486. What is the best way to balance a lawnmower blade?

[@lonnierigsby8373]

I have a nail in my work bench and just set the blade on the center hole and let gravity do it's job. Has worked great for me.

[@GlenBear_321]

Thanks Jim

[@jimjackson9381]

@@GlenBear_321 a new one is coming out soon it’s on a Mag 1000 all I can say is it’s Very informative and it is a must see video if you’re looking to get one. Jim

[@tecnaman9097]

I've just ordered one of the 'red' ones from Amazon. It's listed as a genuine Tecomec made in Italy. I believe Tecomec are the manufacturers of the Oregon branded balancer. I've done some online research and all comments were like don't waste your money on a cheap Chinese knock off. Would like the US made Mag 1000 but by the time you take into account exchange rates ( I'm Downuder) the cost of the Mag is just absurdly ridiculous. Fingers crossed what turns up lol!

[@20x20Ghost]

thanks for sharing

[@ACF6180T]

Nice demo Jim. I still use the old style plastic ones; I do recall back in the day seen the cone one's made out of brass rather than plastic. That said using the plastic cone ones I just make sure the balance is correct, & when the blade is installed on a walk behind I check to see if the mower has excessive vibration on the engine as well as the the deck. If it's nice, & smooth I'll just go with it. It seems to have worked on my 1985 self/propelled walk behind Snapper for 33 seasons with the blade only being replaced once; The engine was replaced after 33 seasons, But the 2nd blade is still being used on the replacement engine, & has only been sharpened once, & that was when it was installed with the new engine. I have no doubt that this newer style is probably a more precise, But as you stated if your in a hurry these are not the way to go, But I've never been in a hurry when I sharpen my blades, & I always walk the area that I'm going to mow before mowing so I don't hit anything that will damage the blades; Because I don't like having to sharpen the blades if I don't have to. Which reminds me the 1974 Comet rer still has the original blade on it, & has only been sharpen once since I bought used in 1989? Thanks Jim for the demo SNAPPOUT.

[@arvinmccarty587]

Hi Jim! A few years ago I was looking around the shop for some way to balance my 33" Snapper blade, and I came across what I think must be a skate board wheel that just happened to make a nice snug fit in the blade! I bolted it to the wall and it turned out to be a very sensitive balancer! Skate boarders like to have very low friction precision bearings on their "rides" I guess! I have no idea where the thing came from, but it was free! Something I do while balancing the blade to try to mitigate the little friction remaining in the system is this: After the blade stops I mark that spot and then move it on in the direction it was last moving enough so that when I let go it moves back towards the mark where it stopped the first time. I then mark that spot and consider the place half way between the marks as where it would have stopped in the absence of any friction. What do you think of this idea? Does it have any validity to it? Problem is I have lately complicated this balancing process considerably by welding 2 blades together at a 90 degree angle! Makes it very hard to decide which blade I should remove weight from when the blades stop at a point part way between vertical and horizontal, but I usually go for whichever blade is hanging the lowest! The balancing process definately takes way longer now! Has anyone else tried welding 2 blades together? Did you find that you were able to mow faster while still maintaining the same cut quality with two blades as opposed to one?

[@halpadgett3166]

I have one of the red ones. I don’t know if it’s the same as yours, but it’s super sensitive and has very little slop. You probably waited on the blade to come to a complete rest so that you could document the variance on the tape, but in practice, you generally know pretty quick which end is heavy. If the blade rests within 10-15 degrees of horizontal, I’m tickled. Sometimes a single stroke of a file will make enough difference for me go back to the other end and take some off there. Grass build-up makes a difference; I found that I need to at least brush it off with a wire brush, and sometimes I pressure wash them before I start. And it works good for the blades that have other than round holes.

[@robertmailhos8159]

The other types of blade s that are the 5 point Star pattern plus the 6 point Star pattern would be a great idea to test those blade balance checker

[@M0NXF]

Be nice to see a further comparison between your balancers and the magna-matic mag1000 balancer see what the run out and slop on the magna-matic mag 1000 would be .

[@jimjackson9381]

@@M0NXF well you got your wish. I have a mag 1000 coming and as soon as it gets here I’ll do another review and show you how well that one works compared to the ones that I already did a video on.

[@M0NXF]

@@jimjackson9381 Will be interesting the Mag 1000 is quite difficult to get here in the UK where i worked they had a Mag 1000 which was about 25 years old and still worked very well from what i could tell .

[@dougr3715]

When I sharpen the blade on my old Hi Vac, I check it on the plastic cone, but then it’s only for myself.if I ran a business, I’d have t to Get something more accurate