Which Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener Brand Wins?
We compared 6 lawn mower blade sharpener options head to head. All American Model 5000 came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
All American Model 5000
Price shown in test: $235 when first introduced; the presenter later refers to it in the closing summary as 'around $200'
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Oregon 88-025
Price shown in test: $309, the most expensive product tested
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | New blade sharpening time | Rock-chip damaged blade test (used only 4 of the allotted 5 minutes) | Badly worn blade test | Rock-chip damaged blade test (full 5 minutes) | Rock-chip damaged blade test (5 minutes) | Badly worn blade test (15 minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1All American Model 5000$235 when first introduced; the presenter later refers to it in the closing summary as 'around $200' | 8 seconds to remove the factory paint and edge, the fastest of all options tested | removed 21 g of metal (1,095 g to 1,074 g), the most of any brand, all chips removed but left a burr on the back side | removed 19 g of metal in only 3 minutes (837 g to 818 g), the fastest of all brands to finish | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Oregon 88-025$309, the most expensive product tested | 35 seconds | not tested | removed 11 g of metal in 4.5 minutes (870 g to 859 g) | removed 8 g of metal (1,096 g to 1,088 g), did not quite remove all the chips, needed about 2 more minutes | not tested | not tested |
| 3Bench grinder generic, with flapper/flat disc, no brand givenaround $50 | about 30 seconds | not tested | removed 7 g of metal in 6.5 minutes (826 g to 819 g) | removed 8 g of metal, tied with the Oregon | not tested | not tested |
| 4Work Sharp knife and tool sharpener$80 | about 4.5 minutes (270 seconds), the slowest of all options tested, and left a convex edge instead of a flat one | not tested | removed only 3 g of metal in 15 minutes (829 g to 826 g); described as undersized for a badly dulled lawnmower blade, blade remained really dull | removed 2 g of metal (1,087 g to 1,085 g); described as by far the best job among the brands tested up to that point in the video, though another 5 to 10 minutes could have removed all the chips | not tested | not tested |
| 5Fun Volution$10, the least expensive product tested | about 1.5 minutes (90 seconds) | not tested | not tested | not tested | removed 4 g of metal (841 g to 837 g); a lot of chips remained, especially on the bottom of the blade, which this tool does not grind | removed 4 g of metal (841 g to 837 g); the tool did not survive the test, wearing through its plastic guide at 12 minutes, and 3 of 4 replacement grinding wheels were also defective; blade angle ended up far off target at 40 degrees |
| 6Smith's$20 | about 1 minute (60 seconds), but only sharpened about half of the blade's cutting edge and only the top side, not the grass side | not tested | not tested | not tested | removed only 1 g of metal (1,097 g to 1,096 g), did not change the blade angle meaningfully | removed only 1 g of metal (871 g to 870 g); the sharpener was too narrow for the blade, wore out its own edge, and carved out a section of the blade edge, leaving it at 54 degrees, still needing a lot of work |
How it was tested
- time to remove factory paint and edge from a new blade
- metal removal and edge repair on a blade with simulated rock-chip damage (5 minute time limit)
- metal removal and edge repair on a badly worn, dull blade (15 minute time limit)
“I really like the All American, but it is sort of expensive at around $200. However, it is very compact, it saves shop space, and it works very effectively.”