I'm not sure how this will be taken, but here goes.
You have chosen for any number of unknown reasons to "hire out" the sharpening instead of doing this chore yourself.
Consider all the details and facets of a blade resharpening.
One must have the necessary tools and knowledge to perform a good blade resharpening, including checking and adjusting the balance of each blade. The folks who own or run the shops are there solely to make a living.
OPE shops typically operate based on an hourly rate that usually exceeds $50 and in some cases might be near to $100.
Sharpening and balancing 3 blades properly might require 10 or 15 minutes per blade. So you may be looking at 45 minutes time. So the $40 charge is actually not what you could call gouging. If any of the shops you have in mind work through the winter or off season, you might consider having your blades sharpened at that time. That would give you a little competitive advantage as the shops are less likely to be backlogged and more willing to haggle over a price in order to get any work. Approaching any good shop this time of year and you are likely to be met with, "That's our price! Take it or leave it, and get in line, we'll get you next week." If you negotiate when the shops are slow, you can shop for a price and bargain with them. Then you give them the blades and you say "I'm not in a hurry, just have them ready by April 1." or something like that.

Hey, thats great advice. Thanks! I called today and they dont have my blades ready and cant tell me when. I'm going to check with th elocal store I used before to see if they can help. But this is good advice - from now on I'll take them over the winter so I have them ready. thanks!

What mownie says is all very true. I don't know what kind of blades you need but I have a JD GX335 with a 54" 3-blade deck and three new JD blades cost $8.49 each or about $14 each for Gators which I like. Rather than pay $40 for sharpening I'd just as soon buy a new set. All that said, I sharpen and balance my own blades with a hand file. I have two sets of Gators which I alternate so I always have a freshly sharpened set when it's time for a change.

Sharpening blades is not rocket science and you could buy all the needed equipment for less then the price you are paying for one sharpening. I bought my angle grinder for ~$15 at Harbor Freight and have used it for four years now and haven't even had to change the blade. You can pound a nail into the wall to balance the blade so you are out the cost of a nail. I won't go into the details of sharpening since it has been gone over multitudes of times already(just use the forum search function at the top of the page).

Just got my 3 blades sharpened at the JD dealer, 54 inch deck. $22 and they painted them so they look new. Take my word for it, I can do it myself. BUT, you cannot do everything yourself. PLUS, I needed a reason to go to the dealer to check out the new stuff!. It was worth the $22.

The local hardware store asked me if I would sharpen their customer's blades and I agreed for the last 7 years.

I have the equipment and the ball-bearing balancer that hangs on the wall. I raised my price recently to $5 for a lawnmower blade and $6 for a rider blade, extra if the blade was really bad. They don't give me blades anymore, so somebody else must do it cheaper.

I also do all of their equipment repair, which is much more profitable to me...and includes sharpening the blade. So, it's fine with me to have somebody else enjoy the drudgery of JUST blade sharpening.

Another thing, if you want to have someone else sharpen your blades you might want to buy a spare set and have them sharp and ready so you can just switch them out and don't have to wait.

Thanks all. I love doing anything I can myself. I tried doing it by hand years ago but it proved to be too much. If I could find a piece of machinery for around $15 (like mentioned above) then I would love to try doing it myself. I'll have to check it out.

I did just call the local "mom and pop" (who really are a mom and pop) and they said their backlog is a few days (2-3) and charge about $7 a blade. Thats about half price and half the time!

My wifes uncle sharpens mine and takes care of me. You know what, you put your time into this task and it is worth something. baymee if people complain at those prices they are crazy.Mower blades have to be sharp, I dont feel a new blade is sharp off the shelf.

Here it is, it goes on sale for $14.99 every few months, but it is still a good deal for $17.99 (will pay for itself after a few sharpenings). I know it is not "top quality", but it is fine for sharpening blades.

Here is a link that might be useful: Harbor Freight 4

Thanks

Doberman - I know what you mean. When I purchased my new gator blades they didnt seem sharp at all. Maybe it was the think coat of paint they came new with.

Metal - thanks! I looked and found a bunch of different ginders and sanders all for over $100. This is awesome. I'll do some searches on here to learn how to sharpen a blade with an angle grinder.

I have this.

Before I had an angle grinder I even picked this up and used it as such.

I had a $15 angle grinder and it wore out in no time. I have a Hitachi I bought at Home Despot and it seems very solid.

Here is a link that might be useful: HF econo grinder

Take the blade off the mower

Put it in a vise (or something similar to hold it).

Use the grinder to sharpen it, follow the original bevel. It doesn't have to be razor sharp, let the grinder do the work if you push down or leave it in one place too long the blade will overheat and change color. You can also use a bench grinder, hand file, drill attachment, etc. if you like.

