DIY Sharpening Jigs for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMCCXIV

shop-built blade jig

The more savvy "contributors" to the website eHow.com quickly learned that they could, to be frank, bullshit their way past the gatekeepers on any topic that was in the least technical. That's because those gatekeepers, holding the position known as "content editor," rarely understood the content they were supposedly editing. Instead, all they usually did was check the references (if any) and make certain that the content met the site's stringent style guide. As far as accuracy was concerned, "That wasn't their problem." The failure of the system was responsible for eHow's reputation as the mother lode of misinformation... misinformation like that printed by Chris Baylor in the GardenGuides.com article "DIY Lawnmower Blade Sharpener Jig."

If the truth be told, what Baylor published was, by and large, correct. Oh, he misspoke when he claimed that,

"[A lawnmower] blade is essentially a long piece of flat iron with the last 4 inches on each side of the leading edge ground to a sharpened point."

There are two things wrong with that statement: first, lawnmower blades are typically steel, not iron; and second, a blade doesn't come to "a point." But hey; when you're in a hurry, there's no reason to be accurate... or so some freelancers think.¹

Like we said, though, for the most part what Chris wrote was accurate (based on other examples of his content, he seems to have perfected the copy-reword-paste job). But the content he wrote was not what the title asked for. Instead of describing a shop-made device for holding a mower blade at the correct angle to use a grinder or a file, Baylor blithely reworded someone's instructions to...

"Place one edge of the lawnmower blade against the grinding wheel of a bench grinder... and adjust the angle of the tool rest until the beveled cutting edge of the blade is resting flat against the grinder [sic]."

Actually against the grinding wheel, but hey. What's a little inaccuracy among friends? Interestingly enough, Baylor's sole reference advised against using a bench grinder. Whodathunkit?

Yes, Chris barfed up several hundred words on how to take a blade off a mower, sharpen it with a bench grinder, and balance it. There's not one word on a DIY jig in his text. We suspect – no, are certain – that the OQ wanted to know how to build a simple jig (like the one shown above) that would clamp the blade at the correct angle; not how to use a bench grinder. Still wonder why Baylor is our Dumbass of the Day recipient? We didn't think so.

¹ see comment at this post.

DD - POWER TOOLS