Yes you have to clean your blades to balance them.
You'r already using it. Do a search some guys have made their own version of the magna balancer out bearings.

 

Here's one homemade.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=381236&highlight=made+balancer

 

The cone does a fine job. You don't need a ultra accurate balance. Its does need to be clean. Just a few swipes with a wire brush.
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Hello All,

A lawnmower blade spins at approx 3600 RPM. A car tire at 70 mph is approx only 1000 rpm.

Lawnmower blades DO need accurate balance if you expect anything from the performance of the mower.

Here is a link explaining why the table top cone does not function properly.
http://www.magna-matic.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/3050105/nail_in_wall.pdf

The homemade equipment linked suffers from the same problem. When you mount the blade on the 5/8" bearing it is not locating the center of the hole. Because the blade spins upon the center point of the blade this throws off the balance and can generally do more harm than good. The bearing is really not much better than hanging the blade on a nail-in-the-wall, which again not in center.

Keep in mind the homemade grinder shown will not keep a consistent angle because the diameter of the grinding wheel wheel will change, and there is no adjustment or indication for changing the blade rest shown in the photos to compensate for this.

I understand every business is on a budget, but just understand some of these home made solutions can cause more harm than good. We have been making balancers for the industry since 1958, we invented the product. And one of our balancers will outlast any mower you buy for the rest of your life. In-fact we still get balancers from the 1950's in for light repair, it is not a throw away tool, and you will only buy it once.

Here is a good thread where I and some lawnsite members were discussing balance. http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=401012

Thank you,

 

Figures.
Like any other problem you can a throw a lot of money at the problem and get perfect results. The rest of us use average solutions and do just fine with ACCEPTABLE results.
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Figures.
Like any other problem you can a throw a lot of money at the problem and get perfect results. The rest of us use average solutions and do just fine with ACCEPTABLE results.
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I've got one of those high dollar balancers...its accurate and can get any blade dead nuts right..
Though....you know....until they stop using china made spindle bearings...it really doesn't matter..

 

$179 - $267 for a blade balancer is ridiculous, plain and simple. What good does it do to balance a blade so accurately then have grass caked on it 5 minutes after you start mowing?

 

a cheap solution until you can afford a blade balancer is that you can use the bolt that attaches the blade to the mower spindle. it is usually the same diameter as the hole in the blade. just put the bolt in a vise on the table and get the bolt level. then put the blade on there to check the balance. it may not be perfect but it will do better than a nail does since it's more in the center of the blade.

 

You can get the cone balance fixture at Ace and is much more accurate than the spindle bolt and vise.

 

I keep my spindles greased and have never balanced a blade. I've got a magnamatic 9000 sharpener. We sharpen the blades and just mount them. Never balanced a blade ever, all my toros cut great.

 

A lawnmower blade spins at approx 3600 RPM. A car tire at 70 mph is approx only 1000 rpm. . . Here is a link explaining why the table top cone does not function properly.
http://www.magna-matic.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/3050105/nail_in_wall.pdf

RPM is only a small part of the story to.
The issue with balance is not so much how fast the part rotates, but how far the imbalance is from the center. Car wheels are not only larger in diameter, but they also have a large amount of rotating mass that is far from the center. They also have thickness that creates vibrations that do not exist in a relatively flat mower blade.

I agree that the nail method is useless. The stepped cone method is fine, IF the steps in the cone align with the hole in the blade's center as well as the bolts.

That is actually a big issue on car tire balance. On some vehicles, the center of rotation is not hub centric (which would be aligned on a balancer's centering cone), but lug centric. So, if your balancer is perfectly aligned with the center of the blade's center hole, but that hole isn't aligned with the center of the shaft (because of how the bolts line up), you won't be balanced.

BTW, your balancer looks like a pretty sweet setup. The way the chuck approaches the blade works in the same way as the cone retracts into a car tire balancer's hub. Yes, a cone without steps has the potential to center better, but only if something holds the cone straight. Just like that. I use a dial indicator to measure runout on my wheels, but that indicator stick is actually a great idea to check for a bent blade. Just turning the blade 180 degrees will only tell you if one side of the blade is bent up or down. If you leave the indicator in place and flip the blade over, you can see it's "dish" too (how much the blade is out of plane)

 

Lawnmower blades DO need accurate balance if you expect anything from the performance of the mower.

Thirty + years in the mowing business and I never balanced a blade on any mower we have had. Twenty seconds after you start up it will hit a big rock and balance will be off. Maybe I am running s superior brand of mowers?

 

Lawnmower blades DO need accurate balance if you expect anything from the performance of the mower.

Thirty + years in the mowing business and I never balanced a blade on any mower we have had. Twenty seconds after you start up it will hit a big rock and balance will be off. Maybe I am running s superior brand of mowers?

How many spindles have you replaced in those 30 years? I'm guessig not very many.

 

Twenty seconds after you start up it will hit a big rock and balance will be off. Maybe I am running s superior brand of mowers?

How does hitting a rock throw a blade off balance? It may deform the blade a little, but balance is based on weight distribution. If hitting a rock was always enough to rip a large enough chunk of metal off the blade to effect balance, you're in for a lot of problems.

Balance is more likely affected by one side of the blade wearing faster than the other (if the blade is off angle and one side always cuts first), or grinding one side more than the other.

 

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Thirty + years in the mowing business and I never balanced a blade on any mower we have had. Twenty seconds after you start up it will hit a big rock and balance will be off. Maybe I am running s superior brand of mowers?

I agree. It takes me about 90 seconds to sharpen a blade, that's enough time spend as it is. When the blade doesn't have much meat left we just toss em.

 

I can see doing it on a push mower but not on a bigger mower. They get caked with grass in two seconds anyways. Someone mention about cheap china spindle bearings. I'm pretty sure scag uses timken bearings which I believe are made in the USA and are the best in the industry. Don't quote me on that just what I've read.
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