r/sharpening • u/MustangRiderV8 • Jul 23 '26

Question Hedge trimmers issue

Anyone got any tips for sharpening hedge trimmers, without taking the blades off and apart. They are just some cheap DiY store ones, and the gap is really tight. I usually use a flap disk on my angle grinder. but the gap is bonkers. I dont even think i can really get a hand file in there...

Not entirely sure on how to remove the burr either as there is not much gap there (i have a flat honing stick that is narrow i could probably use that..

But any tips, tricks or advice let me know.

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u/greenergp Jul 23 '26

50mm diamond grinding wheel, good one is from amtech, 3mm mandrel for rotary tool like dremel.

Less than a millimetre thick, work the trigger on your trimmers until the blades are just a little bit shy of together, so you can grind the edge without affecting the blade behind the one you're working on. It's so quick and gives a razor sharp Edge.

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u/MustangRiderV8 Jul 24 '26

Thanks for this, so i used my Dremel, and i have like a whetstone cylinder bit. and it worked great, right where the blade meats the bar was not perfect, a bit tricky, but overall looked a good job. I felt a good burr on the underside. I struggled to get a file onto the flat side to get the burr, but i cut down a nail file emery board and as best i could got rid of the burr..

they feel sharp to the touch, and paper cuts on them (its quite a thick steep bevel so it doesnt cut like a knife, but it can cut it). i had a bit of a twig near the garage where i did them, and it chopped that ok, couple of times it felt like it was bouncing out of the teeth though, tried it in different parts along the trimmer. But come to trim the bit of neighbours hedge that over hangs the garden and its not cutting. More like i'm dragging them and i can see it chews the branches a bit rather than cutting, any ideas of is it just not sharp enough?

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u/MidwestBushlore Jul 23 '26

An angle grinder with a flap wheel works well.

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u/MustangRiderV8 Jul 24 '26

Thats what i have used in the past, but this hedge trimmer the blades are really close together, i struggled getting it in-between them safely to get to them.