Any gardener can save money if he knows how to sharpen garden tools by himself. Through sharpening, you can restore any garden tools to a fresh condition if they are not properly working or usable. Maybe you do not know how to sharpen garden tools, but using some perfect instruments and easy instructions, you can do it yourself.
After reading this article, you can sharpen and care for different garden tools like pruners, shears, shovels, loppers, and hoes and get the best performance from year to year.
Instruments Needed for Sharpening Garden Tools
Safety glasses, work gloves, a sharpening stone, files, steel wool, rags, a penetrating oil like WD-40, and a face mask to shield against airborne particles are all necessary.
First thing is to clean the tools before sharpening garden tools
You must clean your garden equipment before you can sharpen them. To remove any dried-on dirt, hoes and shovels may be cleaned and doused with water. (Using an old toothbrush for a new purpose is a great way to remove dirt from the little space where the tool’s metal head and handle meet.) To ensure complete drying, place the tools in the sun.
It is not a good idea to clean instruments like shears or loppers with soap and water since it might lead to rust. Instead, use WD-40 or a comparable spray to remove any accumulated sap or muck from the instruments. To remove any remaining residue or surface rust, use 0000 grade steel wool while wearing gloves for safety. Once the instrument has been cleaned using a rag, it is prepared for sharpening.
Way of Sharpening Loppers
The method for honing loppers may vary depending on whether you have anvil or bypass blades. With a bypass lopper, the only part of the top blade that is sharp is the outside edge. Their purpose is to trim softer green branches, such as those on rose bushes. The blade of the anvil lopper is designed to chop through tougher timber branches and has sharp edges on both sides.
To sharpen the lopper blade’s cutting edge, you’ll need a sharpening stone. Put on your gloves and safety glasses and press the stone up to the lopper blade’s beveled edge. The angle at which the stone and blade make contact should match that of the original edge bevel.
From the pivot point to the tip, move the stone along the blade in an outward and downward motion while applying little pressure. Never file back and forth; instead, file in a single direction. Sharpening an anvil lopper requires honing both blades. Five to twenty strokes each edge should be sufficient to complete the task, unless the blade was really dull.
Once the edges are sharpened, lightly mist the metal surfaces with penetrating oil and remove any leftover residue. This will maintain the tool’s functionality and help safeguard it.
How to Sharpen Garden Pruners
Pruners are tiny cutters that are used for tasks like deadheading flowers and clipping small branches. They are often referred to as hand pruners or pruning shears. The method you use to sharpen loppers is also the same for pruning shears. Keep your stone’s contact with the blade at the same angle as its initial beveled edge by using the same pivot-point-to-tip action.
Hand pruners are tiny, therefore disassembling them to sharpen can be useful. But not every pruning shear is made in a way that makes disassembly easy. While some may be riveted together indefinitely, others may be bolted together. Make sure you can put your hand pruners back together comfortably before attempting to disassemble them.
Apply the penetrating oil treatment you started on the loppers to the entire surface.
How to Sharpen Grass Shears and Hedge Clippers?
For sharpening garden equipment such as grass shears and hedge clippers, a bigger tool is preferable over a sharpening stone because of their significantly longer cutting edges. A handle-equipped 10-inch (25 cm) mill file is advised.
While it’s not necessary, using a vise to hold the shears or clippers in position while you work makes the process safer and simpler. If you are working with long blades that are getting sharper and sharper without a vise, wear strong gloves and proceed with additional caution.
Make sure the file is in touch with the sharpened edge of the blade at the same angle as the initial bevel. Apply consistent pressure and use the pivot-to-tip action to drive the file away from you. The edge may get damaged by excessive pressure. Using more file strokes is preferable to using too much pressure. Ten to fifteen file strokes on each beveled edge, unless the blades are very dull, should be adequate too.
Hedge Clippers and Grass Shears Sharpening
Apply penetrating oil, remove excess by wiping, and proceed accordingly.
Sharpening Shovel or Hoe
When hoeing or sharpening a shovel, you should use a file, much like you would with grass shears or hedge clippers. To sharpen your hoe, use the same mill file that you use to sharpen shears. The hoe may be held firm by placing your foot on the handle or by clamping it in a vise. It is necessary to flip the sharp side upward. To sharpen the cutting edge of the hoe, move your file across and along the original bevel. The same filing method may be used to sharpen a shovel, but a round file will help you keep better touch with the edge’s curve.
Recall that shovels and hoes don’t require edges like those of knives. The metal could not bear the beating they get because it is too thin. Simply smooth down the edges and provide sufficient metal to withstand the strains.
Maintaining The Garden Tools’ Sharpness
The amount of usage and whether or not you maintain and protect the metal surfaces of your garden tools to prevent corrosion will determine how frequently you need to sharpen them. When it’s time for another round of honing, your tools will alert you. For further advice on how to take care of and get the most out of your gardening gear, see our page on taking care of garden tools.
Summary
So, any gardener needs to know how to sharpen garden tools to save money. It’s not a very hard task to do in the garden. Hopefully, you are confident enough to do this now by yourself. Just follow the above steps and collect the necessary instruments for sharpening. Hope, your garden tools will perform best after this process.
