Freshly-sharpened garden shears are the key to making clean cuts in your landscaping.
Lakeview_Images / Getty Images
Working with dull tools can turnpruning tasks into an unpleasant chore.
Here’s how to sharpen garden shears that arent making clean cuts.
Credit:Lakeview_Images / Getty Images
The following steps work for bypass pruners, anvil pruners, and loppers.
However, if yours dont come apart, skip the first step and follow the rest.
Sharpening blades involves working with very sharp edges.
Take care to work in a safe manner and take your time to minimize accidents.
Disassemble the tool.
Many garden shears and loppers are assembled with bolts to allow them to be taken apart.
They may be hex heads, Allen bolts, or even screws.
Grab the correct wrench and loosen the bolt(s), being careful of the blade edge.
Just because it needs sharpening doesnt mean it cant cut you if your wrench or hand slips.
Watch out for small pieces like lock washers, spacers, and nuts.
Lay each of the pieces out in order.
Work over a clear counter or table and keep the tool close to the surface.
Clean and dry all parts.
Shears can get grimy over time from plant residue, sap, and dirt.
Use hot soapy water and a rag to clean the blades.
Work carefully with a scrubbing pad until all grime is removed.
Keep working until the surface is smooth, even if it remains tarnished.
When everything is clean, rinse the tool parts off in water and dry them thoroughly.
Sharpen the blades.
This is actually the easiest part of the entire process.
Look at the blade of your pruners and find the angled edge, called the bevel.
The side of the pruner blade with a bevel is the only side that gets sharpened.
To sharpen the beveled edge, grasp the file handle firmly, but only apply light pressure.
The file will work without heavy effort.
Push the file across the blade in one direction only, matching the bevel angle.
File the entire beveled edge until it is shiny.
It wont take long, but it will take more than a few strokes.
Be patient and work slowly with good control.
When you are done, inspect the shiny edge for any nicks and keep filing until there are none.
A nick will be a dull spot that will tear or crush instead of cut cleanly.
Hold your file absolutely flat to the blades backside and gently work it across the burr.
This should only take one or two gentle strokes.
Be very careful with that newly sharpened blade to avoid injury.
Tighten the bolts snugly, but notIll-never-get-this-off-againtight.
