Lawn Mower Blade Sharpning

[itworks]

I have a 3-year old mulching lawnmower and have never sharpened or replaced the blade. A new blade cost $25. I was hoping to save some $$'s by sharpening it myself. What is needed to do this? Is it worth doing? What is the process?

 

[Hogwildz]

angle grind, or bench grinder, best is stand up belt sander.
I do mine for the riding mower. Sorry to say, I don't balance them. I try to take as many swipes on each side to keep unbalancing to a minimum.

 

[d.n.f.]

orrrrrrrr a file.

File works fine. Medium and then fine.

Easier to balance the blade.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I bought a $10 angle grinder from Northern Tools for mine. I had to take a lot of metal off (had never sharpened in around 8 years) and it never even occurred to me to try to balance it. Works great.

 

[Highbeam]

I balance my blades after sharpening by sticking a screwdriver through the center and noting which end of the blade is heavier as the end that falls. Shop around for blades since my JD mower's blades were only 12$ from JD. If they are not too chipped then you can file them, a little worse and then they come off for the bench grinder.

My brush hog blades are 4" wide and a half inch thick. Those puppies get the 4.5" disc grinder and they stay on the mower. On the hog blades you aren't going for sharp as much as you are trying to take off the big peaks of deformed steel. New ones are pretty sharp though just in case you are mowing your lawn with it.