To maintain the clean cutting pattern of your lawn mower, you should inspect your mower yourself or have it inspected at least once a year and then, if necessary, have the lawn mower cutting blades resharpened and thereby sharpened.
How do I recognize a blunt cutting blade?
So-called sickle mowers cut the grass in a horizontally rotating flapping motion. You can easily tell if the blades are still sharp enough by looking at the cut surface of each blade of grass, as dull cutting blades make the cut surfaces appear “frayed,” i.e., uncleanly cut. If this is the case, it is advisable to sharpen or change the lawn mower cutting blades. You can obtain these from specialist dealers as lawn mower replacement blades from all common manufacturers.
Observe safety instructions
Important: When sharpening or changing the cutting blade, please be sure to follow the manufacturer’s safety and warning instructions and always turn off your lawn mower completely! Disconnect the ignition on gasoline mowers, disconnect electric lawn mowers from the power supply and remove the battery from cordless lawn mowers beforehand. More detailed instructions for loosening and removing the cutting blade can usually be found in the operating instructions for your machine.
What tools do I need for installation and removal?
To be able to remove the cutting blade of your mower, you usually need some tools, which we would like to list below. Depending on the lawn mower model, you will need different pliers or wrenches.
Allen wrench
Amazon Basics Hex Key Allen Wrench Set with Ball End - Set of 26
- 26-piece long-arm hex key set for quickly tightening or loosening fasteners; standard and metric sizes
- Made of chrome-vanadium steel for rugged strength; black oxide finish for protection against corrosion; sand blasted for a smooth surface
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This tool should not be missing in any workshop. The longer the Allen key is, the better, as great leverage is an advantage here.
Open-end wrench set / open-end wrench
DURATECH Super-Thin Open End Wrench Set, Metric, 8-Piece, Including 5.5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19,...
- 【Quality Spanner】Thin, but strong. Made of premium carbon steel with mirror polish finish. Chrome plated for rust-resistance, heat treated for maximum strength and long lifespan. High quality wrench set exceeds ANSI standard.
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Every DIYer has such a wrench set in his workshop. Alternatively, a roller fork wrench can also be used. Even safer than open-end wrenches are so-called ring wrenches, which prevent slipping and thus injuries to the knife.
Pliers wrench / pipe wrench
FASTPRO 7-Piece Utility Pliers and Wrench Set, Includes Slip Joint Pliers, Long Nose Pliers, Diagonal Pliers, Groove Joint Pliers, Linesman...
- Forged-steel construction for durability. NOTICE: pliers are covered in anti-rust oil to prevent getting rusty, please wipe off the excess oil before using.
- Machined jaws help grip items securely for ultimate control.
It can also be useful to use a pliers wrench or a pipe wrench. Especially with larger, very tightly fitting screws, you can reach your goal faster.
Soft-face hammer / Rubber mallet
Edward Tools Harden Rubber Mallet Hammer 16 oz - Durable Eco-friendly Rubber Hammer Head for Camping, Flooring, Tent Stakes, Woodworking,...
- Durable rubber mallet hammer head for soft blow strike that doesn’t damage
- Extra strength fiberglass handle with shock absorption design
- Ergonomic non slip rubber grip
- Multi use rubber mallet for flooring, tent stakes, woodworking, jewelry, laminate, soft blow tasks, construction, auto work, carpentry
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Sometimes it may be necessary to use a soft-face hammer. Its advantage over a standard rubber mallet is the reduced recoil. Some models offer movable lead elements in the hammer head, which further reduce the recoil.
Tools for sharpening the knife
Now we come to the sharpening of the lawn mower blade. Please always wear gloves for this, otherwise you could seriously injure yourself on the supposedly dull blade. We recommend the following tools for this step:
Workshop file
REXBETI 25Pcs Metal File Set, Premium Grade T12 Drop Forged Alloy Steel, Flat/Triangle/Half-round/Round Large File and 12pcs Needle Files with...
- all the 16 pieces file are made by T12 Drop Forged Alloy Steel, the long lasting teeth were deeply milled tempered and coated for durable cutting and filing performance
- 25 pieces file set comes with 4 large files - flat/triangle/half-round/round file and 12 pieces precision needle file, 6 piece sanderpaper,a pair working gloves, a metal wire brush and carry case
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There are some good manufacturers of high quality workshop files. By using a file, sharpening can be done more accurately than, for example, with a coarse flex.
Sharpening file / scythe whetstone
Sharp Pebble Premium Whetstone Knife Sharpening Stone 2 Side Grit 1000/6000 Waterstone- Whetstone Knife Sharpener- NonSlip Bamboo Base & Angle...
- ✅ Premium Quality: Not all sharpening stones are created equal. We only import & source premium quality material for the manufacturing of our Whetstones. Our proprietary composition of Aluminum Oxide along with sharpening compounds provides you with a superior cutting performance. Don't be fooled by identical-looking cheap knife sharpening stones.
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A grinding file or scythe whetstone is ideal for the final fine grinding. The grain size may be somewhat coarser.
Tips and tricks for sharpening
Depending on the condition of the lawn mower blade, a different amount of metal must be removed during sharpening. Stones or sticks may have caused deeper indentations on the blade. It is important to note that the blade is ground and sharpened evenly to avoid imbalance.
Even though a flex would make the job much easier, you should refrain from doing so, as it is rather difficult to work accurately with such machines. It is best to pre-process the blades with the workshop file and then remove coarse burrs with the grindstone in the final step. Take special care to grind a fine secondary bevel at the tip of the blade to stabilize the blade or cutting edge.
You can then reattach the cutting blade to the lawn mower. Follow the reverse procedure here and make sure the blade has been inserted correctly to avoid loosening the next time you mow.
