How To Sharpen Tree Pruner Blade? 9 Superb Steps To Do It

Tree Pruner

Do you know how to sharpen tree pruner blade? What is a tree pruner itself? Pruning a tree without the proper tools can be a long and complicated process involving a lot of hand cramping and a few too many trips up and down your ladder. But get yourself a tree pruner and you’ll be trimming the branches and leaves off the trees in your yard like a professional. 

You can use it year-round to keep your trees healthy and to maintain their attractive shape. But wait! Don’t go get a pruner just yet. We have a few more things to tell you first. First, make sure you are getting a quality pruner with all the features you need. Look for a model that has a steel cutting blade, a leather grip with a soft rubberized finish, and a comfortable ergonomic design.

Pruning a tree without the proper tools can be a long and complicated process involving a lot of hand cramping and a few too many trips up and down your ladder.”

Harrison Kral, author from familyhandyma.com

Pruner

A pruner is one of those “must have” garden tools for every homeowner. It will help you get the most out of your gardening efforts and make your life a lot easier. You can use a pruner to remove dead and damaged foliage from your shrubs, bushes, fruit trees and other vegetation.

It will also help you train your roses to grow more strongly and develop a richer more beautiful bloom. Basically a pruner is a very small pair of shears attached to a long handle. Some models even have a wire brush on the end of the handle to remove burrs and unwanted sticks and vines that may have grown up around the base of the plant. In this blog, we also have an article about the 8 best pruner that you might want to read about it.


Tree Pruner Design

The handle should be constructed of strong sturdy material such as plastic or rubber and should be designed with a “pinch-proof” steel insert in the grip area to prevent your fingers from being crushed if you accidentally grab the wrong end of the tool. The actual cutting mechanism (the part that makes the blades open and close) should be easy-to-use, have a light-weight feel and be constructed of rugged metal.

Also look for a model with an adjustable guard that is easy to move from tree to tree. This will help protect your arms from being injured when you are working at a high elevation. A good pruner should also have an adjustable “dead” limit that prevents the pruning shears from going any deeper into the tree than necessary. This will keep you from cutting into the vital branches on which the tree depends for water and nourishment.

Tree pruners and pole saws are commonly used for tree trimming in landscaping and grounds maintenance applications. The long handle extends their cutting head to reach high tree branches from the ground.

Grainger.com

Sharpen Tree Pruner Blade

Now, let’s talk about how to maintain your pruner and keep it in good working order. First, you need to sharpen the cutting blade every time you use it. This is especially important if the blade becomes dull. Dull blades not only cause your work to be sloppy and sloppy work is dangerous. It can even lead to serious injury. Here’s how to sharpening tree pruner blade

Sharpening Saw Blade

  1. Remove any dirt and tree debris from the blades with a wire brush. For any oily buildup on the blades, use a degreaser and a rag. If feasible, remove the pruner pole blades so that the pole does not get in the way. The head with the blades occasionally unscrews from the pole’s end.
  2. In a table vise, clamp the blade with the serrated edge facing up.
  3. Insert a sharpening rod into the groove formed by two teeth. To file away the metal and sharpen the blade, move the rod forward. Repeat three to six times more, or until a burr of curled metal filings forms on the back side of the blade. Never saw back and forth between the saw teeth; always reposition the sharpening rod and push it forward. Repeat this method for all of the saw teeth.
  4. To remove burrs, rub the sharpening rod or a flat file on the back side of the blade. The burrs should come out in one or two passes.
  5. To protect the naked metal from rust, coat the blade edges with spray lubricating oil or a similar lubricant.

Sharpening The Smooth Blades

  1. If necessary, clean the blades with a wire brush and degreaser. Remove the blade from the pole’s end. Spread the blades open and clamp them in a vice. Anvil pruners have a single blade that clamps down on a flat surface, whereas scissor pruners have two blades that must be sharpened.
  2. Align a 6-inch metal file with the beveled blade edge’s angle. Only one side of the metal is inclined or beveled; adhere to the factory-designed angle.
  3. Move the file across the blade, starting at the top of the angle and working your way down to the tip or very edge of the blade. Make three or four passes with the file, each going in the same direction. To finish sharpening, move the blade from base to tip, exposing clean metal and the sharpened edge.
  4. To remove any fine metal burrs, rub the file over the reverse side of the blade a few times. If you’re using scissor-style pruners, repeat the sharpening step with the second blade. Spray lubricant oil on the freshly sliced metal.

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