10,000 TIMES 👍👍👍👍, Never-the-less SHTF cause me to go on a loooog vacation in the bush of West Africa. A goat, sheep, cow, has to do my mowing ( LOL rotation mowing ) .
Enjoyed it , if I had the equipment like you I'd try this too . Looks like you have a great idea in making your own blades . Just bought a couple of Gator blades for my 42" John Deere and very happy with them too.
Made one for my modified push mower/brush hog from scratch with zero lift because it will only be used on tall reeds and willow sapplings. Hopefully it will work fine.
Guess it depends how much lift you going for. You could just run a big weld beed along back edge of blade with something like 7018. It doesnt take much to create lift. Even welding a flate piece of steel along back side. The step will be enough to create lift. Longer the beed or step the mower lift you'll get. Good job with the bends. Consistency is one thing a machinist always strives for.
Very good metal working tips. Many years ago, I replaced my mower blade with one not having any lift after sand ate up the original one. The blade does not need sharpening as often and I do not live on a golf course but the cut grass still looks good. BTW, I did not know Ave has a mother. I thought a bird pooped on a rock and the sun hatched him. :-) OK, now it is time for the adolescents to defend the fowl mouthed Canadian..
Good thinking on the less lift less sand thing, if you hit something and didn't get too much damage then your alloy is about right. As a mower mechanic for 42 years I think you did a good job on those blades.
Heck yeah man please keep us up to date on how they work shoot if I can make it work I make my on stuff it’s cheaper and ya have fun and You’re learning something new
All the mower blades i've worked on were very ductile, I don't think they are much different from mild steel. Mower blades are not rotating scythes, they really don't cut the grass, they bash it.
I wonder how hard AR500 plate would be to bend? It has great wear resistance but costly, may never have to replace them again. Heck I might try it. Great videos!
We were all impressed with the knurl. Flame harden the cutting edge, heat and quench, might improve the cutting edge life. Of course 440 stainless heat treated would last an entire season.
Re bending the lift wings: Once you figure out the correct length for your stops, get a chunk of pipe larger than the return springs, and cut to length. A dial indicator would allow you to sneak up on the bend for consistant results. Re the blade, you should balance your blades to protect the bearings.
Good project Jim! Blades are quite expensive for most mowers and some of them don't wear well at all. Sand is murder on just about anything metal I was thinking if you had a spray torch welding outfit like Abom, maybe put a light overlay of hard surface powder on the cutting edge bevel and then finish grind and sharpen. Some stainless would wear pretty good on there also. Warpage may be a problem with the spray welding on the thin edge though. Just thinking out loud here.
Try attaching a valve wheel to your hydraulic jack valve. Quick and handy. Stainless is a tougher but softer material than mild steel. I sharpen mine when they get dull, leaving a 1/32" land about twice a year. After 3-4 years I simply purchase a new set. Lets not complicate life....
One of the problems is blades need to be not really too hard. Manufactures changed to softer blades some years ago because many chipped causing injury.
As a South Florida turf equipment mechanic I can tell you with out a doubt that high lift blades wear very quickly in sandy soil grass probably 5 to 1 ratio from lower lift blades,not only from wear but more frequent sharpenings
People think I'm doing something wrong. They just don't get it. It's a giant sand blaster under there. To top it off, parts of the yard are not exactly golf course quality....
Jim, here is something for you to consider. Once you figure out the lift on the blades and your happy with the way they work, here is my suggestion. Use a much better grade steel and find a place that can cryogenically treat them. I have read up on them and they claim that you will get a much longer life out of them. I have no idea the cost of doing so, and if it makes sense $ wise and if there is a place in your area that does it.
Interesting project. Two questions, first what holds the blades from spinning on the shaft/spindles other then a center bolt? And the second question actually has to do with the first. What do you do when you have a star center hole to hold the blades from spinning as far as making your own? I like your home/shop made blades idea though.
Gary Mucher The old Cub Cadets used a friction disk between the hub and blade. My Toros have a similar system, but without the friction disk. It is torqued pretty tight, and if it moves, it tightens itself. If the bolts are tight, it doesn't slip. The belts will always slip before the blades, no matter what attachment type is used.
