American Lawn Mower Company SK-1 Reel Lawn Mower, Compound Sharpening Kit

I bought an old time hand push mower about 3 years ago. Though I have definitely found it to be inferior to a power mower in its ability to pass over many a tall blade of grass or weed, its superiority in its ease of use and dependability has sold me on them for life. I would never use a power mower again. (Not with my size lawn anyway). The rotary blades on the hand mower do not sharpen, nor do they cut the same way as the single blade design of a power mower. While power mowers can be easily sharpened at an angle with just a file if necessary, the rotary blades of the hand mower are sharpened flat across the face of the blade. Something very difficult to do by hand even if you had the mower completely disassembled. This very simple three piece system consists of a brush, a crank handle, and a small container of grinding compound. The instructions that come with the kit are pretty simple without a lot of detail, but describe it well enough for you to get the job done. Personally, I found the hardest part of the whole job at the very beginning. Removing the small "C" clamp that holds the wheel on. Though the instructions simply stated that one should pry off the C ring by merely "sticking a regular slotted screw driver into the opening" of it, for me there was nothing at all "merely" about it. No amount of prying, twisting, pushing or swearing allowed me to get a grip on the C clamp with just a screwdriver, or even two of them. All I ended up doing for 15 minutes was chase it around the axle. I finally got it off by concluding that I would sacrifice it by ruining it with needle nose pliers, and then putting on a new one. (As it turned out, I easily reshaped the original clamp and reinstalled it). After removing the clamp the wheel slips right off and you have to remove the gear wheel that assures the forward action of the blades when it motion. It is not attached in any way and just lifts off. But one word of warning here. Neither the directions or any other reviewer at the time of this writing mentions that the gear wheel directs its forward motion by the wheel slipping over a little "key" or steel sliver that slides into a slot on the gear shaft. The key is loose after removal of the gear wheel and can easily fall out and be lost while moving the mower around during the sharpening process. Make sure you either keep an eye on it in the shaft, or remove it to a safe place. The actual sharpening process is quite easy, just time consuming. You spread the compound onto the blades with the little brush supplied and then turn the mower back wards with the crank provided. You will get tired, but you can rest and restart. Give it a good ten minutes. The more you crank the better the sharpening job. Oh and the crank does not slip over the entire shaft, it is snug and has to be wiggled on. You may want to tap it with a light hammer or screwdriver so you don't have to keep stopping and pushing it back on during the spinning process. When you're done, the reassembly is very easy, (don't forget the little key if you removed it), and after cleaning up the excess compound, your mower will cut like its a brand new model. It really did make quite a difference for me and I highly recommend this simple kit that will perform the job easily. Push mower blades stay sharp a lot longer than power blades so a sharpening job every other season, or even every three should be enough. Under that schedule, this kit should last you through many years of your mowers use. Highly recommended....

Pardon the length of this review, but I wanted to give an honest review of this product that will be helpful when deciding to purchase. This sharpening kit will revive your old reel mower! I purchased a used Great Lakes Reel Mower and noticed the blades to be dull and rusted. I purchased this kit on Amazon last summer and followed the instructions as directed. After finishing the sharpening process, the reel and cutter blade where shiny gray and sharp and ready to start mowing. I noticed a definite difference in the ease of mowing once I was using sharp blades. I sharpened the mower again this spring (second time using the kit) and it is again sharp as can be. There is probably enough compound to last me ten seasons of annual sharpening, so well worth the money. All of this being said, it is manual labor to sharpen your reel mower with this kit. Don't expect it to be easy, as you will be the power behind the sharpening process. As you crank the reel around for 5 - 10 minutes, you'll want to often change arms as your arm will get tired. Nonetheless, in the end, you get a excellent result that cost only $15 for the kit and will last 10 sharpenings (so $1.50 per time) compared to spending $60+ for a professional sharpening each time! I'm in my young 30's (male) and had no trouble with the manual labor part of the sharpening, but I could see this being a problem for some people. If this is the case - find a son, neighbor, or anyone willing to spend 5-10 minutes to sharpen your mower - it's well worth it. In addition to sharpening the mower, the instruction manual provides detailed instructions on how to adjust the blades of your mower (which is arguably more important). A sharp blade won't cut well if it is not aligned properly. Therefore, this kit is the perfect package in teaching you how to sharpen the blade and then how to align it properly. If you follow all these instructions, you will have a reel mower that easily powers through your lawn with little effort. The people that complain that a reel mower is either too hard to push or doesn't cut well do not have a sharp blade and do not have the reel aligned properly. My wife can easily mow our yard with our 25 pound reel mower easier than a gas mower. Not only that, it is fun to mow! I hope this provides some help in deciding whether or not to buy this product. I have been very happy with it. I will continue to use it every spring to make sure my mower is in the best shape for the coming mowing season.