Balance the blade by hanging it on a nail you have pounded into a wall or other surface (they also sell cone balancers for a buck or two at the Big Boxes), if one side is heavier then grind it down until the blade stays level on the nail.

That is about it, no rocket science here.

Good Luck

The nail should be long enough that the blade does not touch the wall when you put the blade on it. And the way to check the blade balance is to put the blade on the nail with the ends of the blade at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock. If the blade is balanced, it will remain where you put it. If it is heavier on one side than the other, the heavy end will fall and the light end rise rotating on the nail.

bheron, it looks like you are in the Philly area. What town was the mom and pop hardware store in?

EVERYBODY THAT ARE SHARPENING YOUR OWN BLADES GET YOURSELF A PLASTIC OR METAL CONE BALANCER .POUNDING A NAIL IN THE WALL IS NOT THE PROPER WAY OF BALANCEING BLADES.IT WILL NOT BALANCE THE RIGHT WAY,IT WILL ONLY COST $3.00 FOR A BALANCER.POUND A NAIL WAS HIGH TECH YEARS AGO..RICK IN NCPA

A mill basturd file will sharpen a mower blade in about 50 or 60 strokes. It just takes about 10 minutes.

Metal / Mownie : You Dudes are correct again ! Common Sense and a few minutes with either a Hand , Bench Grinder or File will get you cutting grass . Not Rocket Science . Paying 40-50 $$ for sharpening is throwing money away in my eyes. Heck if you can change a spark plug you can learn to sharpen your blades. The Nail in the wall is all that is necessary for balancing normally also.

Ewalk, think of the tire on your car not balanced say a half ounce ,you may wear your tire or other parts faster.
In 40 years around cars I know this to be true.Apply this to your mower more so than ever especialy when you are spending hard earned cash on this stuff . I guess how ya do it is your own business , these here guys are all schooled well in trial and error . KINDA LIKE MARRIAGE LOL .

Oh I hear you Doberman , nothing like taking out a wheel bearing from a in-balance issue . But after 40 yrs of Sharpening axes , chainsaw blades and knifes and lawnmore blades , I believe any Dude with a little common sense following what Metal Mownie or even Starhust will get the results for a good cut from following the Blade Contour without an out of Balance issue . If not then spend the $$$ for a new blade or Pro Sharpening . . As for Marriage lets not go there :) But I believe my Wife could resharpen my Mower Blade with a little Guidance lol .

Dobie: Found one of those Plastic Static Cone Balancers that you were referring to. I paid just over $6 bucks for it at the local CT Store. Had to clean and sharpen the White Outdoor Mower Blade yesterday , so I gave it a try. Worked fine , just for fun I used the tried an proven Nail on the wall and it also indicated proper balance. I guess I will use both from now on just for luck lol .

ItÂs fine for a professional to use a grinder to sharpen mower blades. The pro sharpens lots of blades and knows how to use a grinder sparingly. The average DIY guy should not use any power grinder to sharpen his blade. With a grinder, itÂs easy to take off too much metal and/or overheat the blade and ruin the temper. A hand file and a vice is all you need to sharpen a few blades. I also think that a cone balancer is a valuable tool to check the balance since the nail method is imprecise at best.

I've been doing it myself on the grinder for 7 years now. Use the cone "tool" to more or less balance the blade.

Depending on how much mower cleaning I do this balancing and sharpening is good enough.

What I mean is only twice a year do I take my blades off. I clean and sharpen them then. Other times there is plenty of "used to be grass" green gunk stuck to them. So a few weeks after I balance the blades the crud unbalances them.

Finished the Grass last Night just before the Rain lol . Agree with Tornado that the Crude from wet grass can be more of a Balance issue than missharpened blades. As for Professional for Grinders heck No Starhust just a little care and common sence. I use to hand sharpen and use a dremel for yrs. but with the newer light hand grinders I find it must faster which reduces the heat build up . Also a little at a time ensure you don't take of too much metal.

I just sharpened my blades yesterday afternoon. My mower (Ransomes AR-250) has ten 22" blades. Took about an hour to do all. I used an angle grinder with a flap disc. It leaves a nice smooth finish and is easy to control.

115 mm Zirconium 60 Grit Flap Disc is what I routinely use . I suppose a 100 mm Poly-carbide Cup Disc in 80 Grit would also do a good job of sharpening without overheating the Blade also . As you Ray I like Flap Disc's since they more readily follow the contours of my Mulching Blades more precisely. I'll have to start practicing to be able to put out Ten Blades an hr. though lol .