How to Sharpen Reel Mower Blades: Step-by-Step Guide

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Reel lawn mower blades are preferable for small gardens or lawns. These blades are both environmental-friendly and budget-friendly.

The best thing about it is that it doesn’t make any fumes or harsh noise. It makes you maintain healthy grass.

Reel mowers work more like a pair of scissors, effectively cutting off the top of the grass with their blades. It gnaws up and whacks off the top of the grass as contrary, unlike other mowers’ rotating blades.

Up to now, you must have this thought in mind that sharpening a push reel mower blade is a tough job

But, with this one article, we will break your misconception and teach you some speedy and handy tricks on sharpening push reel mower blades.

It only takes three things from you to sharpen the push-reel lawn mower blades: focus, inventiveness, and a little lawn mower expertise. You will learn some vital information regarding lawnmowers in this article.

You can better comprehend this tool’s function and significance on your lawn with the help of the information provided below. Moreover, it will also make it easy for you to make the best use of it in the future.

Let’s find out how truthful it is that sharpening the push land mower blade is hard. And, also dig out the interesting information we have kept for you that makes this perception wrong and prove that this job is not cumbersome.

It is Possible to Sharpen The Push Reel Mower Blade by Yourself?

Absolutely. Yes, you can sharpen the roll cutter blade yourself at home. However, we recommend not to follow the procedure for sharpening used outside the store.

We will familiarise you with the American Lawn Mower Company roll knife sharpener.

Though this method is very new to you, and you are going to know it from scratch, it still is one of the most reliable, effective, and easy methods to employ while placing the roll cutter blade in the top position if you are planning to sharpen the blade all on your own.

We recommend that you employ the roll cutter blades from American Lawn Mower Company because even though they make all types of blades, their specialty is the roll cutter blades.

How to Sharpen Push Reel Mower Blades?

How to Sharpen Push Reel Mower Blades
Image Source: nytimes

The tools you will require to have while doing this whole operation:

  • A hand gloves
  • Protective eyeglasses
  • A regular sharpening kit
  • A back lapping sharpening kit
  • Use of power drill with a sharpening attachment
  • Use of metal finishing sandpaper
  • A range

There are mainly two parts of the reel mower; the blades and the bed knife.

The remainings of the machine are just a helping hand for these two main parts. Wheels have a gear that drives 5-7 blades at a time, and the angles of the blades help in spinning the grass better. On the back side, sited the bed knife, which helps adjust the chopping height.

Before heading for the blade’s sharpening, do apply the following safety measures.

  • To safeguard your hands and eyes, wear protective eyewear and gloves.
  • Don’t wear jewelry and dress in form-fitting attire. Jewelry and clothing with loose fittings often become entangled with machine parts, preventing mishaps. Plus, If you’re exhausted or high, you must not go for sharpening the blades.
  • Wear pants and boots for landscaping that will help to prevent your legs and feet from potentially falling or being thrown objects.
  • Put on a face shield to shield your face from things like sanding stones and microscopic metal particles.

Now that you know about all the safety guards, you are good to go for sharpening. While sharpening the blade, the main aim is to make the lawn mower blade like the butter knife, i.e., very sharp.

The best tool for sharpening reel mower blades is a mill file. However, you can find a range of hardware stores. These all sell unique mill files made specifically for honing reel mower blades. So, the choice is all yours.

All you need to follow is the following five steps by words to give a sharp look.

1. Secure The Blade

Secure The Blade
Image Source: gardentabs

Place the mower lawn on the ground, workbench, or table. You can use a broom handle to ensure you have blocked the reel and prevented the bales from spinning. While you are busy sharpening the blades, this will stop any mishaps from happening.

2. Un-Stain The Mower Blade

In this step, you must remove debris from the blades with a stiff wire brush or some coarse sandpaper.

3. Rake The File Between The Blades

Rake The File Between The Blades
Image Source: farmandfleet

Push the metal mill’s sharp end onto the first blade’s dull edge slowly and cautiously. The blade edges should now be scratched with the file. To slide the file along the length of the blades, always be alert. Don’t attempt to create new cutting angles, either.

The dull cutting angle should only be decreased by one or two millimeters.

