Sharpening the fine blades of lawn shears properly requires a little care. In the worst case scenario, an uneven sharpening angle will make your grass shears unusable. Your lawn shears will cut like they did on the first day.
How can I properly sharpen my grass shears?
To sharpen grass shears, disassemble them, clamp the blades at the correct angle and use a wet grinder with a corundum sharpening stone. Remove sanding burrs with a leather honing wheel and oil moving parts before assembly.
Tool supplies – tips for inexperienced home gardeners
For home gardeners with little craftsmanship experience, we recommend investing in a wet grinder to optimally sharpen garden tools. Dry rotating grinding aids pose a great risk of creating incorrect cutting geometry or causing the cutting edges to heat up, burn out and lose their hardness. Good quality equipment for hobbies and gardens can be purchased for under 150 euros.
Step-by-step instructions – How to properly sharpen grass shears
In the first step, disassemble the lawn shears into its individual parts. Clamp the grass shears exactly at the original angle. Proceed as follows:
- Sharpen the blades on the corundum whetstone with about 90 revolutions
- Fill the height-adjustable water tank and adjust it precisely to guarantee complete humidification
- Ideally optimize the efficiency of the grindstone with special grinding paste
- Then use the leather honing wheel to remove all grinding burrs from the blades
Before you put the freshly ground lawn shears back together, the device receives a treatment. To do this, treat all moving parts with penetrating or sewing machine oil. However, the screw connections are not greased. To ensure that the oil in the hinges is evenly distributed, move the joints several times after assembling the scissors.
Please only use a grinding aid with a clamping device. Without the blades being fixed, the cutting geometry will become out of joint and your lawn shears will become useless. If investing in a wet grinding machine is not worth it for your needs, it is better to hire a professional sharpening service to take care of your secateurs.
Sharpening the grass shears every now and then - this is how it works
If your lawn shears don't have any nicks, you can easily improve their sharpness with a manual combination sharpening stone. This has two different pages. The coarser side does the pre-sharpening, whereas the finer side of your grass shears gives the finishing touches. High-quality products are supplied with a holding device, which significantly simplifies manual sanding work.
Tip
Dirt, rust and plant juices clog your grass shears and make them difficult to move. Do not place your pruning shears on the ground, even for a short break from work. Your valuable work tools are better off on a stone surface or on the lawn.
