Many people do not realize the importance of maintaining a sharp lawn mower blade. They go months or possibly years without realizing the damage that a dull blade is doing to their lawn.
Before we get into our picks for the best lawn mower blade sharpeners, let’s take a look at why keeping a sharp blade is important.
A dull mower blade will tear and fray the ends of the grass blades instead of cleanly slicing through them. Grass that is mowed with a dull blade will cause the lawn to be susceptible to many problems.
Toro uses an excellent analogy between a lawn mower blade and a razor. Think of how effortless and typically painless a shave is with a sharp razor straight out of the package. Now, think about all that can go wrong with a dull razor. We all have likely experienced skin nicks and skin irritation from using a dull blade.
Your lawn will experience abuse like your skin when using a dull blade. A dull blade may cause the grass to brown. Additionally, it will be exposed to an increase risk of disease and fungus, which can eventually kill the lawn.
Generally, a homeowner with an average lawn size should sharpen their lawn mower blade about twice a year. You should routinely examine the grass blades directly after mowing to see the type of cut they received. If the grass blades are torn and/or uneven, the lawn mower blade needs sharpening.
Furthermore, you should also periodically examine the mower blade to see if it has obtained any noticeable chips or dents. The blade may need to be replaced if the damage cannot be fixed with one of the best lawn mower blade sharpeners below or other related tool.
Table of Contents
The Best Lawn Mower Sharpeners
Dremel A679-02 Attachment Kit for Sharpening Garden Tools
This is the lawn mower blade sharpener that your author uses for his own lawn mower blade. You will need a Dremel Rotary Tool to use this attachment, but you can get a lot of use out of it beyond blade sharpening.
The sharpening attachment is equipped with a sharpening stone and guide to keep the tool at the appropriate angle (30°) to properly sharpen the blade.
If you make the same number of passes of the sharpening tool across each side of the blade, the blade should be balanced and ready to reattach to the lawn mower.
You should always test that the blade is sharpened by hanging it from a nail on the wall. If one side of the blade rises higher on the nail than the other, the higher side should be passed through the sharpening tool and retested on the nail until balance is confirmed.
This Dremel attachment will also sharpen other garden tools such as chain saw blades, shovels, shears, and hoes. Its versatility pays for itself over time.
Stanley 21-106 8-inch Mill Bastard File
This Stanley file is a cheap but highly effective way to sharpen a lawn mower blade. It is an excellent choice for individuals who use a small yard lawn mower that only occasionally needs the blade sharpened.
The below video provides a quick informative tutorial on how to sharpen a mower blade with a file. It is a lot easier than you might think if you have never used a file for this purpose.
Keep in mind that not all files are designed for sharpening lawn mower blades. A mill file, like this Stanley, will effectively do the job.
VintageBee Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener for Power Drill
The VintageBee lawn mower blade sharpening tool attaches to a power drill. To sharpen, you simply place the blade between the blue plastic guide and the sharpening stone. You then run the stone across the blade to sharpen it while the drill is running. This is a simple and almost fool proof way to sharpen a lawn blade. What’s better is that you receive four of these stone sharpeners for an extremely reasonable price.
Smith’s 50603 Mower Blade Sharpener
This tool just takes a couple of pulls down the lawn blade to get the blade sharp again. The oversized handle and safety guard provide a nice level of protection between the user’s hand and the blade. The tool is equipped with a carbide blade to help produce a smooth, sharp edge on the lawn mower blade. You’ll have your blade sharpened and back on the mower within a few minutes with this sharpener.
MAG-9000 Professional Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener
The MAG-9000 is an excellent solution for sharpening multiple lawn mower blades in one-setting. This sharpener is undoubtedly overkill for the average homeowner. However, lawn care professionals or people with large acreage who routinely sharpen their mower blades will likely see this machine as a huge time saver. It can rapidly sharpen both left and right handed blades in about a minute. The manufacturer states that there is no limit to the length of blade that can be ground through the machine.
Yellow Hornet Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener/Grinder Motor NOT Included
The Yellow Hornet is designed to help obtain the proper angle when using your grinder for blade sharpening. The grinder (not included) is hose clamped down as shown above. Once secure and in the appropriate position, the blade can be placed against the angled jig and then pulled across the grinder. Generally, a few passes through the grinder and the blade will be super sharp. This is a great alternative to other expensive grinders such as the MAG-9000 above.
Oregon 88-023 Professional 1/2 HP Lawnmower Blade Grinder
Here is another solid grinder that will sharpen both right and left blades. It comes equipped with a powerful 1/2 horsepower motor, which will not struggle to grind away at your blades. Similar to the MAG-9000 above, this blade sharpener is likely best for lawn care professionals or individuals that routinely need to sharpen blades. We recommend buying a blade balancer with this sharpener such as this Oregon Balancer to verify you have evenly sharpened each blade side.