Where to sharpen blade?

[pugaltitude]

The balancer that fish shows is probably the most accurate to
Have.
The cones are used for a quick balance out in the field but not that accurate when used with the wall type.
The sharper the blade then the more economical it is to cut grass.
And if nothing else and out in the field on a breakdown then a
nail would do.

 

[Ric]

My balancer works great, except for those old Murray ones!!!!!

Is that the Tecomec Magnetic Balancer?

 

[Carscw]

Really? Must be one big nail!!! So how would you know that you were on center?

You know your on center because the nail sits in the groove on the MTD blades with a star.

If you have a round hole it is always going to center it self on the nail. We all learned this in middle school.


If you are saying that a blade needs to be perfectly balanced then you need to take the blade off and rebalance it every time you use the mower.

We had this whole discussion last year.
You can use the cone or nail or the kind you use that is the same as my spindle on the wall. But the one thing you need to use is some type of level. I have lines on the wall. When using a cone how do you know both ends are the same distance from the table?

The nail has been used for more years then any of us have been sharping blades

 

[davbell22602]

My balancer works great, except for those old Murray ones!!!!!

How does that balancer work?

 

[Fish]

Just simple Newtonian physics, you have to find the rotational center, and weigh/balance both sides.

 

[davbell22602]

Just simple Newtonian physics, you have to find the rotational center, and weigh/balance both sides.

I tried using a wall mount 17 years ago and got confused. So I just stuck with a cone type. I might buy one and try using it again.

 

[reynoldston]

The way these post are going I must be way off on my mower blade maintenance. In the spring when I service my mower I remove the blades. If they look like they have a lot of wear I replace them. If not I clean them first, sharpen and balance them with my cheap plastic cone balancer. Then when next spring comes the next year its a repeat. The only thing that has me confused is no one seems to clean their blades, I put mine in the sand blaster and remove all the old dirt and dry grass before I do anything with them. I just don't buy the story that the dirt and grass dries on them even. Yes after a few mowing's the dirt and dry grass is on them again till next spring but who cares I don't because I don't look at then till then.

 

[Carscw]

The way these post are going I must be way off on my mower blade maintenance. In the spring when I service my mower I remove the blades. If they look like they have a lot of wear I replace them. If not I clean them first, sharpen and balance them with my cheap plastic cone balancer. Then when next spring comes the next year its a repeat. The only thing that has me confused is no one seems to clean their blades, I put mine in the sand blaster and remove all the old dirt and dry grass before I do anything with them. I just don't buy the story that the dirt and grass dries on them even. Yes after a few mowing's the dirt and dry grass is on them again till next spring but who cares I don't because I don't look at then till then.

I just assume everyone cleans the blades first.

I agree with you the dirt and grass.
I don't care if your balancer cost ten grand it is not going to do any better then the cone or nail. As soon as the blades touch the grass they are no longer perfectly balanced. Because dirt and grass does not stick to the blade in a uniformed way to keep the blades in balance.

So the outcome is using a nail will get them close enough.

This is another case of people making mower maintenance complicated.

If you want your blades perfectly balanced bring them over and for $35 a blade I will put them on a flywheel balancer.

 

[Fish]

Well, to be fair., you will never know how well your blades are balanced now will you?

you just say that the way that you do it is good enough. It doesn't really matter because you will never change your mind,
which is fine....

But if you ever get a chance to check the blade's real balance, try it, you may be surprised!!!

 

[exotion]

I just scrape the big chunks of grass and dirt off before sharpening sometimes a good seat against the table is suffecient