Mower blades

[D2Cat]

I buy 3 sets of blades at once. When I install set #3, set 1 & 2 get sharpened and balanced. I balance my blades by hanging them on a piece of solid shaft, driven like a nail into a vertical post.

Wouldn't two sets accomplish what you are doing?

 

[DustyRusty]

While speaking to a friend about my buying a machine for grinding the blades, he told me that he used a bastard file to sharpen his brush hog blades. Not sure if it works as well as he said it does.

 

[Sawdust&Shavings]

Wouldn't two sets accomplish what you are doing?

It does in my world

 

[biketopia]

All american Sharpener and Oregon blade balancer, super quick and easy. I do my Scag blades every 20 or so hours, makes a big difference and only takes a few min to do. Found the All American Sharpener on Marketplace but there's now knock offs all over Amazon.

Model 5002 — All American Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener

The All American Sharpener Model 5002 was designed for faster mower blade sharpening times and precise sharp edges. Major components are made to last with anodized aluminum and stainless steel. Machined in the United States, the Model 5002 is made to last.

www.allamericansharpener.com

 

[lmichael]

Wife works for a major tool manufacturer here in Rockford so I have the luxury of simply giving her my blades, she takes them there and the guys who do final sharpening and "tuning" (and balancing) on the tools they make. So I have a second set here and she takes the first. I simply swap them out. I am definitely not good at sharpening my own.
FWIW I buy Predator Blades and they're incredibly tough.

 

[RCW]

Wife works for a major tool manufacturer here in Rockford so I have the luxury of simply giving her my blades, she takes them there and the guys who do final sharpening and "tuning" (and balancing) on the tools they make. So I have a second set here and she takes the first. I simply swap them out. I am definitely not good at sharpening my own.
FWIW I buy Predator Blades and they're incredibly tough.

Nice!

Like you, FWIW I’ve had good luck with Gator G6 blades.

Not a huge fan of them, but seem to hold an edge better than OEM.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Kubota and Honda replacement blades are worth sharpening to me, so I sharpen them. Same with chainsaw chain. If I were running cheap equipment I'd buy cheap replacement blades and not bother salvaging them, but I like reliability. Buy quality, buy once.

(Equipment I used is listed on my profile.)

 

[Mowbizz]

All american Sharpener and Oregon blade balancer, super quick and easy. I do my Scag blades every 20 or so hours, makes a big difference and only takes a few min to do. Found the All American Sharpener on Marketplace but there's now knock offs all over Amazon.

Model 5002 — All American Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener

The All American Sharpener Model 5002 was designed for faster mower blade sharpening times and precise sharp edges. Major components are made to last with anodized aluminum and stainless steel. Machined in the United States, the Model 5002 is made to last.

www.allamericansharpener.com

Yup, that’s my system too! Hardest thing is getting the mower up in the air but I do have a “MoJack” for that!

 

[6869704x4]

While speaking to a friend about my buying a machine for grinding the blades, he told me that he used a bastard file to sharpen his brush hog blades. Not sure if it works as well as he said it does.

Why wouldn’t it?

 

[RCW]

Kubota and Honda replacement blades are worth sharpening to me, so I sharpen them. Same with chainsaw chain. If I were running cheap equipment I'd buy cheap replacement blades and not bother salvaging them, but I like reliability. Buy quality, buy once.

(Equipment I used is listed on my profile.)

Didn't think of it, but I always sharpened my own chainsaw chains. Always did them by hand with a file and guide. Always got good ones.

Don't need to do them as often anymore, but still my modus operandi.

 

[Trimley]

Wouldn't two sets accomplish what you are doing?

Of course. When they're found on sale, I jump while the gettins good. Things sure as heck aren't getting cheaper.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Didn't think of it, but I always sharpened my own chainsaw chains. Always did them by hand with a file and guide. Always got good ones.

Don't need to do them as often anymore, but still my modus operandi.

I used to. But for some reason I can't sharpen them evenly. Then the saw wants to walk in one direction. I pay the guy $15 to sharpen 2 chains at a time.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

I used to. But for some reason I can't sharpen them evenly. Then the saw wants to walk in one direction. I pay the guy $15 to sharpen 2 chains at a time.

That's a good price. I put wayyyy too much into a chainsaw chain hand-filing setup, wayyy too much.

But then again I couldn't get what I wanted, so I bought the tools to make it happen and proceeded to screw the pooch the first few times, but kept at it and in the end it paid off (not in the financial sense, that's in the toilet).

