Are there any decent inexpensive, "idiot-proof" knife sharpeners out there?

[RevDevil]

Yes, they usually charge between $10-20 per knife. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[pjwoolw]

Having been the idiot over the many many years of being a student of sharpening there is no substitute for a couple of stones of your choice and experiencing all the mistakes everyone goes through learning to sharpen freehand. There is no substitute and no better experience when that light bulb finally goes on in your head and it all comes together. Takes more time but its worth the effort and cheaper in the long run. Once you have sharpened 100 or more knives well using those two stones its time to move up.

 

[dlong]

Chef's Choice is exactly what your looking for.

 

[Chris "Anagarika"]

Sharpmaker with Diamond rod. It'll generate result faster and likely less frustrating for beginners. Plus the videos.

Or just their plates/mugs, etc turned upside down following the video from this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1029230-New-to-Sharpening-Need-help!/page3

This is the video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SEMLu8e34ck

 

[Rey HRH]

I think he's already got a decent knife sharpener: YOU!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I'll preface this by letting everyone know that this isn't for me. I own an Edge Pro Apex kit and am very proficient with it.

I'm looking for an inexpensive, easy to use sharpener for my parents. Primarily for kitchen knives. Also for my dad to occasionally touch up the Spyderco Cruwear Military I bought him for his birthday a few years back.

For the past few years I've sharpened my families knives when I come home for Christmas but it seems like every year it gets harder and harder to find time to sharpen their knives and do the all important catching up with friends and family.

Any suggestions would be great. I simply haven't looked into any other sharpening system since I got my Edge Pro.

For touching up typical kitchen knives and for touching up something 'higher end' like the Military, a simple V-crock setup would likely be the simplest to learn and the least likely to wreck a blade's edge (& maybe the heat treat too), like a powered sharpener could do in the hands of someone who's never sharpened before. V-crock sets are designed to work with the same intuitive 'slicing' motion most-often applied when cutting with a knife; that's about as simple to learn as anything, especially for people not accustomed to sharpening, but just users of knives who just want to keep them sharp.

A set including diamond rods would make it more versatile for bigger repairs or rebevelling, if/when they are confident enough to take it further. The Sharpmaker is the obvious example of such a set.

And since you already have & use an Edge Pro, any of their knives on which you've already set new bevels to 30° inclusive (ideally) will be a DREAM to maintain on the Sharpmaker; it's a pleasure to use, if the edge geometry is already set up for it. Might be a two-part 'gift that keeps on giving', if you initialize the edges on your EP, and then let them use the Sharpmaker to maintain them.


David