giving up on Black Friday, but not CL

[Tom King]

I've been looking for one of these for a Long time.  A regular bench grinder is way too slow for sharpening mower blades.  For years, I've been bending over to use a 9" sidegrinder, while holding the blade with my foot.  It's time to stop bending over, as much as possible.  

I'm meeting this seller after he quits hunting tomorrow.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/tls/7032933630.html

Here's a new one of the same model:   https://www.walmart.com/ip/GRINDER-BLADE-WALL-BG-121/290782456?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101002414&adid=22222222227135977907&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=361054655963&wl4=aud-430887228898:pla-402189718996&wl5=9009780&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=128135986&wl11=online&wl12=290782456&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAiAlajvBRB_EiwA4vAqiPQqaccVD-aSQEx2GSzqB8rIxAAVl3Q8FXw5wGfm_oVY7xCy1CpZQRoCPbIQAvD_BwE

I won't be using it on chisels.

If you want to see how it works, skip to about 3 minutes in this video.  I'll keep it in the tractor/mower shed, and will be wearing hearing protection.

 

[Tom King]

I picked it up yesterday.  The pictures were not of the actual unit.  The seller was a much older guy than I had expected.  I was expecting a young hustler that was selling off lawn equipment to make ends meet in the Winter time, which is not that unusual.

Turns out, the seller had bought it to use himself, a Long time ago.   He was a nice, honest guy.  He said he had quit cutting his grass himself.

The grinder has some other name brand on it, other than what it looked like in the ad.  One of his neighbors had helped him with the ad.

It has a Baldor motor on it, and the original grinding wheel.  He had only used one corner of the grinding wheel, differently than it was intended, but long story shortened, it's not hurt, and runs as smooth as a top.

It's a lot heavier than it looks, so I left it in the back of the truck until Mike (my helper) can help me unload it tomorrow.

First trip (one hour, one way) with the truck since I put new front main seal, water pump, alternator, belt and idler pulleys, thermostats, and fan clutch on it.  It ran smoothly, quiet, and dry.

[Coop]

The purchase helped you and seller both! Glad it worked out. 

[Chestnut]

Wait so you are not supposed to sharpen lawnmower blades with a hand file followed by a diamond plate?

[Minnesota Steve]

I just stick it in the vise and use a bastard file.  If it's really beat up, I've got a $5 wheel that goes on the end of a drill.

The key is the vise... without the vise it's impossible!

[JohnG]

Honestly, that video doesn’t make that unit look any faster than using a decent bench grinder, but maybe it’s just him. It would give more consistent results, but you really don’t have to be too careful or precise on a mower blade. To be fair, I’ve sharpened thousands of mower blades on a bench grinder so I have the muscle memory to get the angle and speed right without having to think about it or fuss around with it. 
 

I guess if you have a big mower or bush hog with many blades, you could save a bit of time by using something more purpose built, but for most a bench grinder or angle grinder is plenty. A decent file will also get the work done quickly if you sharpen the blade regularly. 

Regardless, looks like a cool machine!

[Tom King]

It's not for someone with a half acre of grass to cut, and sharpens their blades twice a season. 

 We have a few old museum house grounds we get paid to keep cut, because the windows are too expensive to just turn anyone loose in those yards with a mower, and trimmer, so they would rather pay us a premium to keep the yards, than to pay us to fix windows.  Also, at our place, we have at least 20 acres of grass to keep up.  Multiple mower blades get sharpened every week, and not the typical homeowner type lawnmower blade.

I can sharpen them just as fast with a 9" side grinder, and that's the way I've sharpened them for years.  There are also different bench grinders here too, but they can't come close to the speed of this thing, or a 9" 15 amp side grinder.  I could put the blade in a vise, but would have to rest between multiple blades from holding the heavy grinder up, and in control. The trouble with the 9" side grinder is that I have to hold the blade down with a foot, while I bend over with the side grinder.  This doesn't include time required getting the grinder out of the shop, along with a cord.

I have my bushogs rigged up so I can sharpen them in place, but with an air wrench, the blades come right off, and I don't have to contort to get into position to sharpen the blades.  You don't want to try to sharpen one of those with a file.  Those things are a half inch thick.

I have eliminated most of the bending over, for the rest of my life with this thing.   It wasn't worth paying up into the multiple hundred dollars for one of these, or I would have had one long ago.  I do consider this a lucky find, and am glad to get it.

I expect most pro grass cutters use a similar one, and they don't buy them because they're stupid.