You can get nuts with a larger than standard hex on the outside. Often used on older farm and military equipment so only 1 wrench set is required for repairs in the field (among other uses). Use the oversize hex nuts to weld to the frame, and the standard (smaller) nuts for the jam nut. No machining necessary.
Jam nuts are available and they are one size off the standard and usually about 1/2 to 3/4 the thickness of the standard nut. We used jam nuts on the bolts on the railroad equipment on the Huckleberry RR. It is easier to tighten nuts of different sizes than two nuts of the same size. ie. 1/2-9/16, 1-15/16 I hope this makes sense?
I Wilton is correct, its 45 min round trip to the hw store. I just wanted to keep moving on the project. Although I do love the idea of having two different sized nuts! (Insert chuckles here).
If your talking about my equipment, most of it I bought broken, then fix it. That's the only way I can afford to buy it. What some folks see a an old busted machine I see as one or two repairs away from being in good working order.
On the lift bends, I would use a 1/8” filler mild steel, heated and oil quench. Drill three or four holes in the filler and fill the holes with the welder with stitch welds on the ends and on the front. This way when the filler wears thin you can grind it off and replace it. On the sharp ends... I would try light bead of hard weld on a set. I know a lot will say I am crazy, 😝, and to never use harden blades... if you have an established lawn, no rocks or metal in it the hardened blades will out last the mild steel ten to one. I would even use the hard weld on the lifts or bends because that is a major wear point... Also to make the grinding easier I would build a gig to grind the blades at thirty degrees. You missed a major part on the blades, the bend were the hole is. Almost all quality mower blades have a bend up to off set the bolt holes.
If you watch the first video, you can see the factory kubota blade at $27 each. It is straight with no bends. My homemade replacement is an exact copy minus some lift in the back. If your blades were the drop style blades that you described, the bending process would be the same, except the bends would be 90 degrees to the length of the blade. Not quite as easy to make, but still doable.
For less blowout on the metal, you did go with the right thing and use a smaller “V” opening. Not sure how familiar you are with metal fabbing on a press brake, but generally a “V” opening of 8x your material thickness would work. Yeah, it’s math, but it produces better results. I think SWAG Offroad actually makes a kit for this kit where you can adjust the opening without stacking angle iron into the original piece.
Why not extend the guide tubes on the upper finger-bar, weld a nut to the top of the tube and adjust the depth stop with thread rod and a jamb-nut on the thread rod?
Hey Jim, re the bend, as 'Scottie' would say tae Captain Kirk, 'ye canny change the laws 'o physics captain'. Kindest regards from Bonnie Scotland. Joe.
But what would that gain me? I'm sure it would work. Then i would have to make two more parts and several more steps. Now that the brake is all set, I can keep knocking them out. It's a pretty quick step.
6 лет назад
Yes, for you who have the equipment to bend and I thank you very much for showing us how it can be done. But as you said it was an experiment could you make one with a welded on wing to test. What is the best angle for the wing, 45 degrees 90 degrees or what?Just an off cut welded on would it give lift?
I would think you need the negative area under the blade to create a vacuum. That being said, welding something on the back of an existing blade blank should work, if you don't have a way to bend. Make sure your weld penetrates all the way through (weld from both sides). I guess I am probably at about a 30 degree angle now.
Instead of turning the nuts down,you could have just used smaller nuts and drilled an tapped them so you could use a wrench on them.Also,once you have the angle set, stops on the press to position the blades would eliminate the need to mark each one. If you make a knob for the release on the jack you won't have to keep reaching for the handle.Not intending to be critical,just noting things I see ,as I always like to simplify things.
