Well trimmed hedges certainly enhance the look of your garden, and hedge trimmers play an important role in helping you achieve that. Therefore, in order to have evenly trimmed hedges, you need to sharpen the equipment regularly.

Hedge trimmers, as the name suggests, are gardening tools used for trimming hedges. These prove to be faster and more efficient than pruning shears and knives that are used for trimming hedges. However, these equipment tend to become blunt after repeated usage. Therefore, sharpening them becomes necessary over a period of time.

Sharpening hedge trimmers is not at all a difficult job. Once you learn to hold the blades properly and utilize the sharpening instrument in the correct manner, it just becomes a matter of minutes. You can sharpen them in a professional manner at your home itself. The only thing required is proper knowledge of the procedure and skills to handle the instruments properly.

Tools Required

• Pair of pliers to detach the blades
• Metal filer for the actual sharpening
• Safety goggles

Steps

Removing the Trimming Blades

For this, find a plain surface and place your hedge trimmer on it. Take care that the blades of the tool are not facing you and are placed at a safe distance from your body. Now, tightly hold the screw of the trimmer between the pliers. Remove the screw by rotating it in an anti-clockwise direction. Once the screw is removed, separate the blades.

Sharpening the Blades

Hold the handle of the blade. Position the blade away from your body so that it is convenient for sharpening. Take the metal filer and move it on the blade till the tip. Continue with the sharpening process for a few minutes.

Testing the Sharpness

You can test the sharpness of the blades on a piece of paper. Hold the paper in the air with your fingers and cut it with the blades. Do not cut the paper forcefully. If the blades slice through the paper easily, it indicates that the blades are properly sharpened. Otherwise, you need to sharpen them for some more time and once again test their sharpness on the paper.

Once you understand the procedure of sharpening hedge trimmers, you need not depend on professionals for it. But before starting it, as a safety measure, always wear protective goggles. This will keep your eyes safe from the spraying of metal fragments produced by the friction between the metal filer and the blade.

Generally, you can sharpen all kinds of hedge trimmers by yourself, but some power hedge trimmers do not contain screws or bolts to hold their blades. In such cases, it is suggested to purchase a new one, as these types of trimmers are not meant for any kind of servicing.