Hi Jay, I hate to burst your bubble, but there is
no way you can sharpen a cylinder reel by hand. The reason for this is in the design of the reel itself...the blades are not straight; it is a
helix spiral and therefore has to be ground in a lathe whilst it is spinning at a precise RPM, and the grindstone, also spinning, has a
perfectly flat face and is introduced to it.
The botton knife blade which has to be perfectly flat, is also ground, then
lapped to the cylinder reel to ensure perfect contact. This ensures perfect allignment with one to the other. This cannot be done by hand. The machinist I use here in Wagga charges me $70 and in my book is money well spent.
When replaced on the mower (assuming the reel bearings are in perfect condition) the resulting adjustment is relatively easy, (though a bit tricky at first). The reel should spin quite freely by hand, yet able to cut paper along its
entire length.
Hoping this has been of some help to you Jay,