We have the HF press and Swag break. We CNC plasma cut a bunch of narrowing strips of 1/4" plate and welded up our own angle iron (without a curved inside like manufactured angle iron) so we could get sharper radi. It does greatly decrease the size of metal that you can bend since you have less leverage like you explained. We have the original jack, but have talked about putting an air over hydraulic jack on it. One thing that I did do, that looks like you can do on your jack, is to drive the roll pin out of the release valve. I then drilled a hole in a rod that would fit over the valve body and cross drilled it for the roll pin. Then cut out a little handle shape and welded it to the end of the rod. Then you can pin the handle on the valve and don't have to grab the jack handle to release the jack.
Do you have any surface Harding compound? www.mcmaster.com/surface-hardening-compounds You can use a torch and this powder to get a hard edge keep the middle soft on the hot rolled steel.
What about, instead of bending the blade, you twist the blade, so that your ground edge almost becomes horizontal. My factory blade looks similar to that reservedelen.dk/mediafiles/images/produkter/Billede_plaeneklipper2016/stiga/Park/Knive/Stiga-park-proknive1134-9124-01a.jpg?osCsid=b79547be40cf33989bfc32a13ebe81bf
How often you sharpen your blades will vary, greatly, by individual circumstances. I live in St Louis and have a 70X40 back yard. Even though my grass is pretty clean, I need to sharpen every 3 to 4 cuts. I use a mill bastard file and if it's too beat up, I use start with a double cut mill file. Now, for me, I'm talking about a single blade power mower. In my situation, if the edges of the cut grass are ragged, the blade needs sharpening.
You are a great man. You are a professor. You lifted my spirits to try things no matter how difficult that thing is. Thank you.
If everyone had a machine shop making the blades would be a piece of cake.
10,000 TIMES 👍👍👍👍, Never-the-less SHTF cause me to go on a loooog vacation in the bush of West Africa. A goat, sheep, cow, has to do my mowing ( LOL rotation mowing ) .
Enjoyed it , if I had the equipment like you I'd try this too . Looks like you have a great idea in making your own blades . Just bought a couple of Gator blades for my 42" John Deere and very happy with them too.
Love the update. Love the little brake. Looking forward to the next update. Thanks, Jim!
On my old 1970's Cub Cadet the lift part of the blade was bolted on. Just a simple piece of what looked like angle iron 3inches wide and bent back.
Great for when you want no lift, not so great if the bolts shear. Probably won't happen if they're kept from rusting.
I am enjoying this blade build and test , Thanks Jim !!
Cub Cadet used to offer hardened blades. They were recommended for lawn with twigs or small limbs. There were a pain to sharpen.
great build and nice solution on the bend
Made one for my modified push mower/brush hog from scratch with zero lift because it will only be used on tall reeds and willow sapplings. Hopefully it will work fine.
Neat bender. Thanks Jim for sharing and God bless.
I like the improvements, look forward to hear how it does.
Looks like a good idea Jim. Good video.
Guess it depends how much lift you going for. You could just run a big weld beed along back edge of blade with something like 7018. It doesnt take much to create lift. Even welding a flate piece of steel along back side. The step will be enough to create lift. Longer the beed or step the mower lift you'll get. Good job with the bends. Consistency is one thing a machinist always strives for.
Very good metal working tips. Many years ago, I replaced my mower blade with one not having any lift after sand ate up the original one. The blade does not need sharpening as often and I do not live on a golf course but the cut grass still looks good.
BTW, I did not know Ave has a mother. I thought a bird pooped on a rock and the sun hatched him. :-) OK, now it is time for the adolescents to defend the fowl mouthed Canadian..
AvE is a brilliant Canadian and tells it like it is in humourous fashion.
Really neat idea. Enjoyed the video Jim
Awsome, now all you need is 2 leds (powered with a battery of course) to indicate when you hit your stops while bending.
Hey !!! I got a shout out !! Nice project Jim, will be cool to see how they live & thanks for sharing
Great idea, especially for obsolete mowers that is difficult to get blades for
I have an older87 model rider with a 30 in. blade. cant just pick them up anywhere. may have yo try this.
thanks for the update , great solution, i may have done it differently but the result is the same.. great video, love the press break, thanks ..
Good thinking on the less lift less sand thing, if you hit something and didn't get too much damage then your alloy is about right. As a mower mechanic for 42 years I think you did a good job on those blades.
