George is a valued customer who has passed on some very useful tips to us after using his Model 5000. He is retired from IBM after putting in 38 years there working in field service, mainly in the large systems and the point of sale arena. Before that, he was in the Army Security Agency stationed on the German Danish border. George also used to build a few houses every year with his father-in-law. He has been married for almost 30 years, with one step daughter, one adopted daughter, and four grandkids. He spends most of his time now helping out neighbors with their building and repair projects. George values quality workmanship and refers to it as “building with brains.” That’s something we can appreciate.

When he’s not home working on his yard or other projects, he and his wife enjoy going on cruises. They have one coming up that will take them to Columbia, Honduras, and all the way through the Panama Canal to Long Beach. Their favorite cruise so far was to Cuba last year. Seeing all the old cars really brought back a lot of memories for George.

After trying out his new All American Sharpener, he showed the end result to a friend that has a lawn care business. That friend was impressed and talked George into sharpening 12 blades a week for him at a cost of $4 a blade. Not a bad deal!

George later sent us a great tip about a simple way to add and remove a shim from a blade that needs an angle adjustment outside of the 30 and 15 degree settings on the Model 5000. He was looking around his garage for some washer to use and then noticed 2 rare earth magnets on the side of his tool cabinet. He stuck to magnets on the blade and they worked well without the need to use anything else to attach them. We can always appreciate simple, efficient solutions.

Another day, George was edging his sidewalk and noticed the next day how brown the grass appeared on the trimmed edge. He uses a straight shaft Stihl edger, and the blades he buys have no edge at all. The blades are a lot cheaper that way, but the results are a poor edge because the blade just rips the grass rather that cutting it. He decided to try his 2" wide edger blade in Model 5000 sharpener, and they fit just fine by reversing the vise head as you would for a smaller blade. Now he can still save a few bucks buy only buying the "raw" no edge blades. George says it works great, and the results are fantastic!

He was visiting a friend the other day and his friend said he would rather buy new blades than take the time to sharpen the used ones. His friend has three Exmark zero turns so that equals nine blades. All the mowers are 60 inch cuts. George asked him what he does with his old blades and he said they go to the recycler. His friend gets a penny a pound for the metal, which doesn't even pay for the gas to transport the blades. George told him he could save him some bucks and pick up the old blades for free. The friend said he had 15 blades in a pile behind his garage that George could have.

The pictures are the original blade as George received them. Then he ran it by his wire wheel on a bench grinder and finished the blade with a coat of touch up paint. After sharpening and balancing, the blades were ready to go again! The best part of all was when another friend asked George if he would sell him some the blades for his machines. Funny thing is, these two guys are competitors. They used to be partners but work separately now.

… George doesn't dare tell them what's going on.

George Stiles - Edger Blades & More Tips!