All American Sharpener

Joined
Jan 13, 2016
Messages
3,488
Location
Northeast Nebraska
I've become somewhat frustrated finding someone to sharpen my mower blades so I started looking into this and am leaning towards this one.

Websire
https://www.allamericansharpener.com/

Video by creator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1baxssnbMMw

Now here are my reasons for this one.

Room in my garage is at a premium, I really don't have room to build a small work bench that I could mount a vice or I would probably start out that way. I don't own a grinder so it would be quite a learning curve to get good at sharpening them by hand and I can see where after a while the correct angle would be hard to hold.

With the above unit it appears it can be mounted in a vertical position so this would allow me to mount it to a wall and then remove it so it's out of the way. It also seems to be full proof as far as keeping the proper angle.

I figure I can get this and a grinder for under $250 maybe even less. I know that sounds like a lot but like I said the guy I've had doing it for the last few years is semi retired now and 20 miles away so his hours are not set and he said working Saturdays was over for him, gone fishing he says. The other guy in town has been semi retired for even longer and is only open Mon - Thurs 9am to 2pm. There are a couple mower shops but they started charging to much so it wouldn't take to much to pay for it self plus the convenience of being able to do it when I want it done.

Any one looked into this?
 
Depends if you want it done the proper way or just OK. What you are suggesting will do them OK. The proper way is to have a horizontal grinder with a rail to hold the blade. If you are holding the grindstone in your hand you will not get a perfect surface where you ground.
 
You seem to lack a few basic tools that can not only help sharpen your mower blade, but help out on many other projects.

For $250 you should be able to find some room in the garage for a small work bench where you could park a bench vise and a grinder.

I sharpen my blades with a vise and a file. A grinder is needed if the blade is very dull and a lot of material needs to be removed.
 
To properly sharpen a mower blade you have to keep it cool. This is very difficult. I blow compressed air on them when I sharpen them. Keeps from bluing them. The angle is not real critical. Same angle and balance is.

Rod
 
Originally Posted by Kestas
You seem to lack a few basic tools that can not only help sharpen your mower blade, but help out on many other projects.

For $250 you should be able to find some room in the garage for a small work bench where you could park a bench vise and a grinder.

I sharpen my blades with a vise and a file. A grinder is needed if the blade is very dull and a lot of material needs to be removed.


Once the wife's car is in the garage I have maybe 2 1/2 feet of room all the way around to the walls, telling you I have no room for a work bench with out getting rid of something. My shelves are in front of car and on one side I have an air compressor and my tool box and on the other side I have two snowblowers and a lawn mower. It's the one thing I have always hatted is it is to small.
 
Looks nifty, but unless I'm sharpening multiple blades a day, I couldn't imagine having such a single use tool in the garage. Like others have said, the angle isn't critical. Before I had a vise setup, I would just clamp the blade to the corner of the work bench (use a table, chair, or stool if you don't have a work bench) and use a hand file. I still prefer to use the hand file. I suppose, if you wanted to be more consistent with the angle, you could put a $20 digital angle on your file.
 
Hmmmmm. Very interesting concept. I have used a commercial blade sharpener and my thought was ho hum, nothing spectacular here. My workplace shop has a very heavy duty bench grinder that does the job very well.

I am having trouble justifying this All American sharpener. Still thinking about it. You will need to spray the blade with water often to keep it cool. I simply dip my blade in a bucket of water with my bench grinder.

This topic piqued my interest in the many threads on homemade sharpeners:
sharpener1-jpg.147945
 
Buy a 4 inch grinder and get a piece of 4X4 .put the 4X4 on the ground put the blade on the ground so it looks like the blade does in the picture and grind away. Balance using a nail on the wall. Goggles for eye protection and heavy gloves for the hands
 
Originally Posted by CT8
Buy a 4 inch grinder and get a piece of 4X4 .put the 4X4 on the ground put the blade on the ground so it looks like the blade does in the picture and grind away. Balance using a nail on the wall. Goggles for eye protection and heavy gloves for the hands
No gloves when working with something spinning that fast. 4x4 probably won't have the mass, I would want a 6x6 minimum so you can lean into it.

When I would sharpen blades on a jobsite with a small bench grinder I have, I would screw it to a bench. Even a workmate is probably enough, unless you are really leaning on it.
 
Just a thought on the no bench situation, a fold-down (or up) benchtop that is stored flat on tue wall, with swing-down locking legs might work well for you. You may have to move a shelf to make it work.
 
Way overpriced if you ask me. Sharpening a mower blade is not rocket science, and you can get the angle correct without much hassle. Why pay $175 for a really cool jig?
 
Originally Posted by bchannell
Way overpriced if you ask me. Sharpening a mower blade is not rocket science, and you can get the angle correct without much hassle. Why pay $175 for a really cool jig?


This would only be worth it if you were running a small enigne repair shop or something. If you're sharpening a bunch of blades every day it would pay for itself in saving your time. For a homeowner it's pretty unnecessary I think.
 
I pulled the trigger on one as well and will be here tomorrow. Will be nice not having to drive 40 miles round trip just to have a couple blades sharpened.

I already have a few guys lined up that will help defray the cost.
 
Wanted to update this now that I"m in the fourth year of using this setup, it has almost paid for itself by not having to drive 40 miles a couple times a year plus cost of the sharpening.

The hardest part was getting the old blades to the correct angle the jig uses, I ruined one of the older blades I was practicing on by getting it to hot, but is was old and had been sharpened many times and the angle was so far off it started out with the disc only touching about 1/16 of the blade. After you get the correct angle the next time you sharpen the blade it only takes 4 to 5 passes to get it sharp.. I'm using a 40 grit flap disc so it doesn't get hot or take to much off with each pass. A new Toro blade comes with a 30 degree angle that matches the jig.

At that time I also purchased a wall mounted balancer.

The thing that surprised me the most is how far out of balance the blades were that had been sharpened by a mower shop.
 
Last edited:
I dunno, everyone is trying to invent a new mousetrap, and the old ones just work fine. I clamp my blades in a vise and sharpen them with an angle grinder. I keep the angle the same as new which is no problem at all. I can't imagine paying $$$ for a jig to hold the blade and grinder, but hey whatever floats your boat. It's just not that hard, nor, for that matter, all that critical to sharpen blades.
 
I admit I went down the rabbit hole on this one but I don't regret it. I've spent more on less.

Dewalt DWE402 $80
Balancer $70
Jig $170
 
Back
Top