Best Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener 2023? From $9 to $1200—6 Sharpeners Compared! Let's find out!

the lawnmower is bogging down and the grass is looking pretty beat up so it's time to sharpen that lawnmower blade should you just use a bench grinder or a hand file or is there a better option well let's find out and the first test we'll see which sharpening system sharpens dual blades the fastest then we'll see which one offers the most accurate blade Edge closest to 30 degrees finally we'll see which sharpeners work with mulching blades so why bother with an expensive sharpening tool when you could just use a file for around eight dollars I'll be using a 10 inch file that has coarse teeth for Rapid stock removal the file is double cut on both sides the Mercer file did not come with a handle so I went ahead and purchased one the Mercer industry file is Made in India for the first test I bought four new blades the factory ground Edge has some pretty deep grooves and it just isn't very sharp the ideal angle for sharpening a lawnmower blade is 30 degrees and the angle of the new blade is 27.6 degrees so let's see how long it takes to clean up the blades with each sharpening system I'll push the file up the blade to sharpen it and I'll lift it on the return I made 150 passes across the blade with the file in two and a half minutes results are likely to vary quite a bit when free handing but the blade Edge is now pretty close to 29.6 degrees if you own a drill why not just use this Arnold blade sharpening and balancing kit for around thirteen dollars it says right on the packaging it gives you a sharp edge in minutes maximizes cutting performance designed for mower tractor and zero turn riding mower blades The Honorable kit is made in China Remove blade from mower or tractor in place and vice with Cutting Edge up Place blade sharpener in any electric drill place the blade sharpener over the blade edge with the grinding wheel against the beveled Edge and the nylon guide against the flat Underside using the forward face of the blade sharpener grind off all Nicks and Burrs from the flat underside of the blade Edge first move the blade sharpener lengthwise along the edge keeping a slight downward pressure the nylon guide should always be kept flush against the flat underside of the blade the drill is in the high speed setting and I spent three and a half minutes or a minute longer than the hand file cleaning up and reshaping the edge of the blade and the blades still has some grooves but the blade Edge is now sharp and I just didn't do a very good job of forming a correct blade angle 32.5 degrees if you have a bench grinder why not just purchase a sharpening jig like this one which is made by Tay tools for forty seven dollars works with any six or eight inch bench grinder if you need to you can quickly remove the bay space to get it out of the way it also comes with the tool holder the entire tool rest can be moved forward and backwards three inches and raised in lower two inches it can also be rotated forward and back 170 degrees the tatoo sharpening jig is made in Taiwan I'm using an 8 inch bench grinder I have the sharpening jig set up with the flat Edge facing inward I've sharpened quite a few lawnmower blades using just the bench grinder without the sharpening jig and the sharpening jig has really helped me form a consistent sharpening angle but it does take a little practice and the bench grinder sharpening jig combination is more than twice as fast as the hand file on the drill attachment at only 53 seconds 23.5 degrees so I'll have to adjust the sharpening angle just a little before the next test at a price of 159 dollars is this yellow Hornet mower blade sharpener The Jig does not come with an angle grinder so you will have to purchase an angle grinder if you don't already have one constructed of quarter inch plate steel and all joints are welded the yellow Hornet also comes with a blade balancer the yellow Hornet is made in USA the blade rest is welded in place it cannot be moved towards or away from the angle grinder two of the three angle grinders I attempted to use were just too large for setting the proper blade angle fortunately the very affordable Warrior angle finder is a great fit I tighten the hose clamp just enough to allow me to make adjustments to the position of the grinder position the grinding disc approximately one half to three quarter inch above the blade rest have approximately a quarter inch less Gap at the rear than the front of the grinding disc position the blade firmly on the blade rest and align The Cutting Edge with the grinding wheel lower the blade and pull towards you when sharpening and I applied a little too much force when sharpening the blade and the blade was pulled into the