Let's talk about blade sharpening?

TobyU

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Well, there are homeowners here & biz shop owners here as well. So the point is moot.
Sometimes there isn't really a point, rather just conversation..
In many of my comments on certain aspects of sharpening there is a point, or two sides to a point, and that is the time availability difference, between a private individual only doing theirs or a shop owner doing hundreds with an extreme backlog.

I've asked at least two if not three people who have detailed their procedure for cleaning a blade as to how long it takes them start to finish to sharpen one standard 21 to 22 in walk behind mower blade.
As of yet, no one has given me any specific numbers as to how long they spend from the time the blade is off of the mower and placed into their hand since we have to be accurate about that because as a shop owner some blades are brought to you and handed to you for sharpening and you do not have to remove and reinstall them.

For me it's not about overall time as much as it is about efficiency but obviously for some people it's more about overall result and they somehow feel better if the blade is all clean and or shiny, repainted, etc.

It's the same for cleaning out carburetors in most situations. Most people prefer to take it off tomorrow which involves removing other things etc and place it on their workbench and they spend a good deal of time more doing it start to finish and they usually justify a rationalize this by talking about what a more thorough job they're doing but at the end of the day the results are the same with a running mower that didn't run before.
The same results I get a very high percentage of the time by simply removing the carb bowl and or jet or jets in the case of the Huayi style ones, cleaning those out and making sure everything in that bowl area and gasket area and float is clean when I put it back together.
II've always said the way I do it is a little bit harder but it's a lot faster.

In the case the blades there is no increased level of difficulty so it's not harder at all and it's simply quicker and it's beyond adequate, good enough, appropriate, quality.... whatever words you want to use because it's still an old blade that's going to be beat up, dulled, dirty, coated again in just a few minutes. Lol

Somewhat along these lines though or even plenty of customers who call thinking they need a new blade because there's probably dull.
They don't seem to have any idea that common practice is to sharpen a mower blade a decent handful of times if not more before it ever needs to be replaced.
It makes me wonder where they got that idea because the industry, internet, advertising pretty much completely avoids the whole issue.
It's not like there's ever been any advertisements or public service style announcements to replace your blade for the best cut and quality looking on etc LOL.
I guess I shouldn't give them any ideas!
I think the only way people even get the idea of replacing is when they see them in the packages at the store and some of them are somewhat attractively packaged in there blister packs hanging up on hooks etc but so many are just bear laying there in their bin without a whole lot of merchandising or appearance.

I'm sure the owners manuals say something about it but I think they mentioned sharpening first and foremost but how many people percentage wise really read the manual or ever get to that point of actually paying attention to what that part of the manual says?
 

ILENGINE

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I've asked at least two if not three people who have detailed their procedure for cleaning a blade as to how long it takes them start to finish to sharpen one standard 21 to 22 in walk behind mower blade.
As of yet, no one has given me any specific numbers as to how long they spend from the time the blade is off of the mower and placed into their hand since we have to be accurate about that because as a shop owner some blades are brought to you and handed to you for sharpening and you do not have to remove and reinstall them.
3 blade set off of a CC z turn. Clean inspect blades 5:38 sharpen and balance 2:32 Total time spent on set of blades just over 8 minutes.
 

TobyU

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3 blade set off of a CC z turn. Clean inspect blades 5:38 sharpen and balance 2:32 Total time spent on set of blades just over 8 minutes.
I don't remember if you're one of the ones who described your process or not but most people cannot sharpen three blades.
That's six cutting edges and people who do it freehand usually take much longer than that.
Now, the machines that are designed to sharpen blades will of course do a cutting surface even much quicker but they often take a good deal more off the blade than needs to be done and most people don't have those anyways.

