Reel Lawn Mower Shapening 101

Step 1
	To complete this sharpening course you will need to purchase the Scotts sharpening kit shown to the left. It can be found by clicking here. The first step is to take off the handle to get it out of your way, and then turn the mower on its side and pop off the side cover with a screwdriver. This will uncover the ring that holds the wheel onto the mower.
Step 2
	Pop off the C ring that holds the wheel in place. It's pretty easy to slide it off with a big flathead screwdriver. Make sure you put all these parts in a secure place that you can retrieve them and so you won't kick them around the yard.
Step 3
	Once you slide off the C ring, the wheel will come right off the mower. Take it off and set it aside.
Step 4
	Next, take off the gear that sits inside the wheel and allows the wheels to turn the blades. It just comes right off without any tools.
Step 5
	Next, take the crank that came with the sharpening kit, and slide it over the piece of metal where the gear was attached. This is going to allow you to turn the blades backwards, which is key to sharpening. You are sharpening it using the "backlapping method" when you use a sharpening kit. This is much safer than grinding the blades with a grinder, because you won't accidentally overgrind and ruin the mower.
	At the left is another photo that shows what it looks like when the crank is fully attached. It just slides on and doesn't attach with a tool or anything like that.
Step 6
	Now you'll take out the paint brush and plastic container of sharpening compound that also came with the sharpening kit. Open up the plastic container, and put some sharpening compound on the paint brush.
Step 7
	Apply the sharpening compound evenly onto all five blades on the reel. After you do this, you'll be ready to start cranking the blade backwards and get going with the actual sharpening part.
Step 8
	Crank it! Turn those blades backwards and get to sharpening. If you get tired, take a break and get going again. You'll want to sharpen until you can see a smooth metal edge on all of the blades.
Step 9
	Are you sure you are finished? If so, take off the crank, put back on the gear, put the wheel back on, and pop the C ring back in place to hold the wheel on the mower again.