How Do You Sharpen A Lawn Mower Blade With A Dremel
How to sharpen lawnmower blades with a Dremel, step by step:
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Where To Sharpen Lawnmower Blade
You have two options when it comes to mower blade sharpening. You can do it yourself, or you can take it into a business, generally some mechanic’s shop or repairman. While there aren’t any big, name-brand businesses that generally sharpen the blades on lawnmowers, we can help you know how to find one for yourself locally.
How To Sharpen The Lawn Mower Blade
Next, gather the tools to sharpen lawn mower blades. Mower blades have a 3- to 4-inch cutting edge on opposite sides of the blade. Check to see if the blade is dull or damaged.
- Clamp the mower blade into a vise or onto a worktable with the first cutting edge facing up.
- Examine the blade. Decide if it is better to sharpen it or replace it.
- If your blade has cracks, is missing large pieces, or is severely bent, replace it. You shouldnt sharpen a heavily damaged lawn mower blade.
- If your blade is just nicked, chipped, or dull, try sharpening it.
Lawnmower blade sharpening can be done several ways. You may already have some of the blade sharpening tools you need:
- Sharpening a lawn mower blade by hand uses metal files or abrasives.
- Sharpening a blade by machine uses a blade sharpener, bench grinder or angle grinder.
Only sharpen the blade so its as sharp as a butter knife. The edge shouldnt cut your finger. A razor-sharp blade dulls more quickly. Youd have to replace the blade more often after constant resharpening. A gently sharpened and shiny edge is the goal.
Safety Tip: Always wear gloves, long sleeves and eye protection when working with grinders and blades. Wear ear protection if youre using a machine method of sharpening.
Sharpen a Lawn Mower Blade by Hand:
Sharpen a Lawn Mower Blade with a Drill-Powered Blade Sharpener:
Sharpen a Lawn Mower Blade with an Angle Grinder:
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How Do You Know That Your Lawnmower Blade Needs Sharpening
The best way to determine when your lawnmower blade needs sharpening is to notice the performance of the mower. When you see that the lawnmower has begun leaving behind grass blades poking up here and there, your blade has probably gone dull and is pushing them rather than cutting through it. If you did not sharpen the blades last mowing season, you should do it this year.
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Its Time To Return The Blade
Once the cutting edge is sharpened and the blade is balanced, its time to put it back to its home. Put the blade back the correct way and fasten it with the same nuts and bolts you took out earlier. This is your last chance to remove any remaining mud on the underside of your mower. Afterwards, turn your mower right side up and reinstall the spark plugs.
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Other Tools And Methods To Sharpen Lawnmower Blades
Save yourself a lot of headaches and dont use a file to sharpen lawn mower blades. You dont need to have that level of accuracy, and its just slower and more work than you need for this process. Regardless of what anyone says, you wont get a nicer-looking lawn or longer blade life from manually sharpening the blade with a file. Use one of the grinding methods above and git er done!
For commercial users who do a lot of lawn mower blade sharpening, several companies make tools that can help speed up the processpotentially. We tried a tool from Noracore called the Easy Mower Blade Sharpener . It uses a die grinder, mirrors, and a camera connected to your smartphone to let you sharpen blades on a zero-turn mower without removing them. While it has some potential, it also had difficulty getting to that center blade on 3-blade ZTs. Its clearly an innovative tool. In fact, it won a 2019 Pro Tool Innovation Award . In the end, youll need to determine whether it might be easier just to jack up the mower and pull the blades.
Other systems include jigs for quickly setting and maintaining angles on even complex mower blades. These help you maintain that proper edgewhich can vary between 30 and 45-degrees depending on the blade. If you do a lot of sharpening, find a system that optimizes your time to save you the most money.
Reattach Your Sharp Lawn Mower Blades
Youve done everything except put it all back together. This is where youll refer to the mental or physical snapshot you took earlier. Return the blade in the exact orientation and position shown in the image.
Once the blade is properly positioned, replace the retention bolt and tighten the bolt to secure the blade to the lawn mower deck.
The lawn mower can then be restored to working order by reconnecting the spark plugs to the engine and reattaching their cables. Once your lawn mower is flat on the ground and upright, fill the tank with gas and test your newly honed cutting surfaces.
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What Do Lawn Mower Blade Sharpening Services Include
Lawn mower blade sharpening can sharpen different types of lawn mower blades. Whichever kind of lawn mower blade you have, your Tasker may sharpen it on-site or in their workshop. You get to choose the most convenient option for you!