 

[RCW]

I used to. But for some reason I can't sharpen them evenly. Then the saw wants to walk in one direction. I pay the guy $15 to sharpen 2 chains at a time.

$15 for 2 is probably $$ well spent.

I can’t say I’m good at it; lucky is probably the better description.

There was a time I cut a lot of wood and was in better practice. That’s a big part also.

Often if they run you can see a buildup on the teeth on one side need additional file passes. Not hard to do to file one side more than the other.

 

[The Evil Twin]

$15 for 2 is probably $$ well spent.

I can’t say I’m good at it; lucky is probably the better description.

There was a time I cut a lot of wood and was in better practice. That’s a big part also.

Often if they run you can see a buildup on the teeth on one side need additional file passes. Not hard to do to file one side more than the other.

Yeah, I think it's when I file the blades on the left side that I'm not getting a good bite/ cut/ angle. The saw wants to walk to the right. I may take an old chain and play with sharpening one side at a time to see how it reacts. Could be something as simple as making an extra pass or two with the file.
As it sits now, I swap chains and flip the bar every 5 gallons of fuel. That makes it easy to remember.

 

[lugbolt]

really ? You're supposed to sharpen mower blades ??? Had a new neighbour bring me his rider 'doesn't cut too good'..... The back side was SHARPER than the 'cutting edge'......

I've seen them like that on mowers that had 20 hours on them (sandy soil and cutting a lot of leaves). No lie, customer says "don't sharpen them, just flip them over". So we did. Back at 50 hours needing blades. There was literally very little left. Original blades are 18" long, these were not 10" long at the most. At least he was a good sport about it. A lot of people just gripe "I paid X amount of dollars for this thing and these blades don't last no longer than that? That's ridiculous and I want a refund and a free set of blades and free extended warranty and free pickup & delivery and you people are crooks". BTDT and certainly do not miss it any!

 

[GreensvilleJay]

nuther funny...sad though.
guy comes to me 'doesn't cut nice on one side' after Cub Cadet DEALER had installed 2 new blades.
kinda busy, leave number ,I'll call....he leaves, I hoist it up,yup 2 new blades...one right side up, one UPSIDE DOWN ! zip,flip,zip, down, test cut. I waited 2 days to call him as I wanted MY $50(agreed price). If I'd told him it only took 5 minutes to fix, he'd not want to pay me $10 let alone 50 !

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Yeah, I think it's when I file the blades on the left side that I'm not getting a good bite/ cut/ angle. The saw wants to walk to the right. I may take an old chain and play with sharpening one side at a time to see how it reacts. Could be something as simple as making an extra pass or two with the file.
As it sits now, I swap chains and flip the bar every 5 gallons of fuel. That makes it easy to remember.

I personally (unintentionally) sharpen LH cutters differently than RH cutters since I'm not ambidextrous and have to be careful of that when free-hand filing in the field. In the shop I have Granberg jigs set up* so filing is even and precise, and unless a chain hits a rock or nail it's as fast as an electric grinder.

If you use a very affordable Granberg Pitch Gauge there's a window on the bottom right for measuring tooth length, which at this point your chains may need. If things are "reasonably in balance" left-to-right your chains will cut straight again.



*The Granberg jigs I use are no longer made, but they have an updated model that's all metal and works far better than plastic Oregon Made-In-China jigs.

 

[The Evil Twin]

I personally (unintentionally) sharpen LH cutters differently than RH cutters since I'm not ambidextrous and have to be careful of that when free-hand filing in the field. In the shop I have Granberg jigs set up* so filing is even and precise, and unless a chain hits a rock or nail it's as fast as an electric grinder.
View attachment 135603
If you use a very affordable Granberg Pitch Gauge there's a window on the bottom right for measuring tooth length, which at this point your chains may need. If things are "reasonably in balance" left-to-right your chains will cut straight again.
View attachment 135604


*The Granberg jigs I use are no longer made, but they have an updated model that's all metal and works far better than plastic Oregon Made-In-China jigs.

Silly question- couldn't I use a vernier caliper for the same task?

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Silly question- couldn't I use a vernier caliper for the same task?

You might be able to, but with the multiple angles on a cutter and my ginormous hands I'm not able to do so repeatably--at least not last time I tried, and maybe I was being too picky. It seems like such a simple task...

Then again when it comes to picking up spilled coffee beans or rice I just get out the Dyson and Hoover them up.

Yeah, you can probably use a caliper without issue.