Mower blade follow up.

jeffcat · Sep 26, 2019

I bought a set of these blades a couple of weeks ago. They are tougher than regular blades. I have done some pretty heavy duty mowing on several lawns and a long in the standing overgrown side lot of about 1 1/2 acre size. The darn things are still sharp!!!! Think I might by a set for my other machines. Come in different styles and sizes. Very pleased with them. Just to try them out, buy yourself a set. Think that XHT stands for extra hardened tempered. Others I have seen, they weld a bead of hard temper welding rod along the bottom side of the blade. That keeps them sharp. Kinda like the blade on a Samurai sword . Here is a little blurb on them.

Bob - MI · Sep 29, 2019

I bought a set of 3 for my JD X570 and I like them as well.

The material they are talking about, "Marbain" seems to be a trademarked material that is exclusive to the manufacturer. I couldn't find the chemistry breakdown for the alloy anyplace. Sometimes when we see that it's because the alloy isn't unique but they have found a way to enhance it somehow. No matter what they are really durable and way better than the cheap stuff found in most of the aftermarket blades.

I always buy a spare set of blades so I can have a sharp set on hand in case I hit something or I see them getting dull. With these I can do a side by side comparison of JD blades and see if the hype is true long term. I did watch a video published by one seller who did a side by side strike test on these and it was pretty impressive. Sold me.

Married2Allis · Oct 2, 2019

Good tip, thanks.

John Schoenauer · Oct 2, 2019

Bob here is the explanation of the Marbain process:
Our materials expertise led us to develop two unique heat treating processes that turn all our lawn mower blades into heavy duty lawn mower blades. We use austempering to transform AISI 10B38 steel into bainite, a stronger, more durable material than results from more conventional quench and temper heat treatments. Our patented MARBAIN process produces the strongest mower blades available today. Both processes create uniform structure throughout the treated materials to give our blade materials exceptional wear resistance. From the Fisher Barton Blades Inc website. it is a hard material with an advanced hardening process. It should be good if they make blades for your mower.
Thanks
John Schoenaeur

tractorguy2 · Oct 2, 2019

I'm going to see if they have a blade for my Toro. I use it to mow a cemetery. Darn wire in those plastic flowers is hard on blades.

Bob - MI · Oct 3, 2019

Thanks for the explanation. I had suspected that this was an advanced heat treating process. The homework you did clearly paid off.

I run an investment casting operation that specializes in aircraft and defense applications and we do some interesting heat treating steps to achieve the material performance that the customer is looking for. In some alloys there are multiple strength and ductility ranges they can choose based on different aging temperatures so we can cover a wide range of applications with that single variable.

The first time I ran these XTH blades on my mower I managed to torture test them by hitting a concrete landscape paver block. It took a pretty good chunk off the paver but the blade was still in overall good shape. Some edge erosion but no bending at all.

I am sold on these blades and would recommend them to anyone.

John Schoenauer · Oct 3, 2019

Investment casting looks interesting. I worked for the largest steel company for 45 years and did everything from loading the furnace to loading the finished product in the train cars. I learned more the last 10 years about hardening while rebuilding guiding equipment. Casting like you do might look simple but there has to be a lot of hidden knowledge to make the parts right.
Thanks
John Schoenauer

Bob - MI · Oct 11, 2019

It's a complex process with a million things that can go wrong. We discover new ones everyday.

It's great fun however and keeps you mentally alert all the times.
Shellcast, Inc website

Mower blade follow up.

jeffcat

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Bob - MI

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Married2Allis

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John Schoenauer

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tractorguy2

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Bob - MI

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John Schoenauer

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Bob - MI

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