How to Sharpen

Garden Tools
AN IN-DEPTH GUIDE
 Why?
T
he ability to sharpen your own garden tools
may be one of the most important things you
Sharpen? can do to make your work in the garden
easier and more enjoyable.

Why? Simply because a sharp tool cuts more easily

and accurately than a dull one.

Sure, you can get away with using a dull tool (many
people do), but a sharp tool will help you get done
faster and enjoy your work more along the way.

What’s more, once you get the gist of it, sharpening

is satisfying; and a valuable skill that you can pass
on to children, friends and neighbors.
Encouragement
In this article, I'll show you how to sharpen garden
With a bit of know-how tools such as weeding hoes and spades with a
and some practice, anyone simple sharpening file.
can learn this practical skill.
No grinders, water stones, or jigs are necessary: just
you, a tool and a file.

If you've never sharpened, it's natural to be hesitant.

Luckily, you're not likely to do any lasting damage
when sharpening with a file, and what's more, you
don't need to create a razor sharp edge to have
success. A decent edge will do.

That said, learning how to sharpen soil-working

garden tools is a great starting place and can prepare
you to sharpen more challenging tools such as
pruners, axes and knives.

Let's begin.

1
File Buyer’s Cheat Sheet for Flat Bladed Garden Tools

◆ Buy yourself a 10 to 12 inches single-cut, mill bastard file.

◆ Extra points if one side is single-cut and the other is double-cut.

◆ Make sure it has a handle: built-in or purchased separately.

File with separate handle | File with built-in Single-cut file on the left, double-cut on the
handle | File without handle right. Both are useful.

1. Select S har pening files com e in a variety of grades and

lengths. Commonly available grades include
the bastard (coarse), second cut (medium) and smooth

Proper cut (fine). You may also be presented with both

File
single- and double-cut files.

Single-cut files have cutting teeth that run in only

one direction. Double-cut files have teeth that cross
each other creating a diamond pattern.

The Tool Merchant’s Guide to Sharpening Garden Tools 2

 Double-cut files remove metal very quickly and
leave a rough cutting edge; they are best suited to
repairing damaged or very dull blades. In most
circumstances a Single-cut file will be your best
choice.

Make your file last.

Simple file care as follows: Single-cut, 1 row of teeth for most sharpening
work | Double-cut, two rows of teeth for repair
• Clear out metal metal work
particles by brushing
For sharpening garden tools, I suggest using a
occasionally with a stiff
single-cut file that is 10 to 12 inches in length, with
brush.
either bastard or second cut coarseness.
• Keep your file wrapped
in a rag or other protective A bastard file will cut faster, but I have come to like
wrap when not in use. the smoother edge left by a second cut file.
• Keep away from
moisture. If you want to repair damaged tools by hand, add a
Double-cut file to your kit. It will save you much
time and energy.

Please Note: You can find files that have both single
and double cut sides. These are versatile and
convenient but won’t be as long lasting as an
individual single or double cut file.

3
Rubbing alcohol will remove oil and sap Deal with rust before sharpening.Wire
before sharpening. wheel, rust block, sandpaper and vinegar will
work.

2. Clean If your garden tool is dirty or greasy, give it a brush

or rinse before sharpening. Dirt, oil etc will just clog
your file and create more work.

Rubbing alcohol will remove any grease or sap, and

be sure to wipe dry if you used any water for
cleaning.

Light surface rust will file off easily, but you may
want to remove any thick rust with a wire brush or
sanding block save your file.

A tool with heavy rust can be soaked in white vinegar

overnight. The rust will loosen and wipe off easily
with a rag.

The Tool Merchant’s Guide to Sharpening Garden Tools 4

 Though not required, a bench vise is ideal Another option: clamp your tool to a
for securing your tool. Cotton rag sturdy work bench.
protects the handle.

3. Secure If possible, it is helpful to secure the tool-to-be-

sharpened in some way. A bench vise works very
well, but many tools can also be secured to a stable
surface with clamps.
Security

The idea is to minimize A good working height for the tool is about even or
unwanted movement as slightly below your elbow.
much as possible.
With your tool held in place, you'll have both hands
This will help your free to guide the file. This will afford you more
consistency and improve
strength, control and precision.
your results
If you can't secure the tool in any way (perhaps while
out in the garden), you'll need to keep one hand on
the tool and the other on the file. While less than
ideal, it is certainly doable.

For long handled tools, place the end of the tool

handle on the ground (tool head up) and using
strong, even pressure, push down on the head while
sharpening.

Short handled tools can be held under one knee with

the tool head resting over your opposite thigh.