sharpener a flat disc on a grinder works very quickly and light passes is all it takes and the yellow Hornet is finished in very close to 20 seconds or more than twice as fast as the bench grinder 29.6 degrees is very good and close enough to 30. at a price of 285 dollars is this All-American sharpener model 5005 generation 2 includes four adapter pins to attach to most Grinders to the sharpener assembly the model 5005 goes from 15 to 45 degrees I previously tested a different version of The All-American sharpener that was not designed to change the sharpening angle the All-American is made in USA you can mount it vertically with just bolts or you can mount it horizontally the All-American does not come with the grinder a 36 or 60 grit flapper wheel is recommended you can use a hardware this but it's very easy to gouge the blade open the Jaws wide enough to accept your blade by unscrewing the handle the blade should be held in place by four clamping pins in the center of the blade the blade should be straight and square is possible with the edge of the grounding face up towards the top with the blade clamped into the Vise Slide the pivot pin into the pivot bushing the guide arm should be along the side of the grinder not out in front and the center of the cutting wheel should align with the middle of the blade Edge holding the grinder body in your right hand grasp the grinder handle with your left turn on the grinder and take light consistent cuts from front to back using a pushing motion apply a slight amount of pressure to the holding pin to keep it against the pivot bushing as you grind and the All-American is by far the fastest sharpener yet at only eight seconds and the All-American did a terrific job of removing the grooves and sharpening the blade Edge 29.3 degrees is very good and close enough to 30. and the most expensive sharpening system we'll be testing at a price of almost 1200 is this RGB 950 it's even designed to sharpen mulching blades it claims to be fast and easy with preset blade guides it has a three-quarter horsepower continuous duty motor includes 9 inch fast grind wheel and a 7 inch flap wheel the RGB 950 is made in USA once the grinder is powered up lower the blade so that the edge nearest to the center hole contacts the grinding wheel first pull the blade back until you reach the outer edge periodically check The Cutting Edge while grinding until the blade is fully sharpened once the blade has been properly sharpened there should be a small Burr that's formed on the opposite side of the blade and it could have made a lot faster progress with the RGB 950 but there is a learning curve with all the sharpeners and the sharpener is finished in about 17 seconds and the blade Edge looks very nice 29.2 degrees is very close to the same as the yellow Hornet and the All-American if you're looking for a sharpener that's quick and efficient the All-American is the fastest at putting a nice Edge on a new blade in only eight seconds the RGB 950 is also very quick at 17 seconds and a yellow Hornet 20 seconds so I was able to sharpen four of the six blades within one degree of the target 30 degree goal let's go and build the blades that were just sharpened I'll grind the edge of the blade flat and we'll also add some dings to simulate Rock chips and the blade now looks very dull and pretty beat up with all the damage to the blade Edge so we can see the progress of go ahead and spray paint the blade Edge the paint is dry and the blade is now starting out at 802 grams so let's see how long it takes to sharpen this blade using a hand file before I start the timer I'll go ahead and follow away the Burr and the chips on the bottom side of the blade Dan file is actually doing a really good job of making a nice flat Edge however compared to the other sharpening methods the hand file definitely takes a lot more effort many riding lawn mowers have three blades so this process would have to be repeated six times and it took me close to seven minutes to sharpen the blade Edge and the blade Edge does look pretty nice and consistent the file Left Behind quite a few metal filings and the blade edge angle is off by a little bit at 32.2 degrees the blade started off at 802 grams and now weighs 798 a loss of 4 grams the Arnold drill attachment blade is starting off at 803 grams I'm going to remove the damage from the bottom side of the blade to avoid causing damage to the plastic part of the sharpener sharpening the blade with the Arnold drill attachment is a very slow process the grinding stone has a very small diameter and the sharpener just isn't designed for too much force the hand file definitely seems like a faster sharpening process and I'm finished sharpening the blade and it's taken me 9 minutes or two minutes longer than the hand file