I have a gas powered hedge cutter that is quite nice, but it usually goes dull quite often under heavy use. I always put on spare blades and get the others sharpened, but I'm interested how long it would take to do it yourself. I could save a bit that way, if it isn't extremely time consuming.
Is this a practical idea?
I would say that it is worth the time, based on my sharpening experiences. Here is a nice e-how article on the process that breaks it down better than I ever could.
I've only sharpened trimmers a few times, but I have sharpened chainsaw chains by hand quite a bit with a round file and it didn't take long at all. Just a bit of patience.
The trick is to be careful on the angle of "attack" on the blade itself and to be certain to not work against yourself by making it more dull. There are a few tools available to assist.
There are a handful of videos here for review just in case they help.
