Once you’ve reached the ideal clearance, you need to clean all the lapping compound grit off the blades and the cutting bar. I tear paper towels in half and wipe down each blade a couple of times, taking a couple of swipes across the cutting bar as well. Be thorough. You don’t want any grit left on the blades, because leftover grit will unsharpen your blades when you run the mower forwards again. You should be able to run a paper town down the length of the blade without picking up any grey grit at the end. Be careful when you’re cleaning the blades, by the way, because the trailing edge may be so sharp that it will cut through the paper towel and reach your finger.
One friend who used these instructions told me about his innovative method of cleaning the blades: he put the blade assembly in the dishwasher! I can’t recommend this, as it is likely to rust the blades AND ruin the dishwasher. His wife clearly did not approve! But maybe you have an extra dishwasher laying around that you want to put to use.Look carefully at the outermost metal edge of the rotating blades. You should see a bright shiny strip that goes all the way across the blade, caused by the removal of metal during lapping. If you still see rust on the outermost edge, or dull metal, then you didn’t engage the cutting bar far enough. You might want to re-apply grit and continue lapping a little more, then remove grit again.
As a final step in cleaning, I usually wet a corner of a cloth rag with oil, and go over the blade edges.
Reverse the drive motion again
Remove the wheels again, and swap the two driven gears side to side back to their rightful places. If you get things mixed up you’ll have to either use your mechanical intuition or trial and error to get the right pieces on the correct sides. Just remember that rounded edges slide over rounded edges when the ratchet is slipping, and sharp edges engage sharp edges when the wheels are being driven. Reassemble the wheels again. Pop the hubcaps back on. You’re done.
Care and feeding of a reel lawn mower:
1. Unlike a rotary mower, a reel mower can be knocked out of alignment by sticks or other hard objects that jam the mechanism. When it is out of alignment it either won't cut all the grass, or it won't turn very freely. So, if you encounter a stick in the grass and it stops the mower, don't try and push through it - stop and remove the stick.
2. Reel mowers tend to cut grass lower than a rotary mower. So, you have to be more attuned to what height your grass is at, in order to cut it before it gets so long that cutting is difficult.
3. The reel mower blades need lubrication periodically. You might want to keep a paper towel and a small container of oil handy; if you wipe the blade edges with oil after you cut now and then the mower will be easier to push and will stay sharp longer. It's especially important to keep the mower inside some shelter during damp weather, or the blade edges will pit and rust, losing their sharpness.
4. When pushing the reel mower across a sidewalk or other non-grass surface, flip it over so that the blades aren't turning as you go. Normally, the blades get lubrication from the "juice" of the grass when you're cutting, but when you're pushing across the sidewalk the blades are dry; the dry blades will become slightly more dull if you spin them around as you go.
5. As you'll find out, the blades of a reel mower don't extend all the way out to the wheels. So, you'll have to do manual trimming of the grass up against objects like trees and posts.