the blade Edge looks pretty consistent but not quite as consistent as a hand file also I didn't do a very good job with the blade edge angle at 38.3 degrees and the blade started out at 803 grams and it's now down 3 grams to 800 and the blade that I'll be using for the bench grinder and jig is starting out at 800 grams and the bottom side of the blade is cleaned up so the blade should be able to move freely across the sharpener and the sharpening jig really helps with keeping the angle pretty close but it does take some practice to avoid the grinding wheel grabbing the blade however the bench grinder is making a lot faster progress than the hand file and the drill attachment and I'm finished sharpening the blade in 3 minutes and 30 seconds the blade edges sharp but the blade angle isn't quite as consistent as the hand file or the drill attachment 25 degrees is an improvement but I still need to adjust the angle of The Jig and the blade started off at 800 grams and is down 5 grams at 795 and the blade for the yellow Hornet is starting off at 801 grams and the bottom side of the blade is cleaned up so the blade should be able to move freely across the sharpener and the yellow Hornet is a lot easier to use than the bench grinder and jig setup the flat disc also makes a much faster and cleaner cut compared to last time this time I used less force and I didn't have any issues with the yellow Hornet grabbing the blade and the blade is already sharp in just over two minutes the blade Edge is consistent along the entire Edge and is nice and sharp 29.3 degrees will definitely work very well and the yellow Hornet blade started off at 801 grams and is now down 7 grams to 794. and the blade for the All-American is starting out at 800 grams of all the sharpening systems the All-American seems like the easiest to use 14 passes across the blade Edge and the All-American is finished in around 30 seconds and the blade Edge is very sharp and consistent and as expected there's a nice Burr that's formed on the bottom side of the blade and the blade Edge is just over 30 degrees which is pretty close to perfect the all-americans started off at 800 grams and is now down 8 grams to 792. and the RGB 950 is starting out at 795 grams I'll clean up the bottom side of the blade using the flap disc one pass across the flat disc and the bottom side of the blade is very smooth I'm applying a lot less for sharpening the blade compared to the All-American comparing sharpening speed really isn't fair but I'm still trying to adjust to using the sharpener about a minute and 15 seconds to sharpen the blade and the blade Edge is very sharp and consistent and as expected there's a nice Burr that's formed on the bottom side of the blade just like the All-American Blade the RGB is down 8 grams at 780 seven and 30.3 degrees is just about perfect so once again the All-American made the quickest work of sharpening the blade in only 30 seconds however the RGB was definitely more capable than a minute 15 seconds the yellow Hornet is also very fast at two minutes I've offered to sharpen blades for others and have seen some really dull blades starting off at 682 grams so let's really put the sharpness to the test sharpening 3 16's flat iron that does not already have an edge I'll sharpen six inches of metal and will limit the test to just 10 minutes and this is some really hard steel but not quite as hard as marbane steel and the file is really struggling to create a blade Edge and 10 minutes is up but I didn't make very much progress with only half of the blade Edge formed 24.4 degrees but there's a lot more work that needs to be done the metal now weighs 679 grams so only three grams of metal was removed a close-up look under the microscope and the file has already experienced quite a bit of Doling and the blade for the Arnold wheel is starting off at 870 grams and the abrasive wheel just isn't designed to sharpen the blade quickly however it seems to be making a little bit better progress compared to the hand file and the auto drill attachment made a little bit more progress about 60 of the thickness of the blade has been formed unfortunately I just didn't do too well at around 38.3 degrees a total of 4 grams of metal was removed from the blade Edge the blade that I'll be using with the sharpening jig is starting off at 829 grams and I'm still getting used to the sharpening jig too much force and the grinder grabs the blade Edge about 5 minutes and 15 seconds to sharpen the blade and the blade Edge just isn't as consistent as some of the other sharpeners however 26 degrees is the closest so far to the Target angle of 30 degrees as expected there's a small bird that's formed on the underside of the blade and the bench grinder and sharpening jig ground away 17 grams in 5 minutes and 15 