Mowing How I sharpen & balance my mower blades

[danbuf]

Howdy folks,
Thought I'd share this with you.

I purchased this grinder from swap sheet for $80.00
I use a 46 grit, H-grade softness wheel..
This wheel is fairly soft (friable) so keeps the blade cooler, and less trueing of wheel needed..
Does a great job.

For balancing the blade, I use a 1.125" O.D. bearing, and periodically check while grinding..
Very sensitive to check balance.. A piece of paper on edge will cause blade to rotate..

Might be overkill, but I enjoy knowing that the baldes ae done correctly, and saves me $20 charge for set..

Dan
P.S. Guards removed for pictures.. Always always wear safety glasses, and dust mask!

 

[Ifixcars]

Nice setup! The one edge I saw in you photo really looked like a nice finish. Makes me feel guilty for doing mine with a 4 1/2" angle grinder. I haven't balanced mine either. I only eyeball balance mine.

 

[972500]

yea i'll be real honest ive been sharpening blades for the past 5 years at the small engine shop i work at part time. thats the same set up we have just about and from what we can tell when we sharpen them with the machine compared to hand they actaully dull down faster and are more likly to get chunks taken out of them. my guess is thats just from the blade being"to sharp" im not sure though. it kinda makes sense to me but at the same time we dont care cause it gives us more business. and how do folks get away with charging $20 bucks to sharpen a set of blades? thats crazy it takes all of 3minutes to do a blade if that long. we usually charge like $5 a blade and if its somone that does alot of business with us its free or just a buck. anyways thats the end of my thoughts
Mark

 

[Doc_Bob]

yea i'll be real honest ive been sharpening blades for the past 5 years at the small engine shop i work at part time. thats the same set up we have just about and from what we can tell when we sharpen them with the machine compared to hand they actaully dull down faster and are more likly to get chunks taken out of them. my guess is thats just from the blade being"to sharp" im not sure though.
Mark

So when you say sharpen by hand, exactly how do you sharpen them? My blades will need sharpening soon, so I would love some details.
Bob

 

[972500]

im not gonna say its and art cause its not my any means but more of an aquired trait. u just kinda match the angle to the blade with the grinder and go at her till shes sharp. there will be little bur's on the back side of hte blade, i usually rub it on the table to get them to stand up and then knock them down with a file real light or if im feelin ambishus i will use hte grinder. as far as balancing them aslong as u take close to the same off on both sides you'll be fine. they sell balancers but its not necssary. its worth a shot jsut to say u can do it but also be ready to buy a new set of blades of u gouge on to bad.
Mark

 

[GEB]

Here's what I do.
I pick my Scag up in the air with my tractor-loader.
I do not remove the blades.
I give each side of the blades and even amount of swipes with a 5in 60grit grinder,
sames goes for my RFM.
I've never had a problem sharping blades, I do try to grind and even amount on each side though.
Even if I did balance them they would be outa of wack in one day

 

[zzvyb6]

I put an 8" wheel in my table saw and have at it.

 

[shaley]

I think Northern sells those cone type blade balancers for about $4. They work very well. Bearing trick works well also. My blades are star drive so I use the cone unit.

 

[Swisher]

I do mine with a bench grinder, then I put a 16 penny nail thru the hole in the blade and then lay it across open vise, the side that goes down needs some more taken off, when level they are balanced.

 

[ccsial]

Here's what I do.
I pick my Scag up in the air with my tractor-loader.
I do not remove the blades.

Only down side I see there is that the bolts may seize after a number of years and make it hard to replace the blades. I remove them and use anti-sieze compound. It is also easier to scrape the deck clean before I store it when the blades are off.

I sharpen once per year.