Whatever you need, post a task and tell us what type of service youre looking for. Our platform connects you to local specialists who can restore your lawn mower blades. Sharpened lawn mower blades are necessary for a healthy and beautiful lawn. Heres a list of standard lawn mower blade services and related services Taskers can do for you.
Cylinder mower blade sharpening
If your cylinder mower blade is dull or no longer makes clean cuts, a Tasker can sharpen the blades for you. Taskers can sharpen lawn mower blades with various tools, such as hand files, bench grinders, and chisels and punches. Book a cylinder mower sharpening today by posting a task. After sharpening a lawn mower blade, specialists can also set the blades correctly. The proper setting ensures the blade lasts longer and achieves optimum cutting.
Rotary mower blade sharpening
Other lawn mower services
Related services
Have a look at other sharpening services on Airtasker, such as garden tool sharpening and chainsaw blade sharpening. Or get more done in your home by booking a construction service or plumbing service on the platform. If you bought new furniture, assemblers can also come over and handle the tedious work.
Watch For Excess Vibration
Once youve got your blade sharpened, and youre out cutting grass again, be aware of how your mower is running. If there is more vibration to the mower than you remember, you might have shaved your blade a bit out of balance.
When you run your mower with an unbalanced blade, you could end up with poor cut quality and even cause structural damage to the mower. If you suspect your blade is out of balance, you may want to take it off the mower and check. Balancing lawn mower blades is a pretty easy process and could save you some trouble in the long run.
About Tom Greene
I’ve always had a keen interest in lawn care as long as I can remember. Friends used to call me the “lawn mower guru” , but I’m anything but. I just enjoy cutting my lawn and spending time outdoors. I also love the well-deserved doughnuts and coffee afterward!
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How To Understand If Youre Blades Need To Sharpen
Here is some syndrome that you should sharpen your lawnmower blades:
- The mower leaves a torn, cuddly finish.
- The blades of grass torn more than cutting.
- One day or After a long time mowing, the grass has been brown sprout.
- It was have been sharpening at least one years ago, then sharpen it again.
- If you hit on rocks or garden ground.
- It was utilized on the weeds, poles, or other garbage in the grass, so it needs to sharpen several times per summer.
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How Do You Know When You Need New Lawn Mower Blades
If a blade is over 2 years old, it is definitely time to replace it, but there are other scenarios where its a very good idea. Extensive damage, such as curling at the tips, deep nicks that sharpening can fi, or visible bends in the blade are all good reasons to get a replacement before your lawn and possibly your mower get damaged.
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Sharpening Lawn Mower Blades
Your drill-powered sharpening stone is made up of a round, roughened stone, a flat sharpening guide that serves as a safety guard, and a 14-inch steel shank.
The abrasive stone has a beveled surface that grinds those few inches of cutting surface to the razor sharp angle required to cut your grass smoothly. Attach the grinding stone to your drill securely. Before pulling the trigger, make sure youve put on the proper PPE, such as gloves and safety glasses.
Wearing your PPE, depress the trigger of your drill completely to its hllt to run at maximum RPMs. Insert the sharpened cutting edge into the rotating sharpener. While doing so, make sure the stones beveled edge is facing the dulled edge of the lawn mower blade. The flat guide and safety guard should be placed against the blades backside.
Now that youre in position, slowly move your cutting stone over the surface of the blades edge. Apply enough pressure to the two surfaces to ensure solid contact and friction.
Pull the stone from the blade after 4 or 5 passes and inspect the edge. Make additional passes with the lawn mower sharpening tool if necessary until youve achieved that perfectly tapered angle. Also, take the time to smooth out any chips or other minor flaws in the blade.
How Much Does It Cost To Sharpen Lawn Mower Blades
When you’re looking to get your lawnmower blades sharpened, where to do it is just one of the essential questions that need to be asked. How much those services cost is generally the deciding factor when it comes to making the final decision, and it’s important to know what you’re paying for, especially when it comes to lawn care and power tool maintenance.
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Make Preparations To Sharpen The Blade
Preparations to sharpen the blades of your lawn mower blades without taking them out are identical to those when removing the blade. If you fail to follow these steps correctly could potentially lead to a fatal outcome. Therefore, the steps you need to follow to guarantee the blades have been sharpened correctly are
Assemble all the crucial tools and equipment: These are the necessary equipment you need to enhance your safety while sharpening the lawn mower blades. They include
- Grinder or file
- An extra 4×4 block of wood 12 to 18.
- Steel wool and wire brush
- 2×4 wood block with a length of 16 to 20.
Disconnect the lawn mower from power sources: Make sure you disconnect the lawn mower from all possible power sources to protect yourself from any accidental starting or turning while you are working. Thus, you need to confirm that the spark plug cable is disconnected from the spark plug or unplug the power cord.
