One Way To Sharpen Reel Mower Blades

Proceed With Caution!

If you own a standard reel mower then you know the blades need to be sharpened every so often. You can buy sharpening kits and sharpen each blade by hand, but that takes a bit of time and effort. Here is an ‘automated’ way to do it as well.

The photo illustrates one method you can use to sharpen your reel mower in a matter of minutes.

The setup requires an electric motor, a large pulley (wooden or metal) to fit the end of the cutter shaft, two heavy duty clamps, a belt and some oil and emery (cutting) paste.

How It Works

The blades are sharpened by spinning the blades in reverse causing them to grind on the horizontal cutting knife. Each blade edge has a little oil and emery (cutting) paste applied to it which makes the process go smoother and faster.

How To Do It

• Very carefully clamp the mower’s crossbar – very securely – to a solid, rigid surface using heavy duty clamps.

• Remove the wheels and pinions and fit/attach the large pulley to one end of the cutter shaft. (You want the mower shaft to turn at approximately 300 RPM. If the electric motor runs at 1750 – 2000 RPM then you want the large pulley to be about six times the diameter of the electric motor pulley.)

• Attach the belt to the electric motor’s pulley and to the big pulley on the mower’s cutting shaft as illustrated in the photo so the mower blades turn in the opposite direction they normally do when you are cutting grass. In other words, you want the blades to spin in reverse or backwards.

• Apply a little oil and emery paste to the edge of each blade. NEVER do this while the blades are spinning!

• Double check everything! Be sure the mower is clamped down securely and the belt is attached to both the motor and the pulley properly so the blades spin in reverse.

• Stand away from the mower blades and carefully turn the electric motor on. Be prepared to turn the motor off quickly if needed.

Depending on how dull the blades are, sharpening will take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. It maybe necessary to stop the motor and adjust the horizontal cutting bar a little closer to the other blades if you grind them for very long.

Needless to say, this is a highly dangerous and hazardous operation. If you do decide to try this, please use all possible caution. And always keep yourself and others far away from spinning mower blades.

Another Option

Here’s another – much safer option – for sharpening your reel mower blades. This is a $15.00 Reel Mower Sharpening Kit from Amazon. The kit comes with a hand crank, a jar of cutting paste and a brush to apply the paste with.

The process is basically the same as above except you turn the blades with the crank manually instead of hooking the mower up to an electric motor. (I like this idea a lot!)

Which ever way you choose to sharpen your blades, please do so safely.