Thank you!
Heck yeah man please keep us up to date on how they work shoot if I can make it work I make my on stuff it’s cheaper and ya have fun and You’re learning something new
I am surprised the mild steel holds up so well.
Thanks for the vids.
All the mower blades i've worked on were very ductile, I don't think they are much different from mild steel. Mower blades are not rotating scythes, they really don't cut the grass, they bash it.
I wonder how hard AR500 plate would be to bend? It has great wear resistance but costly, may never have to replace them again. Heck I might try it. Great videos!
Lookin good Jim! I think you're gunna get it tuned right into what you need!
We were all impressed with the knurl. Flame harden the cutting edge, heat and quench, might improve the cutting edge life. Of course 440 stainless heat treated would last an entire season.
Right now the cost for the blades is $3 each. I could throw them in the scrap pile after each use and still be ahead of the cost of a factory set.
DoRite Fabrication $3 in materials or $3 in materials + time?
I would only flame harden the cutting edge.
Lay a few hardface beads on the edge before sharpening.
Brazed Carbide!
Double thumbs up!! Great video
Re bending the lift wings:
Once you figure out the correct length for your stops, get a chunk of pipe larger than the return springs, and cut to length.
A dial indicator would allow you to sneak up on the bend for consistant results.
Re the blade, you should balance your blades to protect the bearings.
Good project Jim! Blades are quite expensive for most mowers and some of them don't wear well at all. Sand is murder on just about anything metal I was thinking if you had a spray torch welding outfit like Abom, maybe put a light overlay of hard surface powder on the cutting edge bevel and then finish grind and sharpen. Some stainless would wear pretty good on there also. Warpage may be a problem with the spray welding on the thin edge though. Just thinking out loud here.
Try attaching a valve wheel to your hydraulic jack valve. Quick and handy.
Stainless is a tougher but softer material than mild steel. I sharpen mine when they get dull, leaving a 1/32" land about twice a year. After 3-4 years I simply purchase a new set. Lets not complicate life....
Cut the lift with a bandsaw bend it up to the location you won't then weld it... only way I can do it without a press... nice video
One of the problems is blades need to be not really too hard. Manufactures changed to softer blades some years ago because many chipped causing injury.
what about adding a washer laying flat against the press and between the larger nut? and welding that in place as a spacer?
As a South Florida turf equipment mechanic I can tell you with out a doubt that high lift blades wear very quickly in sandy soil grass probably 5 to 1 ratio from lower lift blades,not only from wear but more frequent sharpenings
That's hard to believe. Up here in the North East I've had blades last 15-20 years with virtually no wear on the wings.
kmcwhq in a home setting and sharpening the blades every other use you will replace them twice a year
People think I'm doing something wrong. They just don't get it. It's a giant sand blaster under there. To top it off, parts of the yard are not exactly golf course quality....
Does the Mower Deck get worn thin as well?
I live in a sandy soil area in Texas, mow 5 acres. I go thru an average of three sets of blades a year. The back half is usually eaten off by sand.
Jim, here is something for you to consider. Once you figure out the lift on the blades and your happy with the way they work, here is my suggestion. Use a much better grade steel and find a place that can cryogenically treat them. I have read up on them and they claim that you will get a much longer life out of them. I have no idea the cost of doing so, and if it makes sense $ wise and if there is a place in your area that does it.
Interesting project. Two questions, first what holds the blades from spinning on the shaft/spindles other then a center bolt? And the second question actually has to do with the first. What do you do when you have a star center hole to hold the blades from spinning as far as making your own? I like your home/shop made blades idea though.
Gary Mucher The old Cub Cadets used a friction disk between the hub and blade. My Toros have a similar system, but without the friction disk. It is torqued pretty tight, and if it moves, it tightens itself. If the bolts are tight, it doesn't slip. The belts will always slip before the blades, no matter what attachment type is used.
Mine is the same as the cub cadet.
I've got the same star drive on mine, I was thinking of a rotary burr on a dremel or something. The grinding stone would only last seconds though.
