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How to Sharpen Your Mower Blade? | 6 Easy & Safe Steps

Mowing your lawn is fun, but doing it with a lousy blade is nothing but a headache so it can be really handy if you know how to sharpen your mower blades. Without proper maintenance, your lawn mower can vibrate a lot, which reduces the mower’s efficiency, and affects the grass of your beautiful lawn. Mowing with lousy blades feels like running in a desert with a heavy tire tied to your back.

How to Sharpen Your Mower Blade?

We all know that changing the mower is not a good option when your budget is packed. But, continuing with a lousy blade is not an option either. So, how will you get your task done with lousy blades?

I will introduce you to some of the best options if your lawn mower blade is not performing well. Follow this article to the end to know some of the easiest ways to sharpen your lawn mower blades.

Tools Needed: The Essentials to Sharpen Your Mower Blades

How to Sharpen Your Mower Blade?

Before you sharpen your lawn mower blades, there are a few essential tools that you must have. So, follow the tools enumerated below.

Safety Gloves

When sharpening the blade, do not forget to wear safety gloves for added safety.

Protective Face Gadgets

While using a grinder or blade sharpening drill, it is essential to cover your face. This will protect your eyes and other sensitive parts.

Tool Kit

Certainly, you will not open the blade with your hands. So, have a basic tool kit with you for detaching the blades from the lawn mower.

Sharpening tools

For sharpening, you can use a file, a blade-sharpening stone, or a bench grinder. These three are the perfect tools to sharpen a lawn mower blade.

Bench Clamp

If you are using a file to sharpen the blade, you’ll need a bench clamp too. It will keep the blade intact, and you can sharpen it easily.

Balancing nail

Once you sharpen the blade, get a nail to balance it. It will help you assess the condition of the blade perfectly.

How often should you sharpen Your mower blade?

How often should you Sharpen Your Mower Blade?

How much you sharpen your mower blades depends on the hours you have used them. Usually, it is good to sharpen the blade of your mower every 25 hours of use. And, in general conditions, it is twice a season.

So, you should sharpen the blade twice a season, or you may also count the hours of usage. However, if you feel that the blade is not performing well even before time, sharpen it. There’s no hard and fast rule to sharpen the blades at particular time intervals.

Best Tools to Sharpen your Mower Blades

There are numerous tools to sharpen a lawn mower blade. However, I have brought some easy-to-use tools to sharpen lawn mower blades. Here are some of the best tools to help you sharpen your lawn mower’s blade.

Try Sharpening it Using a File

How to Sharpen Your Mower Blade using a file?

If you have no professional tools to sharpen your mower blades, a file can be your perfect escape. You need to detach your mower’s blade and attach it to a clamp. After it, run the file with pressure over it perpendicularly and remove all the imperfections.

Use a Blade Sharpening Drill

How to Sharpen Your Mower Blade using a blade sharpening tool in a drill.

For intermediates who do not know how to use a bench grinder, a sharpening blade can help. A sharpening blade works on the same principles as a grinder, but it is easier to use and requires no expertise. Run the blade through it at the right angles to sharpen the blade.

A Bench Grinder Quickly Sharpens the Blade

How to Sharpen Your Mower Blade using a bench grinder?

For those who know how to operate a bench grinder, there is no better tool to sharpen the blade of a lawn mower than this one. It’s one of the easiest ways to sharpen your mower blades. However, to use a bench grinder, you need to be an expert at using it.

How to Sharpen Your Mower Blade?: A compact Step-by-step guide

sharpen your mower blade

Once you have the right tools to sharpen the blade, you just need to have a compact guide explaining how to sharpen a blade perfectly. I have explained proper and easy-to-go steps in the following guide to help you sharpen the blade of your lawn mower.

Disconnect electric supply and spark plug

You must know that a lawn mower starts by centrifugal force by turning the crankshaft near the lawn mower’s blade. When you try to remove the blade, the crankshaft also rotates. It happens rarely, but sometimes even a small rotation is enough to start the mower.

And, you certainly won’t like to be in such a compromising situation. To avoid any mishap, it is suggested to cut the electric supply and remove the spark plug while removing the blade.

Read: Best Electric Lawn Mowers for Your Garden

Remove the blade using a screwdriver and wrench

For some blades, you would require a simple screwdriver, but some blades need a wrench too. If the screws of the blades are old, you would require both a screwdriver and a wrench so that one can open the screws while the other stops them from rotating unnecessarily.

Clean the blade with a dry cloth

Once the blade has been removed, it must be cleaned with a dry cloth. A mower blade is always in contact with mud and grass. So, cleaning the blade with a dry and thick cloth will improve its efficiency. Avoid using a thin fabric as your hands may get hurt while cleaning.

Clamp it and start sharpening

It is not advised to hold the blade with your hands while sharpening it. And if you are using a hand grinder or file, it is suggested to use a clamp. The clamp will keep the blade intact and allow you to sharpen it at the right angle.

Check the blade’s balance

Sharpening the blade includes the removal of unnecessary metals. It may ruin your blade’s balance. So, once you are done sharpening the blade, hang it through its center hole with the help of a nail. Now, check if the blade is inclined to any side and remove metal from that side with more weight. This is how you will balance your blade.

Reinstall the blade

Once you complete all the steps, it’s time to reinstall the blade to the mower. Use the same method you used while detaching it and your mower is good to go. Also, while reinstalling the blade, you can change the spark plug if it seems necessary.

Read: Are Zero-Turn Mowers Good on Hills?

Conclusion

Concluding it, there are three types of tools that you can use for sharpening your lawn mower blade. If you are naive, you may want to go with the filer, but if you are a pro, then I’ll highly recommend using a bench grinder. Don’t forget to take all the safety measures and disconnect the electric supply.

So, if you are dealing with a lousy blade, remove and clean it with a cloth, sharpen it and make sure to check the blade’s balance. Once you are done, you can reinstall the blade. Acknowledge and follow these steps, and you will no longer have to deal with the bad blade.

Duaa Tahir
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