I would wager that a lot of these people who take a lot of time on the blades to fully check them out and clean them and stuff like that would spend a good 10 to 12 minutes if not 10 to 15 from the time the blade comes off the machine to the time it is clean, sharpened and balanced and even one person said they hit them with a coat of paint
So I can easily see taking about 15 minutes until you go to put it back on the mower which is absolutely fine if this is something you only do you want or twice a season on your own mower and when you only have one simple push mower or self-propelled but as I said before it's relevant to what kind of volume you're doing.
At the end of the day it makes little difference because the end result is going to perform the same and for the same length of time plus or minus a very small difference.

But even your example, like I said before, I see no point to clean the blades because a quick visual inspection will tell you if there's any dangerous issues or if they're worn out and spending over twice as much time cleaning and expecting then it takes to sharpen and balance just seems like a waste of 2/3 of that time to me.
But again I have a lot more waiting for me.
 

Hammermechanicman

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21" push mower blade. Take off, quick scrape with putty knife, sharpen, put back on. About 4 minutes.
3 blade rider. About 8 or 9 minutes.
 

ILENGINE

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IBut even your example, like I said before, I see no point to clean the blades because a quick visual inspection will tell you if there's any dangerous issues or if they're worn out and spending over twice as much time cleaning and expecting then it takes to sharpen and balance just seems like a waste of 2/3 of that time to me.
But again I have a lot more waiting for me.
Most of the time yes, but I have found cracks in areas on blades that would of been hidden by buildup and wouldn't of been found if I had followed your no cleaning method prior to sharpening. That blade got replaced. But most of the time worn out and cracked/damaged blades can be found prior to even removing from the mower.
 

Bange

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I think I can answer for my team (users)...
Time is not a very significant factor when you decide to do it yourself... it can take 30 minutes or 3 hours... often half is spent on preparing the tools.
But I understand that sharpeners consider it important, because if they spend a lot of time they will charge dearly, they will stop doing other more profitable things and they may even be beaten by market competition.
 

MarineBob

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I don't know the correct way to sharpen a blade, but I'll describe mine... what's yours?

In fact, sharpening is not a very important item for many users, because even if the blade is not sharp, the cutter will shred the grass or any tree leaf... but the result is not satisfactory, in addition to causing greater consumption with more passes and even damage to the deck as a whole.
To those who don't sharpen, but change it after noticing an inefficiency, congratulations... it's the most correct way... but expensive.
Let's go...

With the blade off the deck, clamp it with a clamp on the workbench and clean (rust, glued and dry grass, animal manure, etc...), on all surfaces, using a grinder with flap disc, wire disc, etc.
After cleaning, I change the disk for an iron grinding disk (carburundum, diamond, aggressive flap, etc...) and grind at approximately 45° until I get a good edge.
After satisfactory sharpening, I move on to the balancing stage, an important procedure to keep the deck serene, without unnecessary vibrations that can cause loosening of screws, premature wear of pulley bearings, noise, etc.
To do this, just fix a rod with a rounded profile in a vise or workbench and hang the blade through its hole... the photos speak for themselves...

Cleaning the blade
View attachment 64029View attachment 64030
Cleaning up will make balancing easier at the end.

Sharpening...
View attachment 64031


Balancing

Blade one...
View attachment 64032
Very good...
View attachment 64033

Bade two...

Oops! Necessary adjustment...
Mark the side and remove material to make it lighter... preferably not on the sharp part.
View attachment 64036
View attachment 64036
View attachment 64038
View attachment 64039

Until equilibrium is achieved, several attempts can be made...

The end of the blade must be given special care, as it is the first to attack the grass... in any case, the edge is lost along the entire stretch due to stones, stumps, sand, sidewalks, hard fruit seeds and other objects. ..
I don't know the correct way to sharpen a blade, but I'll describe mine... what's yours?

In fact, sharpening is not a very important item for many users, because even if the blade is not sharp, the cutter will shred the grass or any tree leaf... but the result is not satisfactory, in addition to causing greater consumption with more passes and even damage to the deck as a whole.
To those who don't sharpen, but change it after noticing an inefficiency, congratulations... it's the most correct way... but expensive.
Let's go...