You can get nuts with a larger than standard hex on the outside. Often used on older farm and military equipment so only 1 wrench set is required for repairs in the field (among other uses). Use the oversize hex nuts to weld to the frame, and the standard (smaller) nuts for the jam nut. No machining necessary.
Jam nuts are available and they are one size off the standard and usually about 1/2 to 3/4 the thickness of the standard nut. We used jam nuts on the bolts on the railroad equipment on the Huckleberry RR. It is easier to tighten nuts of different sizes than two nuts of the same size. ie. 1/2-9/16, 1-15/16 I hope this makes sense?
But all of which requires going down to the hardware store or farm supply place. Jim's solution just required turning on the lathe.
I Wilton is correct, its 45 min round trip to the hw store. I just wanted to keep moving on the project. Although I do love the idea of having two different sized nuts! (Insert chuckles here).
I like it, you are going to make it work.
Thanks Steve.
How would it work if you twisted the blades each side like a brush hog blade
If wear is an issue run a bead of hard facing in the wear area and get a bit more mileage out of the blades.
just drop a drill bit in the bottom v of that break. It will stop it at the thickness of the bit and stop the bend at the same place every bend
what about weld st elite on the cutting edge
Second video I’ve watched and I’ve yet to see blades cut!!!
Well, it is a blade making video, not a blade watching video...lol. None the less, in video three you'll get to see the results....
where'd he get those wonderful toys?
If your talking about my equipment, most of it I bought broken, then fix it. That's the only way I can afford to buy it. What some folks see a an old busted machine I see as one or two repairs away from being in good working order.
On the lift bends, I would use a 1/8” filler mild steel, heated and oil quench. Drill three or four holes in the filler and fill the holes with the welder with stitch welds on the ends and on the front. This way when the filler wears thin you can grind it off and replace it.
On the sharp ends... I would try light bead of hard weld on a set. I know a lot will say I am crazy, 😝, and to never use harden blades... if you have an established lawn, no rocks or metal in it the hardened blades will out last the mild steel ten to one. I would even use the hard weld on the lifts or bends because that is a major wear point...
Also to make the grinding easier I would build a gig to grind the blades at thirty degrees.
You missed a major part on the blades, the bend were the hole is. Almost all quality mower blades have a bend up to off set the bolt holes.
If you watch the first video, you can see the factory kubota blade at $27 each. It is straight with no bends. My homemade replacement is an exact copy minus some lift in the back. If your blades were the drop style blades that you described, the bending process would be the same, except the bends would be 90 degrees to the length of the blade. Not quite as easy to make, but still doable.
For less blowout on the metal, you did go with the right thing and use a smaller “V” opening. Not sure how familiar you are with metal fabbing on a press brake, but generally a “V” opening of 8x your material thickness would work. Yeah, it’s math, but it produces better results. I think SWAG Offroad actually makes a kit for this kit where you can adjust the opening without stacking angle iron into the original piece.
Thanks I'll look into it.
Like the AvE shout out
And he watches smarter everyday. Love the you tube community. Making things skoookum in loose collaboration.
Why not extend the guide tubes on the upper finger-bar, weld a nut to the top of the tube and adjust the depth stop with thread rod and a jamb-nut on the thread rod?
I really like that idea. Thanks!
Most of the blades I have sharpened and straightened are some sort of spring steel.
Hey Jim, re the bend, as 'Scottie' would say tae Captain Kirk, 'ye canny change the laws 'o physics captain'. Kindest regards from Bonnie Scotland. Joe.
maibe you can tweak it by making the length of the bend smaller should do the same thing as making the bend less deep
PUT A HANDLE ON THE NEEDLE VALVE. GOOD JOB.
I think you might find a longer shorter wing would work even better.
yea good point, mayb u should spread ur wings but not around me
Couldn't you just weld wings on at the desired angle with the bending?
I meant to say with out the bending
But what would that gain me? I'm sure it would work. Then i would have to make two more parts and several more steps. Now that the brake is all set, I can keep knocking them out. It's a pretty quick step.
