How to Sharpen Garden Shredder Blades

While you always have the option of taking dull garden shredder blades to be professionally sharpened, doing this yourself is surprisingly easy if you have the right tools. Here’s what you’ll need to do: 

Removing Your Garden Shredder Blades

After making sure that your machine is unplugged, you’ll need to remove the hopper and access the blades. These are usually secured into place with bolts, so you’ll need the right tools to remove them. Before doing so, it’s worth taking a quick photo of how everything’s assembled, just to remind you where things go when you’re putting the blades back in. 

1. Sharpening Garden Shredder Blades with a Disc Sander

So long as you use a vice to hold your blades in place while you sharpen them, a disc sander with a fine-grit disc is a great tool to use. Use short strokes to run your sander over the blade’s beveled edges. Make sure that you keep them in line with the angle of the bevel. 

If your blades are dual-edged and both sides are blunt, flip them over and do the same on the other side.

2. Sharpening Garden Shredder Blades with a Wet Wheel Grinder

Wet wheel grinders were designed for sharpening, making them the best tool to use for sharpening garden shredder blades. Since these have a built-in vice, along with a guide that will help you to maintain a consistent angle, wet wheel grinders will give you the most accurate finish. 

Just like with a disc sander, secure your blades in the vice and use short and quick strokes to sharpen your blades. 

3. Sharpening Garden Shredder Blades with a Belt Sander

Not many people have a belt sander at home, but if you know someone who does, it could be worth paying them a visit. Belt sanders work in a similar way to disc sanders and grinders, with one big difference – rather than putting your blades into a vice and running the sander over them, the sander remains stationary and it’s your blades that move over it. 

You’ll need to use a chisel guide to hold your blades steady, and, again, use short quick strokes to sharpen them. 

Do Your Garden Shredder Blades Need to Be Replaced?

If you use your garden shredder regularly, there will come a time when you won’t be able to sharpen them anymore. Fortunately, replacement blades are usually easy to find. Simply follow the steps above for removing the blades, and then put your new blades in their place. 

Not only will dull garden shredder blades fail to properly shred, but they also place more stress on the engine, resulting in wear and tear issues. Knowing how to sharpen garden shredder blades at home will enable you to keep those blades consistently sharp, which will save you quite a bit of money in the long run!