Mower blade balancer

[Floradawg]

I used to balance my mower blades by laying a twist drill or small piece of round stock on the bench and lay the blade on it like a seesaw. Today I made this one.

The only dimension that is important is the diameter of the column on the part that the blade slides down on. Most blades have a toothed hole. I found the diameter by turning a piece of delrin in my other lathe taking off small amounts until it fit the blade. If you only have one lathe, do this first. I also tapered the lower step so even if the blade hole was a little bigger, it should still sit in the center. I drilled a 1/2" hole and tried it out. The top pointed end of the hole didn't really locate the pointed end of the screw to my liking. So, I flattened out the end of the hole and used a center drill to make a dimple. That worked well. I didn't include any dimensions because for the most part, they aren't important. I pointed the end of the screw by chucking up the lower assembled part and used a file while it turned in the lathe. It worked well.