Place the lawn mower on its sides: You should then proceed and have your lawn mower on its side with its carburetor facing upwards on the gas mower. Additionally, place a block below the engine or motor to improve the stability as you are working on the mower. This is a vital step when sharpening your lawn mower without removing its blades.
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What Does A Dull Blade Do To Grass
Dull blades tend to tear at grass, rather than cutting them evenly. This results in browning of the lawn and in some cases, the mower blades might even rip out the grass by the roots. Avoid this by regularly sharpening your blades once every 20 to 25 hours of use and by replacing them with fresh, new blades every 100 to200hours of work use.
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How Sharp Should A Lawn Mower Blade Be
According to home and garden experts, the blades in your mower should be about as sharp as a butter knife, and an angle of about 30 degrees. You should not get a bruise if you touch the edge. If you want to get the most out of your blades, youll need to learn how to use them properly.
Is Your Blade Bent
Although most lawn care pros will be hesitant to admit it, bent blades are a common occurrence.
Blades are frequently bent by hidden tree stumps, rebar or other large objects hidden in the lawn.
While a major bend in the blade may be impossible to correct, smaller imperfections in your lawn mower blade can be corrected with the proper application of force.
However, for the average DIY homeowner, replacing your blades and avoiding the spot that caused the issue in the future.
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Sharpen And Finish The Beveled Edges
The finishing steps include running the grinder side by side along the beveled edge of the blade. A shiny, scratch less surface is the indication of a smooth blade. It is important to note that the grinder is used to smoothen the surface evenly. It is a powerful machine, so going deep on one side and remaining shallow on the other is common. Avoid this to keep the blade balanced.
The final step is to polish the edges. Remove the metal cutting ring and attach the polishing and buffer rings turn by turn. Repeat the same steps with a different tool to finish the blades. This will help to prolong their lives and remove any scratches caused by the grinder.
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Once You Sharpen The Blades You Need To Balance Them
Now that your lawn mower blade has knife-like edges on both cutting surfaces, you must ensure that the weight is distributed evenly along the blade bar. This is an important step because these blades rely on centrifugal force to rotate in the deck. If one side of the blade has more weight than the other, the blades will wobble and cut unevenly.
No two cutting surfaces will ever be worn down in the same way. In that way, theyre similar to snowflakes. As a result, you may end up grinding much more of one cutting surface than the other. Dont be discouraged if you dont get it right the first time. Achieving this balance is critical to the proper operation and performance of your lawn mower.
An unbalanced blade not only adds stress and strain to the mowers frame, but it also makes it unstable and shimmy when turning. This rattling may eventually cause the retention bolt to loosen, causing the blade to be ejected from beneath the lawn mower deck. Needless to say, this is a terrifying prospect that could cause serious harm to the lawn mower as well as any person or pet who happens to be in its path.
To avoid this disaster, run a simple test to ensure the blade is properly balanced. To complete this test, youll need a strong nail that isnt completely driven into the wall. Insert the nail through the hole in the center of the blade for the retention bolt. Remove your hands and position the blade bar parallel to the floor.
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How To Sharpen A Lawn Mower Blade With An Angle Grinder
As we mentioned earlier, you can sharpen a lawnmower blade using any number of tools. One of the easiest involves using an angle grinder. Of the people Im aware of who already know how to sharpen a lawn mower blade, most use an angle grinder. The reason this works is that lawn mower blades dont need to be razor-sharp. They do, however, need a clean cutting edgepreferably at the proper angle. This clean edge lets the blade slice, instead of chop, through the grass at high speed. Its the difference between cutting carrots with a knife and a piece of 1/8-inch steel swung wildly through the air
Yellow Hornet Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener
This sharpener can sharpen your blades quite professionally at an angle of 30-degree. It is one of the best tools to use at home for sharpening all your mower blades and other farm tools and knives.
With a high rating, many people love this sharpener and it is affordable. So, you dont need to break a bank to get it. Moreover, the tools guarantee you value for your money since it will come in handy when sharpening your blades.
Another thing, this tool is made in the United States by a team of professionals who have been producing sharpeners for many years. You can rest assured that it will be of high quality and last for long.
Speaking of durability, the sharpener adds life to your blades, making them provide effective service for decades. And its base measures 9 feet by 12 feet which makes it a stable tool when sharpening your farm tools.
As a buyer, you will also love it since it comes with a video that shows how you should operate the sharpener. This means that you have a zero chance of messing things when sharpening your knives. It is a great product that is safe to use.
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