Lawn mower blades

[murraym]

Does anyone use their milling machine to sharpen their lawn mower blades? I'm not thinking so much for the precision but it might be faster and easier to balance them removing the same amount from each side.

 

[markba633csi]

I think it would be more practical to just use a bench grinder- slingblade style

 

[imagineer]

Angle grinder with a flap wheel disk. Been doing it that way since '95.

 

[Video_man]

I use a belt grinder with a 180 grit belt. But I use a balancing device after to check balance and then fine-tune as necessary. I think maintaining the balance (which is important) is what you may be after with the equal-milling idea, but it would be difficult and time-consuming to do it that way.

 

[hovercraft57]

Does anyone use their milling machine to sharpen their lawn mower blades? I'm not thinking so much for the precision but it might be faster and easier to balance them removing the same amount from each side.

for years I never have taken the blade off but rather give the blade a couple swipes with a 5 inch angle grinder with a grinding wheel ,,, theoretically the balance would be out but not enough to make any noticeable difference I even leave the blade on and flip the mower over on it's side with the carb facing up , I balance 6 foot long aircraft props and have a good milling machine too

 

[Cadillac]

Would be hard to hold and would sing if held in the center. Way overkill. Bench or angle grinder balance the blade using a nail.
A tip I’ll pass along if you want to get more life out of the blade between sharpening is serrate the blade. Put little scallops every 1/2” or so. Your blade will stay sharper longer guaranteed.

 

[projectnut]

The milling machine would be one of my last choices for sharpening lawnmower blades. Over the years I've used a bench grinder, 6" x 48" belt sander, 1" x 42" belt sander, offset grinder with flap wheel, and even a manual file, but never a milling machine. Almost all blades are sharpened at a 45* angle, so it's easy to set the tool rest or table to the proper position for sharpening.

When all is said and done I balance them with an older model of this:

MAG-1000 Balancing Instrument

Professional rotary lawn mower blade balancer. The MAG-1000 designed and manufactured by Magna-Matic since 1958.

www.magna-matic-direct.com

I bought mine back in the 1960's when my brothers and I were repairing lawnmowers for summer jobs. It's probably balanced several thousand blades over the years and continues to work well. It's supposed to be accurate within 5 grams. To some that might not sound like much accuracy but consider what a season's worth of dried grass will weigh. Often times we scraped off several ounces of crud before balancing.

 

[matthewsx]

$10 a pop at my shop. Do it on a bench grinder, anything more complicated is overkill. Probably just fine to do it on the mower with an angle grinder too. Never bothered to balance one but you'll know pretty quick if it's off. They're cheap enough to replace, once they've hit a decent size rock that's what I'd do anyway....

John

 

[projectnut]

$10 a pop at my shop. Do it on a bench grinder, anything more complicated is overkill. Probably just fine to do it on the mower with an angle grinder too. Never bothered to balance one but you'll know pretty quick if it's off. They're cheap enough to replace, once they've hit a decent size rock that's what I'd do anyway....

John

Back when my brothers and I were doing it we charged $1.00 to stay competitive with the other shops in the area. On busy Saturdays in the spring, we would sharpen 50 or more blades a day.

 

[great white]

Nope.