Repeat it multiple times. It is completely based on the state of the blade. However, we advise doing so seven times or more.

4. Repeat Previous Steps For all Blades

Now that you are done sharpening the blade’s edge, you can carefully remove the broomstick. Gently rotate the mower cylinder to access the next blade completely.

Then, secure the blades once more and go through the process again to sharpen any further dull blades.

5. Use Grease and Lubricate to Protect Blades After Sharpening

Use Grease and Lubricate to Protect Blades After Sharpening 
Image Source: stihl

When you complete the sharpening of all the dull blades of the mower, apply grease or lubricant to it to lessen the chances of rusting blades. Or, you can also lightly spray some penetrating lubricant, such as WD40, on every moving part.

Moreover, we recommend applying a little linseed oil soaked into a fresh piece of paper towel or penetrating WD40 lubricant on the mower’s blades.

Also Read: How To Test a Riding Lawn Mower Starter?

How Often Can One Sharpen The Push Reel Mower Blade?

How Often Can One Sharpen The Push Reel Mower Blade
Image Source: toptenreviews

It relies on multiple factors. The factors are such as while mowing, the blades face friction against any stone, rock, or hard material, and then the blade loses its sharpness very easily. Therefore, in that case, sharpening of the blades becomes necessary.

But, on a general basis, our expert advises that a sharpening session per 20-25 hours of mower use is more than sufficient. Though, few people make the sharpening done once or twice a year which is perfectly fine if the use is lesser.

On the other hand, for best performance when using a reel mower in a commercial setting, we advise sharpening mower blades weekly.

Working with the rusted or dull blade mower implies massive damage to the grassroots. Instead of giving your lawn a healthy green look, it turns it into a brown shade.

Hence, to maintain healthy and hefty grass in your garden, we advise you to sharpen the blades as per advice by our expert.

Recommendations For Sharpen Reel Mower Blades

Following are the basic points that we recommend you keep there in your mind while performing the sharpening of the blade of the lawn mower:

  • Must employ safety glasses and protective gloves while performing the sharpening procedure.
  • Use a rag as it will help you make the cleaning process of the blade very fast. It barely takes 3 minutes with a rag.
  • When you open the machine, be careful not to lose any bolt washer or mounting hardware.
  • Paint the blades once you are done with the blade’s sharpening as it prevents the blade’s rusting.
  • Once you are done sharpening both cutting blade edges, balance the lawn mower as it is a crucial stage.

FAQ’s

How much does it cost to have a lawn mower’s blade sharpened?

The fact is that sharpening the blade of a mower is not an easy deal. So, if you are not feeling confident enough to sharpen the blades all by yourself, you can take the help of experts in the concerned field.
Alternately, you might have it sharpened at a shop. You’ll be charged $9.95 if the blade does it independently and $ 19.95 if left in the machine.

What equipment can we use to sharpen the lawn mower’s blade?

The ultimate goal of this operation is; a sharpening file, grinder, saw, and protective mask. These significant tools will help you a lot in sharpening the blade.

Can the blade be sharpened without being separated from the machine?

You will go through many steps to sharpen the lawn mower blade. It becomes impossible to continue using the machine without removing, grinding, and reinstalling the blade.

How can the lawn mower’s back lapping blade be sharpened?

This method is very freshly introduced. You can use this one method in sharpening the many different mower blades. The backslapping method reduces both the chance of blade breaking and the time taken in the whole process.

How often is it feasible to sharpen the lawn mower’s blade?

On average, we recommend you sharpen the blade 2-3 times per season. If your lawn is bigger than a quarter acre, you should sharpen it every 8 hours of use.

Conclusion

For someone new to this field, sharpening the blades can be a tough deal. Yet, the decision is all yours if you want to do it yourself. Or to take help from an expert bringing it to the store.

The ultimate aim is to give your mower blades a sharp edge to provide a healthy life to your grasses.

To serve this aim, we have given you every minute detail you will have to employ while sharpening the push reel mower blade. We hope that your perception that ‘sharpening the blade is a tough job’ will break once you try your hands on it using our guide.

We believe that now you will be able to give your lawn a beautiful and healthy life and enjoy the mowing process more than before. Thank you for reading our blog.

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