HOUSE: Lawn Mower Blade

Saturday afternoon, after the Area 21 Toastmasters Contests in Cocoa, I made a stop by Lowe's to pick up a new lawn mower blade (wasn't sure which was right so I bought two), and when I got home, found out both were wrong -- the diameter of the center hole wasn't large enough. My visiting friends called to say they wouldn't be available until that evening, so I thankfully had time to make a trip to find another blade -- first to Ace Hardware (no luck), then I ended up at Home Depot.

Home Depot didn't have the blades either but Steve from plumbing walked me over to and handed me a lawn mower blade sharpening kit containing a hand drill attachment (some sort of grind stone) and a tool for checking that the blade's balance. Was I up for the challenge?

Heck's yeah.

This would be my butch moment of the week -- power tools, metal machines, getting dirty. I thought of all my friends that were very "DIY" and channeled all the people I've seen on HGTV (okay, so maybe not so butch), but I just got to work and sharpened my old lawn mower blade myself. And it all turned out well actually. I mowed my lawn with confidence. Weeds trimmed down look like normal lawn, and I can now breath easy for another week.

Here's some pics of the project:

Asides from the sense of accomplishment that accompanied a job done and a more-spiffy-looking lawn, I saved a lot of money sharpening the blade myself -- the kit only cost ~$7 versus $18 for a new blade... or $36 for a new blade that would actually fit.

MOM would be proud. I haven't even posted about the ceiling tile frame I reattached myself a few weeks ago. That'll be an easy post for another day. I wonder what my next project will be.