[Shop-talk] EDGER BLADES

[Karl Vacek]

I buy what sound like the same blades (for my Homelite trimmer) for a couple 
of bucks apiece.  Hardly worth the trouble to make and heat treat them. 
There's a distributor of small engine parts a mile from me, and he carries 
many sizes and shapes of generic blades - excellent quality - all I've 
bought have been at least as good as OEM.  Possibly Oregon brand...

I'm sure they'd ship...  If you're interested contact me off-line and I'll 
give you contact info.

KVacek at Ameritech.net

Karl


> I've got the standard gas powered edger that the box stores sell... think
> it's a 3hp MTD brand and it does a decent job.  It uses a 9" long blade 
> that
> is 2" wide and about 3/32 thick.  My blade was worn to badly to use
> yesterday so I cut another from some stock the same thickness.  It worked 
> ok
> but  I noticed that when I finished, instead of wearing down evenly it was
> ragged and bent (probably from a sidewalk hit or two.
>
> What do they do to the regular blades to make them stronger... heat treat 
> ??
> special material ??  I've got plenty of stock and can cut them (at 7 bucks 
> a
> piece plus gas it might be worth it) but need to know how to 'treat' them 
> to
> get them to last longer...
>
> thanks
> John