What's the correct way to sharpen a mower blade?

[/pine]

Rotary mower blades are meant to shear blades of grass not slice them like a knife through a tomato...

a 1/64" blunt edge is what is recommended by most oem's...

 

[Deere Dude]

My BIL worked at a coop and was the blade sharpener for a few years. He would sharpen the blades nice and sharp then knock down the sharpness with a file before he gave them to the customer. Customers failed to see the reasoning behind it and all he said was it is so you don't cut yourself, but it does seem counter-intuitive. I let sticks and stones dull mine.

 

[sixdogs]

I'm the OP and here's what I did. The plan was to sharpen them and the knock the edge off but I just left them sharp and as suggested, paid attention to the ends of the blades. I only had a couple of nicks. Anyway, it now mows like a dream. Also, it's a rear discharge and had been windrowing grass before but after sharpening the blades the grass is evenly distributed behind the mower and the yard looks great. I'm going to sharpen every few months now.

 

[japody]

If you're cutting anything that will leave staubs, you don't want a sharp blade. A sharp blade will leave staubs that will puncture tires. A slightly dull blade will shatter the staub leaving frizzled (that's a technical term) ends.