes to do them all.
Around here the local hardware store will do it, as will most small engine and power equipment repair shops.
It may be easier and cheaper for you to just buy a new blade. A new single blade for say a Craftsman mower is less than $20 ~

[poodlesrule]

Safety aspect of blade removal?

[deeaa]

Yeah it's best make sure twice the plug cord is off and block the blade movement with a block of wood too...real easy to slip and scratch yer knuckles at it as well...those center bolts don't tend to be in the best of condition after hitting whatnot for years under there....and usually also the chassis 'edges' surrounding the blades have all kinds of sharp dings and cracks...

[Commodore 64]

I use a $10 angle grinder from Harbor Freight. Or buy them on line form Amazon. I found blades for my craftsman mower deck for $4.95 a piece this spring. Amazon Prime member, free shipping.

[Duffy]

I would suggest buying a portable grinder, the one with the three and a half or so inch grinding wheel. Replacement wheels are cheap and come in different types for different uses. The standard one is for steel and iron and such, and comes on it. There is a larger portable grinder that welders and such like to use that has a larger grinding wheel, like six inches or so and is great for big jobs, but too big for most household jobs.

Since getting a portable grinder, in addition to my bench grinder, I have been able to take the portable one around the house, yard, etc., an do all sorts of grinding jobs that I would otherwise not be able to do and I'd be stuck with unremovable nails and screws in different places, sharp metal edges on things that I can now smooth down, etc.

A portable grinder is a multipurpose tool that makes it possible to grind off metal things like rusty nuts, other rusted out irremovable junk, and even smooth down certain wood problems.

We use our grinder probably on the average of once every two weeks to grind stuff off that would otherwise be unfixable by us.

I always use the portable grinder to sharpen the lawn mower blades, right on the mower. But Definitely be careful to disconnect the spark plug because turning that blade under that mower can actually "crank" start it like an old airplane motor that they used to turn the propellor on - that blade shaft is the drive shaft of the motor that activates the capacitor discharge ignition or whatever ignition your mower has. I try to keep the grinding even and smooth, but sometimes the mower blade is so beat up that it takes a while to get it evenly ground down. I wouldn't buy a new blade until I had to, which would be after a lot of sharpening with a file or grinder.

I like the fact that the grinder is such a versitile tool that can be used all around the house and yard. You would be surprised at how thick of metal that the portable grinder can cut thru with some careful application of the wheel. Be Sure to wear protective safety goggles though, or a shield because you don't want microscopic or tiny slivers of steel getting in your eye. Also wear long sleeves and gloves if you decide to get one of these very useful tools.

[deeaa]

Yep if I had to select just a few tools I could NOT live without, an angle grinder with a nice blade assortment would be one.

A good cordless drill/power screwdriver would be #1 though. I use one multiple times per week, it's just absolutely a must-have, and even if you would not NEED one it makes so many tasks so easy you don't leave 'em be just because it's so hard with a normal screwdriver. With a couple of SHARP good drill bits one of these will also allow you to do well over 90% of household tasks such as drilling holes in tiling to put up a new soap holder in the bathroom or whatever. Also great for some grinding/polishing jobs.

A good small angle grinder could be the second one. Although a Dremel is insanely handy, too, sometimes, and it also has grinding plates and such, actually can be used to grind surprisingly large objects.

The last time I did some plumbing work I had some copper pipes in a shitty place for access, and the dremel worked superb in that...the small grinding wheel cut thru those water lines like buttah, much to my surprise.

[Tig]

A file to the blade always worked for me. Just enough to get the edge a little sharp, but not too sharp.

Now, I let Senior Lima cut and trim the lawn for $20 a week. :AOK
Working nights has finished off what little energy I have left.

[Duffy]

True Dee, true. Isn't the use of sophisticated tools one of the criteria separating mankind from our closest animal relatives?

Music enchantingly seems to be something quite sophisticated that we do share with many of our animal relatives.

[Eric]

A file to the blade always worked for me. Just enough to get the edge a little sharp, but not too sharp.
This option may make the most sense for me if I decide to do it. Dee's post about how they don't have to be super sharp got me thinking that maybe it's not actually so bad, so I'll think it over a bit me. Thanks to everyone for the input -- I wasn't sure if this was a good question or not for this place, but I guess it was.

[Duffy]

I read that a sharp mower blade makes a cleaner cut and a dull one makes a raggedy cut at the end of the blade. The clean cut end produces a healthier lawn, supposedly.

[markb]

In NZ there's a specialist mower shop in every little local shopping parade. I can't remember ever seeing one in the UK but then I never owned a mower in London. Funny that.