5
Place the tip of the file on the left side of Push the file forward and to the right, so
the tool head.Try to match the angle of that you end up on the opposite side of
the file with the bevel on the blade, the blade with the file resting nearer to
usually around 30 degrees. your hand.Your opposite hand remains on
the tip of the file and helps maintain
downward pressure as you file.

4. The Now for the fun part.

Stroke Find a good, solid stance: knees slightly bent, feet

somewhere between hip and shoulder width apart.
You might try putting your left foot slightly more
forward than your right (opposite if you're a lefty).
The more solid and balanced you are, the better your
results will be.

Rest the tip of the file on the left side of the cutting
edge of the tool. Take a look at the bevel angle of the
blade and tilt your file up or down to match the angle.
It doesn't have to be exact and can be fine-tuned later.

Now, with some downward pressure, push the file

both up and across the cutting edge to the right (if
you're a lefty you'll be pushing across to the left). Your
second hand should rest on the top end of the file,
where it helps maintain your angle and keep
downward pressure even.

The Tool Merchant’s Guide to Sharpening Garden Tools 6

 Try to keep your wrists and elbows fixed and move
from the shoulders and hips. This will give a more
consistent result.

Solid Stance Push forward and across until you get near the
bottom (or heel) of the file. If you're a beginner, it's not
Find a good, solid
a bad idea to wear a glove on your dominant hand to
stance: knees slightly bent,
protect against an unintentional slip. Remember,
feet somewhere between
hip and shoulder width you're pushing toward a cutting edge!
apart.You might try putting
If the blade you're sharpening is short, one stroke may
your left foot slightly more
forward than your right be all you need to reach the right side of the cutting
(opposite if you're a lefty). edge. Most tools, however will require that you make
The more solid and multiple, overlapping strokes to sharpen the full
balanced you are, the better length of the blade.
your results will be.
After your first stroke, lift the file and either return it
to its starting position or place it slightly to the left of
where you finished the stroke

Do not file in a back-and-forth motion, this will clog

your file faster and is harder to control. File only in
one direction, in this case the push stroke.

Continue this diagonal motion until you reach the

other side of the blade.

You may need to make a second pass before you

really start to see and feel results.

When the file is cutting, you will feel resistance, that's

a good sign. You don't need to push down hard, just
enough to get the file to bite. After one or two
passes, you should be able to see the shiny new metal
that you are exposing.

7
 After the first few passes of the file, A bevel angle of 30 - 40 degrees is ideal.
you’re likely to see something like this: Note that you can now see the shiny, new
shiny new metal that indicates where metal all the way down to the cutting
you’ve been filing.The black line near the edge.
cutting edge (at the bottom) has not been
touched yet.

5. Assess Now is the time to assess your angle. Set aside your
file and look at the blade with some good light. A
the bevel gauge (shown above) is nice but by no means

Angle necessary.

Most of the time, the angle that arrives from the

manufacturer is just fine, and all you need to do is
follow it. In this case, the shiny new metal should
match the original bevel.

If, for example, you can see new metal at the top of
the bevel but not down by the cutting edge, you'll
You’re Almost There need to either drop your hand slightly when
Once you've determined
filing or simply continue sharpening at that angle
your angle, keep filing until until you reach the actual cutting edge.
you can see shiny new metal
all the way down to the
If the opposite is true, and you're seeing new metal at
cutting edge. the cutting edge but not at the top of the bevel, you'll
need to raise your hand slightly when filing.

A bevel angle of around 35 degrees is a good all-

around angle for soil-working tools. It's fairly thick,
but that makes the edge stronger and less likely to
chip or roll. 8
 Feeling for a burr. Remove the burr with a light,
backward file stroke

6. When Continue filing until you can feel a burr on the

backside of the cutting edge. A burr, also called a
to Stop wire edge, is a small fold of metal that forms on the
opposite side of the edge you are filing. You can feel
it by running your fingers in a sort-of come here
motion on the backside of the blade.

It lets you know that you've sharpened all the way to

the cutting edge.

To remove the burr, place the file on the opposite side

of the blade, flat against the tool, and pull back
towards yourself with light pressure. This will wipe
away the burr, and leave a smooth cutting edge. If
you can still feel a slight burr, don't worry, it's not
critical on a soil working tool to remove it completely.

Congratulations! Your tool is now sharp and ready

for action.

The Tool Merchant’s Guide to Sharpening Garden Tools 8

 About Matt Stern has been gardening with (mostly) hand
tools for the last 11 years.
the He lives on 5 acres of reclaimed “pasture” and mixed
Author forest which he and his family are working to make
fruitful and bio-diverse.

He blogs about garden tools, their use and care at

thetoolmerchants.com

For questions, comments or inquiries please write to

[email protected]