seconds and the blade for the yellow Hornet is starting off at 865 grams and I'm finally getting more proficient at sharpening with the yellow Hornet and yellow horn is making very quick work of creating a blade Edge this is definitely a lot better setup compared to the bench grinder and the yellow Hornet is finished in 2 minutes and 45 seconds the blade Edge looks very smooth and consistent and is also nice and sharp 29.4 degrees is very good and close enough to 30. and the yellow Hornet ground away 19 grams of metal or 2 grams more than the bench grinder and sharpening jig and the blade for the All-American is starting off at 679 grams other than the hand file all the other sharpening systems require holding onto the blade while it's being sharpened it seems like I have better control holding onto the object doing the sharpening and I really like being able to see the blade face during the sharpening process and the All-American is the fastest yet in less than a minute very impressive and the blade Edge is very consistent and has a nice and sharp edge 29.2 degrees is also very good and the All-American ground away 28 grams of metal the RGB 950 is starting off at 745 grams and I'm finally getting used to the RGB 950 and it's making very quick progress and the RGB 950 is finished in just under two minutes and the flap disc leaves a slightly convex Edge but the RGB 950 makes a perfectly flat ground blade Edge the blade Edge also looks the most consistent of all the brands and is nice and sharp and 30.4 degrees is the best yet the RGB removed 21 grams of metal as they say time is money and the sharpening system that will save you the most time is the All-American at sharpening the Blended Steel in under a minute the RGB is a little more precise but not quite as fast at just under two minutes when it comes to creating a 30 degree Edge the RGB 950 you'll Hornet and All American and we're off Target by less than one degree metal removal rate can vary significantly but the All-American was the fastest for me at 31.1 grams per minute RGB 950 is also very fast at 11.1 grams per minute a lot of lawnmowers use a mulching blade and many of those don't have a flat Edge using a hand file will definitely work but it's more of an art than the science and creating a consistently sharp edge is difficult and time consuming and the owner drill attachments plastic guard grabs the edge of the blade when trying to work around the Contours however with a little patience it is possible to sharpen a mulching blade with the Arnold with a sharpening jig the outer three inches of the blade could be sharpened but one will have to freehand sharpening the rest of the blade just like the sharpening jig the yellow Hornet is designed for a flat Blade the blade angle varies quite a bit with this blade so I have to change the sharpening angle several times I really like that I can see the blade Edge as it's being sharpened with the RGB the outer portion of the blade can be sharpened with the grinding wheel on the sharpener I have to use the flap disc and freehand sharpen the rest of the blade Edge and the RGB is very easy to work with sharpening the mulching blade since this is a blade sharpening video balancing a blade really helps reduce vibration you can find a blade balancer like this one for just a few dollars when the blade is centered on the balancer the blade should be level if the blade isn't level it's out of balance and the side that's lower needs material removed so what sharpening system is the best I really like three of the brands including the RGB 950 the yellow Hornet as well as the All-American however the RGB 950 is just way too expensive for most consumers and it's also pretty large I really liked all the American quite a bit it's very Compact and it does a terrific job I like the yellow Hornet quite a bit but it would be very nice if the blade rest can be moved forwards and backwards to accommodate more Grinders all the videos in this channel include this one our viewers suggested so if you have a video idea I hope you'll take time to leave a comment thanks so much for watching please take care and look forward to next time

Channel: Project Farm

Views: 627,270

Keywords: Lawn mower sharpener, lawnmower sharpener, lawn mower blade sharpener, lawnmower blade sharpener, best lawn mower blade sharpener, best lawnmower blade sharpener, all American lawn mower blade sharpener review, rgb 950 lawnmower blade sharpener review, yellow hornet lawnmower blade sharpener review, tool rest and bench grinder for sharpening lawnmower blade, use hand file to sharpen lawn mower blade, best way to sharpen lawnmower blade, best method for sharpening lawn mower blade

Id: a6UmLZKnl2o

Length: 13min 39sec (819 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 25 2023