Thanks for your comment and I'm glad you had a better luck than I did. Lots of people have had good experiences with knockoffs, but as others have reported here, they're not all the same and some are complete garbage. So it's important to read the reviews and look closely at the listing pics so you know what you're getting.
Bought one of the knock-offs a few days ago. Packaging was sketchy at best, but I did get: 4x (all different) grinder adapting bolts with respective lock nuts (all correct) Drilled through guide bolt that works will (all) the adaptor bolts. Blade vise that accepts 3-1/4" blade (size of my Honda). Counter sunk heads came with ample clearance and more avail (and locktite - blue). Knurled and anodized vise handle. Vise assembly is anodized. All anodizing is good-great. Hardware for mounting vise assembly to mounting plate. Hardware for securing mounting plate to bench top (not seen in other products). Bearings at pantograph arm joints. 4 Allen head / hex key tools. 5 subassemblies came in their own bags keeping them all straight. 4-1/2" flapper disk for grinder. Blade balancer. Direct copy of All American instructions. $70 USD I do feel kinda bad for All American; but wonder if they could-a/should-a gotten a patent. Also feel bad your luck in very poor rip-off!
I two tried to save some money and bought the Vevlor knockoff I had to use washers to build it up to get a true 30° angel. I then bougt the All American and glad I did well worth it I sharpen my blade every two weeks during the summer.
I have a Craftsman screwdriver that is exactly like the handle on that jig. I ordered a model 5005 on Ebay for $43. It may be junk when I get it but (based on the pictures) it has longer screws with the Loctite on them, and looks very similar to the high dollar ones. I think they all come out of the same factory in China.
Thanks for your comment. Hope you get a good one. From the comments here, seems like most people are happy with knockoffs. So I definitely got a lemon.
@@jp456011 It probably is high quality material but it's not worth the price to me. It doesn't take high quality metal to hold a lawnmower blade in place just to sharpen it.
I purchased one of these knockoffs with the intentions of eventually letting it pay for an All American. It looks a bit different than yours, though. It's the $85 version (if that really matters).. Before it came in, I ordered the Honda blade adapters from straight from All American (I'll support them when I can) due to the amount of Honda blades that I deal with. I haven't even taken them all out of the boxes yet, that's my project for today and that's how I got to your video. Thanks for posting. Now I know a bit better what to look for and hopefully it won't be too difficult to get it working. I hope that you got yours up and running and hopefully it will pay for an All American for you, also. Have a Great Day!
My knockoff works great. Only issue I had was one of the bolts on the folding arm was too tight & I had to slightly loosen it. It would then get looser with use, but applying threadblocker blue fixed the issue & it's been perfect ever since.
Should have looked closer to the knockoff before purchase, my $78 knockoff is amazing.I also made my own adapter for the honda lower of the twin blades.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Yeah, I should have looked closer and made the mistake of thinking the knockoffs are probably all clones of each other. Glad you had a better luck than I did.
i think we must have gotten the same one lol. everything you mentioned from the solid bolt to the 4 of the same slide pins, one thing i found out is you unscrew the screws you can fit the honda blades in there. BUT even after making my own bushing and slide pin there was still too much side to side play not to mention the handle falling off, but that might have been my fault because i tightened it. so i returned it a few months ago, happened to stumble on someones review of another knock off but the brand is "SoCiMa" its about 70 USD right now but it looks much better and the 4 allen bolts are longer with loctite and im going to give it a try. im also with you and i do feel bad for the all american getting ripped by these knock offs but their price is way too much for what it is.
Been an Amazon member for almost 25 years now. One thing I learned is to never buy a product with zero reviews, (or very few reviews). If it's an expensive item I always look at the one star reviews as well as the five star reviews *_and_* look at what other items the five star reviewers have rated and how they rated them. Some people get stuff for free by leaving a five star review and some people are just shills. I can't say that I feel bad for All American because either they did not patent their product or the patent ran out - it happens to all items. It would be nice if their price was more inline with the clones because I like to support American made products, but at one fourth the cost I went with the clone which seems to be the same as the All American.
They are not "just pieces of metal". You did not get what you thought you were paying for - true. The screws are meant to be unscrewed and hold both edges of the blade when tightened. The underneath of the screws are tapered to help in that process. A wedging action. You said you have pitch gauges - did you use them on any of the side handle threads of the grinders you do have? Yes, you would temporarily remove them to measure. Most guys think they can cobble up something, they usually fall way short. However, you have enough of the contraption to get things right if you choose.
Thanks for your comments. At around 8:15 in the video you can see that I did loosen the clamping screws on the jig to try and accommodate a Toro blade, but the screws were too short and the blade still didn’t fit. Sorry I didn’t show it in the video, but I also removed the handles from all my grinders to confirm the thread pitch with my gauge. And when I said "just pieces of metal" I guess I was trying to say there is no motor, or grinding wheels, belts, etc. For the same price as the name brand jig, I can buy one or more motorized sharpening or grinding devices that will come with some consumables and can also be used for things other than lawn mower blades. I know it's not a fair comparison and the economies of scale are completely different for a small manufacturer like All American, but it's just an observation and I think it's something to keep in mind if you're looking to spend almost $400CAD on a device like this.
Just curious how you get the two small diameter stainless steel looking billets to stay inside the holes of that bigger piece of steel when making your own jaws. Thanks.
I went with All American after looking at most of the knockoffs and watching RU-vid videos. We mow over 20 acres every week and rotate through sets of blades after each mow. My problem is one of the mowers is a rear discharge with a counter rotating blade on the right and those blades are 24.5". None of the knockoffs said they can handle a counter rotating blade. I have sharpened the blades while being held in a vice for many years. The edges were nice and sharp, but now the blades look like they were sharpened on an expensive sharpener at a shop. My wife knows how to do all the maintenance to the mower, but will not sharpen blades. After seeing how easy it is, she is planning on learning how to sharpen the blades.
Thanks for your comment. I have no doubt they're good products and sounds like it was a good investment for you, considering the amount of grass you're mowing each week. Cheers.
Well, I’m thinking real seriously about purchasing All American and after this I think these clones just don’t compare. You get what you pay for I guess. It’s 283$ down in the States. And then with a blade balancer 107$ Oregon you get rolling.
Keep looking on RU-vid. There's a direct comparison and I went with the knock off and it's identical. Works perfectly. Knock offs vary in quality. Do your do diligence.
A poor "solution" to a nonexistent problem. Clamp the blade in the vise and go at it carefully with your angle grinder and flap disk. If you can't do this freehand, while maintaining something close to the factory bevel, then you need to practice more with your grinder and develop some basic skills before attempting to sharpen blades with it.
Thanks for your comment, but what's "fake" about it? I can tell you the money I used to buy it was hard-earned and definitely not "fake", my disappointment with the item wasn't "fake", and the time I spent online with Amazon trying to get a refund/credit wasn't "fake" either. I also clearly said the knockoffs are not all the same and some people have been happy with them. Maybe you're right and I got the only bad one out there, but I doubt it. The point of the video is to warn others to do their homework before deciding whether to purchase a knockoff, and don't assume they are all the same.
I went as far as looking at the All American, when I saw the price I said hell no. I cut sum 2x4's on a 30 degree angle. I put 3 2x4's together put them on a board so I could clamp it down. I use square tubing to make the arm's to attach my grinder to. Work's great used stuff I already had save my money for something else.
