There is a smarter way to sharpen lawn mower blades

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Let’s face it, the maintenance required when it comes to lawn care equipment, including your lawn mower’s blades, isn’t easy. However, keeping this under-appreciated grass chopper in tip-top shape is worth the effort. A dull blade cuts, grates and frays the grass blade, and hinders healing compared to a clean cut made by a sharp blade. and according to Cornell College of Agriculture and Life SciencesDull blades also increase your fuel consumption by 20%. For a long time, the best DIY sharpening method was to break out a metal file and sharpen each blade by hand. Luckily, there’s a smarter way that you probably already have it hanging out in your garage: your Dremel rotary tool.

Like a lot Lawn care equipmentLawn mower blades dull with use and need to be sharpened periodically — usually at the beginning of the season and every 20 hours of mowing thereafter. Hand sharpening with a file is laborious, it’s easy to get the angle wrong, and it’s best for small nicks and light sharpening. What makes the Dremel a smarter choice is that the tool is doing the hard work for you, in an easily controlled way.

First, we must say, yes, any rotary tool will work. In fact, the Sharp Pedal Cordless Blade Sharpener is another A smarter way to sharpen lawn mower blades. Dremel is a popular choice among many experienced fixit people, as it is readily available, relatively inexpensive — bare bones, single speed. 7350 4V Cordless Rotary Tool Kit is less than $30 — and has tons of exclusive accessories. In particular, the Dremel 932 attachment Specifically designed to grind, smooth and sharpen metal accurately and efficiently. The kit also includes a plastic guide attachment for lawn mowers. If you’re familiar with the brand’s 675 attachment for sharpening lawn mower blades, it’s worth knowing that the product has been retired.

The reasons why rotary tools work better than metal files comes down to speed and precision. With a metal file, you need to grind it in a downward motion against the edge of the blade so it’s really easy to accidentally cut yourself. And getting a clean, consistent edge takes a lot of time. A rotary tool, in contrast, eliminates that up-and-down manual motion and lets the tool do the work for you, creating A safe way to sharpen lawn mower blades. A rotary tool’s motor can do in seconds what would take you minutes to complete with a file. What’s more, the same grinding tool can be used on countless DIY projects, from smoothing rough or rusted pipes to renovations. Vintage wrought iron garden furniture.

To begin with, eye protection and gloves are essential safety gear, but you may also want ear protection. You will also need the proper tools to remove your lawn mower blade from the machine, a vice, a nail, and Dremel A679-02 Sharpening Attachment Kit or the equivalent of your rotary tool.

Put on your safety gear and Remove the blade from your lawn mower according to its manufacturer’s recommendations. Marking the bottom front edge with a sharpie or some blue painter’s tape will help you reattach it correctly. Next, clamp the blade tightly in a vise and clean off any dirt or debris so you don’t have mud or shavings flying everywhere. Insert the 932 sharpening attachment into your Dremel, set the speed to 25,000 rpm, then grind the stone against the beveled edge of the blade. Adding a plastic guide helps make your angles more accurate. Don’t over-sharpen it as this can make it faster and more susceptible to chipping if you hit a stone. The blade really needs to be as sharp as a good butter knife. Turn off the Dremel, flip the blade in the vise, and repeat on the other end.

Once you’re done, remove the blade from the vise and put a nail through the hole in the center so the blade looks like a horizontal plane propeller. This ensures that the blade is balanced. If it stays level, you’re good to go and can return it to your mower. If one side leans down, however, it’s too heavy and needs another go with the grinding stone.