Suffolk bottom blade: how bad can it get?
So while doing some repairs to my old 17" Suffolk Punch, I decided to remove the bottom blade for a closer look (first time in 40 years, probably).
As you can imagine, the blade is quite rough and pitted. I've attached a picture that tries to capture a closeup of the lip for reference.
For optimal cutting, how smooth should it be? Is some pitting ok without degrading the cut too much. I'm beginning to think I should just get a new piece from Garfitts and be done with it, but since I'm nowhere near the UK, that becomes a bit more difficult.
Thanks,
Chris
Forums
Well, at least there is some
Well, at least there is some lip left but some of those pits look pretty deep. You can try having it re-faced but by the time you have got rid of the pits and skimmed the front edge you may find that if the cylinder has been regularly ground during the mower's life you will run out of adjustment and the blades wont meet.
Re-facing should be done with the blade screwed to the cat iron sole plate and not loose. New blades a skimmed in the factory, usually on a surface grinder with a magnetic table but for a decent cut should always be skimmed again when screwed to the sole plate. If that is not done, as likely as not you will end up having to loosen off screws and shim under the blade to get anything like a decent cut.
It's hard to tell from the
It's hard to tell from the picture if it needs replacing, at best it requires refacing, it all depends on how much of the lip is left, is there enough to allow refacing ?. If there is, then you will need to put it back on the block before getting it ground. The cylinder will also require re-grinding, I mean you wouldn't grind one blade of a pair of scissors, would you ?