Do you sharpen your own blades?

I sharpen my own. I do have a bit of a problem getting a good, clean edge, tho. I try angle grinding, bench grinding, files, etc. I really need a jig to hold them at the right angle, I think.

I've sharpened my own blades for over 25 years. I also sharpen for 9 mowers at work. I have used an angle grinder, a bench grinder and a hand file.

Nice forum you've got here, gents! Now don't be afraid to say "Hey" to the newbie!

That's a great idea, Ingersoll! I'll have to try that. Probably a bit more forgiving if you attack the blade at a wrong angle, too. Thanks!

I have always sharpened my own mower blades .. and even have one of those cheep blade balancer things.

Last year was my first attempt with Gator Blades .. they came out real well IMHO .. but took much more time..

Always sharpened my own because I'm too danged cheap. Besides, by the time you drive to somewhere that can do it, wait for them to get off their butts to find a kid to do it, actually get it done and drive back home again, you could do it yourself and have the lawn finished.

There's no big mystery to it. Take the blade out and mount it in a vise. Use a good sized (maybe 1" wide) fine metal file and draw it along the length of the edge. Keep going until you have a decent edge... you're not doing surgery here.

Flip the blade and repeat until you have all edges in good shape. Then, get back to work, already.

I sharpen mine with a file. My blade balancer is a nail in the wall. I also sharpen or hone my straight razors and do a much better job with those. IMO it takes very little sharpening to get a lawn mower blade to cut well. They don't have to be perfect. I don't know how true it is but I read somewhere that 90% of the cutting is done by the tip of the blade and only the final inch or so really matters.

I do my own on a bench grinder..

I sharpen mine with a file if the blades are not beat up too bad. If I can't resharpen them I just buy new ones.

I do the push-mower blades on the bench grinder, but the blades on the zero-turn don't come off easy so I just jack up the front and sharpen them with the battery portable grinder.

I use an angle grinder with a sanding disk.

I have done my own blades for a long time and used a bench grinder to do it. I am going to try it with a side grinder now that I have one.

Yes we do. It's not too difficult if you know what you're doing.

I sharpen all my own gently with an angle grinder, and balance them with the Magna-Matic balancer. Works good!

I always have. I have all the stuff so why spend $10 to get some body to do the exact same thing. I have 2 sets of blades. One year I have 1 pair on them and the next I use the other pair sharpened. Then after 4 years they are trash. So I personally would rather sharpen mine than spend money

dustycarter said:

I always have. I have all the stuff so why spend $10 to get some body to do the exact same thing. I have 2 sets of blades. One year I have 1 pair on them and the next I use the other pair sharpened. Then after 4 years they are trash. So I personally would rather sharpen mine than spend money

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Good idea having 2 sets of blades! I didn't think of that, Now I need another set of blades!

Ditto, that is a great idea! I should do that, it'd save some time.

I bought an attachment for my Dremel tool that is designed for mower blades. It was $10.00 and well worth it. 2 passes on each side and I am done.