Yes, for you who have the equipment to bend and I thank you very much for showing us how it can be done. But as you said it was an experiment could you make one with a welded on wing to test. What is the best angle for the wing, 45 degrees 90 degrees or what?Just an off cut welded on would it give lift?
I would think you need the negative area under the blade to create a vacuum. That being said, welding something on the back of an existing blade blank should work, if you don't have a way to bend. Make sure your weld penetrates all the way through (weld from both sides). I guess I am probably at about a 30 degree angle now.
Have you made any blades for someone zero turn?
Instead of turning the nuts down,you could have just used smaller nuts and drilled an tapped them so you could use a wrench on them.Also,once you have the angle set, stops on the press to position the blades would eliminate the need to mark each one. If you make a knob for the release on the jack you won't have to keep reaching for the handle.Not intending to be critical,just noting things I see ,as I always like to simplify things.
We have the HF press and Swag break. We CNC plasma cut a bunch of narrowing strips of 1/4" plate and welded up our own angle iron (without a curved inside like manufactured angle iron) so we could get sharper radi. It does greatly decrease the size of metal that you can bend since you have less leverage like you explained. We have the original jack, but have talked about putting an air over hydraulic jack on it. One thing that I did do, that looks like you can do on your jack, is to drive the roll pin out of the release valve. I then drilled a hole in a rod that would fit over the valve body and cross drilled it for the roll pin. Then cut out a little handle shape and welded it to the end of the rod. Then you can pin the handle on the valve and don't have to grab the jack handle to release the jack.
A couple of my "angles" are just that, welded strips. The air jack is a nice touch. I like the idea of a handle for the release.
Made me nervous when u were standing in the line of fire from the blade as the press went down on it
I take 20 pair
have u ever smoked grass
Not even once.
Do you have any surface Harding compound? www.mcmaster.com/surface-hardening-compounds
You can use a torch and this powder to get a hard edge keep the middle soft on the hot rolled steel.
Have no idea what blades look like. John Deere has a flower looking round hole cut into there blades. Makes them hard to make.
I think that's exactly why they make that funny shaped hole.
What about, instead of bending the blade, you twist the blade, so that your ground edge almost becomes horizontal. My factory blade looks similar to that
reservedelen.dk/mediafiles/images/produkter/Billede_plaeneklipper2016/stiga/Park/Knive/Stiga-park-proknive1134-9124-01a.jpg?osCsid=b79547be40cf33989bfc32a13ebe81bf
I don't think more lift will hurt anything. It will probably blow the grass out from under the deck better than the original blades.
But it lifts up more of the sand for the blade to hit, wearing it down faster.
You and I don't need a barber lol
I'm heading down that road too, but you do need hats, sunscreen, and when it rains you notice it more!
@@mickleblade I so agree. I said I'm going so I just said heck I'll just take it all off. Lol
You need to balance your blades..... you should only need to sharpen your blades once a year
To make that kind of general broad statement you are obviously a person who has never lived in a place whose soil resembles blasting sand.
You are right... we live in Missouri .... we don’t have sandy soil
How often you sharpen your blades will vary, greatly, by individual circumstances.
I live in St Louis and have a 70X40 back yard. Even though my grass is pretty clean,
I need to sharpen every 3 to 4 cuts. I use a mill bastard file and if it's too beat up, I
use start with a double cut mill file. Now, for me, I'm talking about a single blade power mower.
In my situation, if the edges of the cut grass are ragged, the blade needs sharpening.
You might not be the right guy to be using barber analogies. ;)
That’s funny right there, I don’t care who you are😂
so need about 10000 dollar worth of equipment to make a 10 dollar lawn mower blade.
Apparently, you didn't watch the first video.....
Who has all this equipment. And time. Theyre cheap. Just buy a spare set?
Apparently you didn't watch the first video.....
Buy some cattle problem solved.
I like the way you think! Problem is, cow poop in the yard = unhappy momma.
DoRite Fabrication Ha ha thats it loving this series Jim only got me a 50 ton press last week need to fab up a break attatchment now
Talk less do more work