I had been using my reel mower for over 5 years and never sharpened it. Although I feel proper maintenance such as keeping the blades clean, lubricated and properly adjusted will prolong blade life, you will eventually need to sharpen your mower's blades. This little kit does the job as described and the instructions were easy to follow. Although I read another reviewer's comment about reversing the drive mechanism and simply pushing the mower to sharpen, it really is not that hard to turn the crank while sitting at your work bench or with the mower propped up on a milk crate. I spent no more than 40 minutes to complete the job, including testing and blade adjustment after sharpening. I highly recommend this to any reel mower owners that have mechanical interests and a few simple tools such as a screwdriver. Remember that adjustment of the cutter bar is critical to both sharpening and cutting performance and a very small turn (as little as 5 minutes on a clock face)of the adjusting screws is all it takes.

Everything you need to sharpen an American reel mower.

If you have an motorless old school mower, you're going to want this. Just be careful and DO NOT OVER SHARPEN! It will do the opposite of what you want. If you use this stuff too much for too long, you'll actually cause it to cut worse. Watch a short YouTube video on how to use a kit like this and you'll be good to go. This stuff is premium quality at a fair price.

I'm pretty sure the product I got was used and returned. Check out the pictures. The seal on the container is open. And the brush is frayed. Regardless, I still used it and it works well.

I bought an American reel mower and tried it right out of the box. I adjusted the stationary blade as per the instructions. The mower worked well but I heard a lot of chatter from the blades. The factory grind marks made them noisy. First I used the hand sharpening tool which helped to remove most of the grind marks. Then I used this kit to sharpen the blades further. Not only were the blades much sharper, but they were quieter.

Wow! This kit brought my five-year-old Great States reel mower back to life. It mows so smoothly now, doesn’t jam, and throws the grass back into the bag vigorously. It’s quieter too. It’s better than new! Like many other reviewers, I found my jar of compound only half-full. But it’s still enough to do the job three or four time. The instructions are clear and have a web link with videos. The task is very easy. In addition to the kit, you’ll need a large slotted screwdriver, some WD40, paper towels, and maybe a mallet. While some people talk about using an electric drill instead of the hand crank, that seems to me like firing up a backhoe to plant a daisy. The crank is the right tool for the job, it’s easy and it gives you tactile feedback. I stopped several times during the process to re-apply the paste. The whole process took about 15 minutes start-to-finish. The results are impressive. I couldn’t be happier. It make my mower new again. 12 dollars and 15 minutes well-spent.

I believe that this kit will work really well for those with newer movers that have not seen too much use. I decided to give it a try on my old mower, that is at least 50 years old and has never been sharpened. The blades were a wreck. And of course I had no illusion about hand cranking it to get a good result. So I didn't. I attached the appropriate sized six point socket to a powerful corded drill and away I went. It took a good half hour of reapplying grit and readjusting the mower blade cutting bar. In the end, though, it produced a good result--not factory perfect, but so that it cuts now far better than before.

Nice product

The lapping compound was great, but the crank didn't fit my Husqvarna mower. We reversed the wheels, using a technique found on You Tube, so that the cylinder ran backwards with the lapping compound on the blades. A bit fiddly, but worked like a charm!

My reel mower needed to be sharpened. I had noticed the grass was cutting unevenly. There would be stretches where it was not cut and figured I needed the blades sharpened. The kit comes with a set of instructions, a brush, handle to crank the reel, and a small tub of sharpening compound. People have complained about the poor quality of the brush. It is a non-issue for me. Brush is of a lower quality but keep in mind what you are applying (sharpening compound). The instructions were well laid out and the process was straight forward. After sharpening the blades, I took it for a quick test and my mover was back to like new again. Smooth cuts! Definitely recommend this if you find your reel mower is not cutting as well as it used to.

In general it sharpened the blades but the silver crank tool didn’t totally fit on my mower, so I had to really ram it on there and just make sure it would stay together while cranking it for ten minutes. Other than that as advertised. The brush isn’t that good, but it’s disposable so as expected.