David Billington wrote:
On 09/01/2021 16:24, pyotr filipivich wrote:
Bob La Londe on Fri, 8 Jan 2021 07:56:22 -0700 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
Before the holidays my wife picked up several sections of standing rib
roast. They were on sale everywhere. One store cut them into steaks
for us at no charge, Another no longer does that so I was stuck
breaking them down by hand for vacuum sealing and freezing. The first
two cuts before sharpening just about wrecked me. After sharpening I
was able to break down sections with a knife and cut the bone twice as
fast as my wife could vacuum pack the individual steaks.
Cool. I have become Carver Of Meats in our house. Not as
elaborate as your procedure, but 'Honey if you'll carve the roast, we
can eat.' makes for a nice "chow call."
Then a few days later I found I could buy those blades online still. I
don't think I'll resharpen this blade again. LOL.
Yep. I had a lawnmower blade that was dull. Okay, blunt where
it wasn't "nicked". Mentioned this to Carlin and he pointed out that
when he ran a landscaping business, he bought lawnmower blades by the
package. Cheaper to replace a blade than lose the downtime to
sharpening one. I decided that rather than spend a day (or two)
sharpening a blade to save a few buck, just go get a new one at the
hardware store.

Like wise, Cliff when he was running the family heavy equipment
company, had a policy that if they had to 'crack the case' of an
engine, replace all the bits which wear - bearings, rings, etc.
Because if he didn't, something would give in the middle of a
contract, and it was much less expensive to replace "good" bearings,
than stop work.

OTOH, for some things, learning to sharpen them is a skill to
master. E.G. chisels and plane blades.

For some years now I've been sharpening my mower blade at the start of
the season as it cuts the long grass so much better. I find it only take
a few minutes with my small air belt sander with the mower tipped on its
side and the plug lead removed for safety.


I keep 4 sets in rotation for my mowers. In the spring they all get
sharpened as needed then I swap out the dull or damaged blades, then
touch them up and put them back on the rack. There used to be hard faced
blades available for the two larger decks but they really were not worth
the money as the edges tended to chip and crack rather than just
mushroom if you hit anything.

--
Steve W.