How to Use a Hedge Trimmer, Complete Idiots Guide!

1.First things first, make sure it's not raining or check the weather forecast to make sure it's not going to rain anytime soon. It's very dangerous to use outdoor electrical appliances in the rain.

If the weather is fine just give you trimmer a once over and make sure everything is in working order.

2. make sure the area you are going to trim is free from hazards. If you have pets or children just make sure they are at a safe distance and looked after.

How a Hedge Trimmer Works?

Watch the video above to find out how hedge trimmers work.

How to Sharpen Hedge Trimmer Blades - DIY Guide!

If at all possible you should not wait until the blades of your trimmer are showing signs of wear before attempting to sharpen them. Ideally, you should sharpen them after every 60 hours of use.

Firstly you should remove any dirt and debris that have gathered between the blades. this is quite important as you could damage the stone and the file.

Make sure you only sharpen the cutting edge. You should also make sure the file does not touch the integrated cut protection.

You will need the following tools a Sharpening stone and a flat file.
Firstly make sure both the upper and lower blades are resting at the same position. Ensuring this will make everything a lot easier.

Step 1. When filing you need to make sure you file in the direction of the cutting edge. the flat file is designed like this and by doing so it guarantees a sharp cutting edge. As much as possible keep the to the specified sharpening angle. Just have a look in your particular trimmers manual. Only file downwards with the direction of the blade. When pulling file back up do nut make contact with the blade.

Most importantly do not file away to much of the blade. do not file away more than 5mm, filing more than this can cause the blade to be weaker in strength.

Step 2. Any burr that has been created by the file, now needs to be removed with the sharpening stone.

Once sharpened, just make sure any swarf is removed.

A good tip to prevent rusting is to use a resin free spray.