How To Sharpen Your Pruning Tools
Keep your pruning tools sharp for optimum plant health and to insure that cuts heal properly.
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Step 1:
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Sharpen the Pruning Shears
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This is the cross section of our pruning shears and unlike kitchen knives, pruning shears are sharpened just on one side. So we have an angle or a bevel just on one side and a very sharp point at the top this is where the cutting actually takes place.
So it’s important for this point or this edge to remain extremely sharp at all times. After pruning for a while, this edge breaks down and can become rounded. So we need to sharpen and keep that edge sharp for the health of our plants. Irregular cuts will lead to disease and they won’t heal up properly.
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Step 2:
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Best Technique
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The best way to sharpen the tool is with an oilstone and a light corning oil which you can make from half kerosene and half 30 weight oil.
Then using the stone in a circular motion and moving up and down the blade carefully sharpen the tool. Keeping the bevel or the angle the same as when the tool is new. This takes some practice but it’s real important to keep that angle the same up and down the tool to create your sharp edge.
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Step 3:
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Another Tool
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Another tool a newer one works pretty well and doesn’t need oil. It might be good for beginners to start out keeping their tool sharp. Don’t confuse this with the kitchen knife sharpener which sharpens on both sides.
This one creates a bevel on one side for our garden shears and keeps creates a pretty good edge. To test the sharpness of your final edge run your fingernail across the blade carefully and if it drags you feel it rough that means it’s sharp. If it goes real smoothly across your edge then you need to keep on sharpening. Thanks for watching our video. We’ll see you next time.
