I switched to flapper discs this year. Way better and faster than grinder wheel or Dremel.

Steve's Small Engine Saloon video on YT (can't get it to embed)

Flap discs are great but be careful, they hog material very fast.

I've got a potentially better way: Replace them with factory sharpened blades.

A new pair of factory blades for my Honda mower is less than $30.

It takes 2 mowing seasons for my blades to start to become dull to the point where the cut quality is affected. (But then I'm not the sort of guy who goes over the lawn with a ruler and a pair of scissors after each mow...)

So every other year, I slap $30 of new blades on them, then scrap the last pair.

It takes just as long to unmount an old set and mount a new set as it does to unmount an old set and remount the same old set (after resharpening). So it's worth $15/year to me to not have to deal with the whole grinding and balancing aspect.

I used flapper discs on my Milwaukee M18 grinder to strip my steel gate to repaint.
It was fast.
It could easily take too much off if not careful.
It consumed lots of batteries.
It consumed lots of flappers.
But was highly effective!

For a mower blade I would just use my stationary belt sander.
Mine is only one inch which takes a little more work but it also does knives nicely too.

Preach it, oh my brethren.

2x72” Belt grinder… Less than two minutes for all the edges.

Yup…buy and toss…not worth my time.

Back in the day when I worked w/ commercial mowers, we sharpened blades twice a week. Three blades per mower...
Angle grinder and then a bench grinder to remove the burr.
Replaced blades maybe twice a year.

That was the only way I've done it. Takes no time at all.

FWIW … New ones are rarely sharp. The factory edges are pretty freaking dull.

If you have the blade in your hand it’s literally 30 seconds to get an edge. Walk over to the belt grinder flip it on touch steel to abrasive; Flip, rinse, repeat ..

I like putting a convex edge with a slack belt sander on mower blades, axe blades, etc. It might not be as sharp as a flat grind or chisel grind but I think it's more durable.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I've got a potentially better way: Replace them with factory sharpened blades.

A new pair of factory blades for my Honda mower is less than $30.

It takes 2 mowing seasons for my blades to start to become dull to the point where the cut quality is affected. (But then I'm not the sort of guy who goes over the lawn with a ruler and a pair of scissors after each mow...)

So every other year, I slap $30 of new blades on them, then scrap the last pair.

I have 2 sets of blades - one set goes on early season and swap out for 2nd set mid-season. Sometime over the winter I sharpen both sets. My neighbors are green with envy on the condition of my lawn.

Growing up Dad owned a Toro and I've owned a Toro ever since my first house so I don't know about Honda blades. However, Toro blades aren't very sharp from the factory.

A $2.47 flapper disc and I'll get 5 or 10 years out of a pair of blades. I already owned the 4.5" grinder.

It’s my understanding that the blades on my Honda HRX are a thinner material because they cut much finer than traditional blades (it’s actually two blades) and you are supposed to replace not sharpen.

I did look at them once and they do seem more like a sheetmetal than the thick bar of steel in my old one.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
Flap discs are great but be careful, they hog material very fast.

Yes, but not as fast as putting a conventional grinder wheel on my 4.5" grinder. Also, a lot straighter and more consistent edge vs the Dremel.

Yup. Angle grinder, flapper discs, and an All-American Sharpener jig FTW. Add a good blade-balance tester and Bob's your uncle.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I've got a potentially better way: Replace them with factory sharpened blades.

A new pair of factory blades for my Honda mower is less than $30.

The blades for my commercial-grade ZTR mower cost considerably more than $30 each, much less per pair.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

The blades for my commercial-grade ZTR mower cost considerably more than $30 each, much less per pair.

Apples and oranges my man

He was referring to a residential push mower, not some commercial zero turn…

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

The blades for my commercial-grade ZTR mower cost considerably more than $30 each, much less per pair.

Apples and oranges my man

He was referring to a residential push mower, not some commercial zero turn…

Huh. I hadn't noticed anything in the thread to suggest the topic was limited to push mowers.

Perhaps I missed it? Can you point that out, please?

I’ve got a bench grinder. I still use the same factory blade on my Honda and it’s now 12 years old. Doesn’t even take 3 minutes and I’m done.

He is correct about one thing though. He does suck at using a bench grinder. Lol

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Yup. Angle grinder, flapper discs, and an All-American Sharpener jig FTW. Add a good blade-balance tester and Bob's your uncle.

Without this forum I would likely never have known about using flapper discs for sharpening mower blades or the jigs from the site above. For years I've done a mediocre job with the bench grinder but after reading this thread I'm changing my method.

With four blades (three on the tractor and one on the push) it gets expensive to replace them and I can get multiple years from each blade by sharpening when necessary.

Many thanks to tatortod and ensigmatic for their advice as this will be a game-changer for me not only in time and money saved but more importantly, in my case, efficiency and repeatability of sharpening to the correct angle.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I've got a potentially better way: Replace them with factory sharpened blades.

Yep. I struggled with a grinder for many years and never did a good job. Nowadays I just put on a new set every year and don't hit any rocks.