OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Reel Lawn Mowers, Atco & Villiers etc. The Alroh Inheritance Photo's Blade Re-Alignment ?

Hi Guys

Please find attached a few pictures of the Alroh minus the reel which is now in the process of being sharpened, I suspect for the first time in 30 years. Some drama getting the threaded sprocket off but pleasantly surprised to find a Mower Tech who sharpens blades at reasonable cost and even happier to hear bearings, sprocket and chain all still in reasonable and serviceable condition.

Gear looks a little sandy as the machine has been in use in sandy conditions near the beach in Esperance WA.


Any hints or advice on the next step , <Blade Alignment> upon the return of the blades on Thursday would be greatly appreciated. I am getting mixed "mail" on whether the blades actually "touch"???


Many thanks

Rob

If you have got Esperance sand, you have probably got salt. You need to wash it off and end up with very slightly oily surfaces, even where it's painted.
The blades do not touch, but the clearance between them should be less than 0.001", so you can't expect to see or measure a clearance. It is usually done by sound or feel. First, set the fixed blade so it is so close to touching that you can't detect a difference. Then put a sheet of paper between the blades and turn the reel by hand. It should cut the paper cleanly all the way across - and do this at every point across the width of the blade. When you get it to do this, and to turn by hand smoothly without any sound or feel of contact, you drive the reel with the engine and listen. It should generate a sort of hum or hiss as the helical blades on the cylinder pass the fixed blade. If you listen closely you should hear any contact sound, which would mean you have to increase the clearance.
If you have not done so you will need to touch up the front edge of the fixed blade: it needs to be flat, and square to the top surface. Watch for small nicks in the cutting edge (front corner of the fixed blade) - I bet there are some. If there are any marks running across the fixed blade, it needs to be reground.

Thanks Grumpy

I put the bottom blade in with the cylinder reel to be ground as well. There were not a lot of marks on it but it wasnt perfect. I was amazed that after such a long time and not really having been serviced that the bearings, sprocket and chain were all serviceable.

I assume the paper cutting should be effective across each knife off the cylinder as well, or is it safe to assume that the machining puts the cylinder in almost perfect symetry.


The bottom blade has two pivot points being a very large bolt (bottom and rear)and at the bottom end of the adjusting rod. How tight should these bolts be whilst getting the adjustment right? (Tightish / Loosish or in the middle) This is probably the "scariest" part of the whole exercise because I dont want to damage either the reel or bottom blades. I suppose if I go easy it shouldn't be a problem.

You may have also noted a little surface rust. Would you recommend some form of rust converter (Kill rust perhaps) to slow all that down or just some CRC...

I will pull it all down eventually probaly during winter holiday and re-spary...Do the techs normally give the reel a blast to clean them to a point of where they can be painted or would you have to ask or should I just rub them back manually. Red paint does look rather nice on the reel.

Cheers

Rob

Hi Rob, good to see that it is coming along OK, don't be too worried about the alignment of the reel and bedknife, you can always get your tech, who is doing the sharpening for you, to show you how it's done as he probably sets them up for people that don't possess the expertise. I know my engineer does...we have no info on the forum on Alroh, and I wouldn't have a clue on the alignment procedure other than a generic method, which grumpy has explained very well above.

When my reel comes back it is usually fairly dirty from the grinding procedure. I give it a good wash down with degreaser and dry off, before refitting.
It's a bit late now, but if you were going to paint it, it's a good idea to do it before grinding, otherwise you're going to have to mask the blade edges first, prior to the paint.
Prior to powder coating, you have to have the reel sandblasted and then straight to the powdercoater, otherwise rust will start within minutes, just with the moisture in the air.

As Deejay said, your technician will tell you his own personal answer to those questions. It is best to listen to him/her, because you will probably be relying on that source of service from here on (unless you are dissatisfied with it). After you've talked with him/her I'll be happy to answer any remaining questions, but if so I'll be trying hard to agree with him/her - we don't want a too-many-cooks outcome. Incidentally you have asked the right question regarding how to tighten the bed-knife adjusting screws - that is the heart of the process, and is something of an art form.
Each blade in the cylinder should be equally effective in cutting, but it is quite possible that there will be a tiny variation in individual blades due to factors such as the practical accuracy limits of a commercial lathe. You have to make sure that no individual cylinder-blade touches the bed-knife. If you found that this results in one blade not cutting paper, you'd have to take the mower to your technician and show him/her the problem.

Thanks Grumpy

More good oil !