With the blade off the deck, clamp it with a clamp on the workbench and clean (rust, glued and dry grass, animal manure, etc...), on all surfaces, using a grinder with flap disc, wire disc, etc.
After cleaning, I change the disk for an iron grinding disk (carburundum, diamond, aggressive flap, etc...) and grind at approximately 45° until I get a good edge.
After satisfactory sharpening, I move on to the balancing stage, an important procedure to keep the deck serene, without unnecessary vibrations that can cause loosening of screws, premature wear of pulley bearings, noise, etc.
To do this, just fix a rod with a rounded profile in a vise or workbench and hang the blade through its hole... the photos speak for themselves...

Cleaning the blade
View attachment 64029View attachment 64030
Cleaning up will make balancing easier at the end.

Sharpening...
View attachment 64031


Balancing

Blade one...
View attachment 64032
Very good...
View attachment 64033

Bade two...

Oops! Necessary adjustment...
Mark the side and remove material to make it lighter... preferably not on the sharp part.
View attachment 64036
View attachment 64036
View attachment 64038
View attachment 64039

Until equilibrium is achieved, several attempts can be made...

The end of the blade must be given special care, as it is the first to attack the grass... in any case, the edge is lost along the entire stretch due to stones, stumps, sand, sidewalks, hard fruit seeds and other objects. ..
Lots on interesting perspectives to which I can't add much. however, how about a story from many decdes ago when I worked on a golf course, summers during school. One of the less desirable jobs was the greenskeeper would send out 2 or 3 guys with 2 wheel rotary mowers to trim around trees and such not into the rough but out of the fairways. There were rocks, stumps, all sorts of obstacles. In 4 or 5 years or watching morons intentionally hitting stuff to break the mowers, which took a lot of abuse, I saw only one issue that involved something flying out from under the mower and giving the operator a pretty good gash on his shin. Probably could have used medial attention but the greenskeeper I guess did not want a workplace accident reported so he did some first aid and let the kid sit out the rest of the afternoon. Anyway, with lots and lots of bent up blades cracked housings on the mowers, and frrequently resharpened blades I never say a blade break. Saw crankshaft seals destroyed and cranks bent but never saw a blade break.
 

*CPB*

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I don't have an official business that sharpens mower blades, but I advertise that I do it and have had quite a few customers, although not enough to have anywhere near a constant flow of work. In my experience the blades that need the most cleaning are the ones that have come from homeowner mowers and haven't been off the mower in years.

Last year I had a guy that mows commercially drop off 15 blades. They only needed minimal cleaning (I use an angle grinder w/wire wheel). All of them were in good shape and only needed maintenance sharpening. That was the most I had ever done at one time, so I timed myself. It was somewhere between 67-70 minutes.
 

TobyU

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Most of the time yes, but I have found cracks in areas on blades that would of been hidden by buildup and wouldn't of been found if I had followed your no cleaning method prior to sharpening. That blade got replaced. But most of the time worn out and cracked/damaged blades can be found prior to even removing from the mower.
Yes, most damage blades can quickly be spotted by simply looking at both sides. Other than that a quick push with a putty knife or scraper will clean off enough to show you what you need to know so I just see no reason for spending a lot of extra time cleaning them, wire brushing them, soaking, painting etc.
 

TobyU

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21" push mower blade. Take off, quick scrape with putty knife, sharpen, put back on. About 4 minutes.
3 blade rider. About 8 or 9 minutes.
That's just about typical but obviously you're not soaking the blades for very long minutes in some sort of bath or taking them to the wire brush on the other end of a grinder to clean off every bit of buildup or try to make them like new or something like that that's just unimportant because it will all just be back in a mower two.
With most of the methods of sharpening a blade even freehand etc I guess everything except using a file, it only takes three or four minutes to sharpen a 21 inch mower blade and that's my point why spend another 4 minutes or even 8 or 12 minutes cleaning or soaking a blade when the vast majority of the time is totally unnecessary and the only thing you have to knock off is any massive amount of buildup so you can make sure there's no cracks in them..
 
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