Sharp Blades

[DBALLARD]

How sharp should your blades be? When you buy new blades they really are not very sharp. Do most of you sharpin new blades before you use them?<br>

[Cletus]

ah have nevah sharpened mah blades? Mah mower is old an ah doesn't knows if th blades haf evah been sharpened an it seems t cut jest fine.<p>----------<br>Cletus<br>mow-4-money<br>

[PLS]

I like sharp blades. I have never bought a new blade that I didn't have to sharpen before we used it. We use a RBG blade grinder by Wall Enterprises. We put a set of sharp blades on every morning, and have changed them before the day was over if we were in bad conditions. Two days after you mow you can tell a big difference if the blade was sharp or not. It will leave a white'ish cast if they are not sharp. And will be darker green if they're sharp. And don't think Cletus was joking either. Some of the blades I have seen at the mower shop on other Companys equipment is unbelieveable, looks more like Bush Hog blades, well used Bush Hog blades.

[MOW ED]

I've heard it siad that your lawn blades should be sharp like an axe. Not razor sharp. Just a thought.

[EDL]

Mow Ed is right if the blade is to sharp, the first stone that gets picked up will easily break the sharpe skinny edge of the blade off

[Ken]

PLS, You mentioned the RBG grinder by WALL. are there any other suggestions on blade sharpeners/grinders? I've seen several mentions of blade sharpness, but not much discussion. Do you allways use OEM blades? How do I know if they are high lift or low lift? If they are not marked as to specific use how can I tell them apart visually? Again thanks to all who respond...

[curlawngreen]

Low lift:not much angle at back of blade.<br>High lift: larger angle at back of blade.<br>IMHO a blade can't be too sharp.

[Lazer]

curlawngreen,<br>Cutting thos tough southern grasses takes a sharper blade than som of the softer blade northern grasses.<p>I really think it makes a difference what type of grass you are mowing. That will determine how critical is it to have sharp blades.

[yardsmith]

I have always sharpened blades with a 4 1/2&quot; angle grinder, being careful not to take the temper out of the blades. Then when I am done, I take a hand file & put a tiny flat on the edge, rounding it off a hare. Reasoning was told to me that a super sharp blade wears faster because the thin cutting edge is vulnerable to twigs, small rocks, whatever may be hiding in the yard. If you give it a small flat to begin with, you will keep THAT edge for a longer period of time. <br>Seems to work well for me over the past few yrs.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[klite]

Smitty is right on that one. When you sharpen a chisel for instance if it is so sharp that you don't see a tiny flat it will ware very fast you always have to take a little (barly noiticeable) off for it to stay sharp longer.<br>Thats the first thing they taught me when I worked in a Machine shop, too many years ago.Just a hair as they say.<p>----------<br>Ken...Lightcap's Landscape Service<br>

[PLS]

Ken:<br>Curlawngreen pretty much coverd the lift. The bigger the lift wing on the back, the more lift. I alway stay with the standard lift for the most part, except for the fall and winter in leaf season, we then switch to the gator style blades. They do a much better job of reducing leaves on the yard as we do not bag anything. I also started out using a 4 1/2 inch grinder to sharpen my blades, it worked well. The blade grinder is much easier, faster and very consistant on the angle(which helps when your sharpening 20 blades at a time). Most OEM blades seem to be made of a little better steel than some aftermarket blades. OEM seem to be straighter than aftermarket blades. As to sharp vs. very sharp... The OEM angle is most often 30 degrees. We use 35 degrees (I think this helps with the getting nicked so easy) on everything (saves adjusting the grinder and keeps the angle more consistant). It would even be possible to go to 40 degrees I suppose. As far as being too sharp..... Would you sharpen your pocket knife then dull it with a file... No, didn't think so. I do understand the thought behind it though. We have played with that concept a little, never noticed much difference. But as I said we change blades every day at least. By sharpening more often, the blade dosen't get in such bad shape so it's much quicker to sharpen. A blade grinder sharpens the blade with the wheel turning into the blade, this eliminates the bur edge that you get by sharpening away from the edge. With a good blade grinder, if you want a little flat edge, Just don't sharpen it as much and you have your flat edge without having to go back an dull it with a file on purpose.<br>

[Lanelle]

What about balancing the blades after sharpening? How often and how important?

[PLS]

Yes we balance them every time, saves a bunch on spindle bearings. Also bye the grinder turning into the blade it helps keep the heat from burning the edge and turning it blue (thats a bad thing).

[yardsmith]

you also don't strap your pocketknife to a spindle powered by a 25 hp motor & spin it at 1200 rpm's or whatever & subject it to cutting grass growing out of the ground & whatever else may be hiding each week. Ü<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[PLS]

Ahh, you say tomatoes I say tomatoes. Like I said, I've tried it both ways, didn't see much difference. But I can tell we both like em sharp. So what the hell, let him try it both ways.

[HOMER]

When they cut your hands when you install them, then and only then are they sharp enough. I don't see the point in pre-dulling a blade anyway, the first yard you cut will do that! If you r&r blades daily anyway it should never be a problem, if not then Oh well.<p>When I bought my 72&quot; chopper I had a heck of a time finding blades for it, everybody was back ordering them and every other thing I needed. I sharpened that set many times and when I bought a new set to go on it I had 102 hrs on the mower. Had I not sharpened them as much they would have never lasted as long.<p>My opinion is the sharper you get them the better off you'll be, stay out of the rocks!<p>Homer

[gene gls]

For you new guys with blade grinders there is a RUBY wheel on the market that does not burn the blade as fast as a standard wheel.

[PLS]

Gene: Now they have one better than the ruby, don't now what they call it, but it's blue. It's supposed to cut a little faster and be cooler also. Uhhhhhh it also costs more, wouldn't ya know it.<br>