The Old Lawnmower Club
Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers
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Ransome Ajax sharpening

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Davel831 Thu, 02/08/2018

Hi All

        I am a newbie to restoring and whilst taking a break from painting, i was reading the original manual that every season to resharpen the blades. This is described as placing valve grinding paste onto the blades and bottom plate. My question is has  or does anyone do this? What paste do you use?

Looking at the Manual their appears to be a tool to use whilst doing this? i wonder are any of these tools still around?

Regards Dave

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wristpin Thu, 02/08/2018

The process that you describe is called lapping or back lapping. It is used to maintained the edge on blades that have been relief ground and is not a substitute for sharpening or grinding blunt blades. On certain models of Ajax, one of the Handel bar grips could be unscrewed and repositioned on the cutting cylinder drive gear to act as a turning handle for the lapping process.

It is not advisable to use valve grinding paste as it is oil based and difficult to remove. Proper lapping paste is water based and may be hosed off.