[bigcutup]

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What do you guys & gals consider to be the best procedure for sharpening your blades? All I have is a bench grinder, & I know there are better ways of resharpening, but most of the ones I have seem are out of my price league. I know how I have always done it, but I am open to better ideas. Thanks for your help.

bigcutup

 

[charlies]

we have sharpened them using the trusty ole bench grinder for 15 years. i looked at a lesco blade sharpener last year. for about 300$ you got a piece of crap. no thanks.

 

[logan]

I put a cinder block on the ground, put my foot on top and grind away with the angle grinder. I put a nail in the wall next to it and give it a quick check for balance.

 

[Green-Pro]

1 1/2 hp Oregon blade grinder, funny I like most guys don't seem to think twice on dropping 9 grand on a mower or some other such piece of equipment, puckered up when it was time to decide to pony up the $500 for the dedicated blade grinder. Probably some of the better money I've spent though

-Geoff

 

[jtrice11]

I use a bench grinder, the dealer had one of his mechanics explain the proper method to sharpen them. So far, so good.

 

[Bulletproof]

We take our blades out to our backyard deck, clamp them with vice grips to the top 2X4 and sharpen them with an angle grinder. Works well, I haven't heard of anyone using actual blade sharpeners (specifically for lawncare) and be happy with them.

 

[Steve9]

I use a bench grinder, the dealer had one of his mechanics explain the proper method to sharpen them. So far, so good.

SO what did he say..???

 

[DLS1]

I haven't heard of anyone using actual blade sharpeners (specifically for lawncare) and be happy with them.

Search this site and you will see everyone and mean everyone that I remember that bought a dedicated blade sharpener was happy with it.

 

[jtrice11]

SO what did he say..???

basically he said to take the cutting edge of the blade and grind it flat, to take out all of the gouges and imperfections in the cutting edge, then angle the blade to create the cutting edge again. It sounded wierd at first to basically flatten your cutting edge, but its worked pretty good.

 

[Green-Pro]

Bulletproof
I haven't heard of anyone using actual blade sharpeners (specifically for lawncare) and be happy with them.

Green-Pro
Probably some of the better money I've spent though

'nuff said :waving:

-Geoff

 

[Flex-Deck]

I use an angle grinder with the FlexTron Flexible red abrasive discs from the Pearl Abrasive Company;

1. They are very smooth, and fast cutting.
2. They do not heat the metal excessively - No blue spots.

Thanks, brad

 

[charlies]

basically he said to take the cutting edge of the blade and grind it flat, to take out all of the gouges and imperfections in the cutting edge, then angle the blade to create the cutting edge again.

which is, of course, the proper way to do it; however, you go through blades mighty fast with this method. i just grind it sharp, leaving the gouges as they are. there would have to be a gouge in the exact same place on both ends of the blade, and on each blade on the mower, for the gouges to be a real problem.

 

[ALarsh]

Oregon blade grinder.

 

[lawncare4u]

1 1/2 hp Oregon blade grinder, funny I like most guys don't seem to think twice on dropping 9 grand on a mower or some other such piece of equipment, puckered up when it was time to decide to pony up the $500 for the dedicated blade grinder. Probably some of the better money I've spent though

-Geoff

I got the ORGON 88-O21 from Travis at Landscapesupply,the 1 1/2 H.P. and that is the way to go!No more half way blade jobs.There is no way to use a bench or angle grinder and balance with a nail and get proper results.Mega Matic is a sure way of it being properly balanced.So what is the biggie $500. to properly maintain a $9.000 machine.........seems like some will never learn!!!

 

[bigcutup]

Lawncare4U,
I agree with you thought about a $500.00 investment for a blade sharpener. We drop $8000-$10,000 into a piece of equipment, and the part of that equipment that actually does the work gets discount house attention. Most of the other blade sharpeners I have looked at were $1500.00 +. I am interested in the Oregon you mentioned. Have you sharpened mulch blades on it?
bigcutup

 

[Green-Pro]

I am interested in the Oregon you mentioned. Have you sharpened mulch blades on it?
bigcutup

I just used mine this afternoon, like I said probably some of the best money I've spent. I relate that in terms of the time savings on sharpening blades, I sharpen all once a week (Sunday afternoon, maint. day) about five sets for each mower, 48" scag & 52" scag. I've been using the 1 1/2 horse Oregon most of the season and it has paid for itself IMO in the time saved preforming this chore.

-Geoff

 

[Runner]

we have sharpened them using the trusty ole bench grinder for 15 years. i looked at a lesco blade sharpener last year. for about 300$ you got a piece of crap. no thanks.

I have the Lesco grinder (actually it is built by Neary), and it works great for what I use it for. I used a bench grinder for nearly 20 years, and when I got this grinder, I was happy. Granted, I only paid $30 for it from a friend, but it has been a great grinder. I screwed a longer piece of flat stock to the rest, because that rest is just too small - you get wobble off of it toward the end of the run. With the longer piece of steel, and it nice, smooth, and straight right out to the end. Now granted, I stay right on top of all my blades, so I only have to push and pull the blade through maybe 3 or 4 times. I run the blade at a rate that it takes about 3 or 4 seconds to go in and come out. Now I CAN tell you this, it doesn't have the power of a ful 1 hp grinder like the RBG 1012-C, but it still works well for keeping all mine sharp and cleaned at a fixed angle. I couldn't even imaging the 1 1/2 hp machines. You could run these backwards and have them just suck the blades in, taking off a large amount at once and not even hardly drag the motor. This would be great for when you are changing the angles on the blades (like when someone else brings you their blunt angled blades) or when you lengthen a cutting edge further toward the center of the blade.

 

[charlies]

no offense joe, but you said that you had to re-engineer that grinder, and while you got it for cheap, most of us won't get that deal. it would be nice if it worked well 'out of the box'.

btw, we change our blades every morning.

 

[rodfather]

Been using a RPG bench grinder for over 11 years now. I'm sharpening mower blades to cut grass...not scapels to operate with.

 

[lazer 46]

no offense joe, but you said that you had to re-engineer that grinder, and while you got it for cheap, most of us won't get that deal. it would be nice if it worked well 'out of the box'.

btw, we change our blades every morning.

I have the Magnamatic 9000. It is one of my best invesments. And it works great right out of the box.