How to Sharpen a Hand Mower

Keeping the blades sharp on your hand mower is important because a dull blade puts more burden on the engine by causing it to bog down in thick or high grass and because a sharp blade does a better cutting job. You can do it one of two ways, depending on what tools you currently have. The first method assumes you have a drill.

A Grinding Wheel

1. Buy a fine grit grinding wheel that has a drill bit end and fits into a drill at your local home improvement store.


2. Attach the grinding wheel to your drill.


3. Remove the blade from the hand mower by backing out the bolt that holds it on. Pay close attention to how the blade was on there so you know how to put it back on.


4. Sharpen the blade following the slant that you can see on the blade ends to make them sharp again. Keep the edge long rather than short for better cutting.


5. Take off as little metal as possible, but do remove any burrs or dings.


6. Check the edge for sharpness, careful not to cut yourself on it.


7. Put the blade back on after you sharpened it.

A Flat File

1. Follow the same method described above to remove the blade.


2. Sharpen the edge with a file by filing away from you in one direction only to make the slant and sharpen the blade's edges.


3. Use the fine edge of the file last.


4. Take the time to remove any burs and nicks from the blade as best as you can. It is harder and takes much more time with a file.


5. Put it back on as described above.