Best sharpener for under $40 including S&H?

[jsp]

My sister in Cali needs a good sharpener for her kitchen knives. Last year for Christmas, I had my mother purchase some kitchen knives that I had recommended as a gift. A Miyabi Kaizen (Henckels) 8" chef's knife, Forschner 7" Santoku and a Forschner Chinese cleaver.

So what would guys and gals recommend for under $40 including shipping & handling? Please don't recommend that she should learn how to freehand because I know she doesn't have the patience for it. I was thinking about getting her some DMT fine and extra fine "steel" rods but that would be mainly for touch ups. How about pull throughs (non electric)? What's recommended? I know most of you wouldn't waste your money on these so you might not have first hand experience but you never know.

Another option is for her to send it to me to sharpen/re-profile them for free of course and I will pay the shipping back. This seems more of a hassle for the both of us though. Second option is for her to send it to a Sharpening service. Anyone with good recommendations for price and service in Cali? I'm just assuming that she doesn't want to be without her knives though.

 

[surlyman]

For some reason, I use several different systems for my fixed blade and folders (Spyderco, DMT magna-guide, EZE-Lap diamond rod, wet/dry sandpaper, strops, etc.) but for our kitchen knives, I simply keep a DMT 12" Diamond Steel Sharpening rod, fine grit (DS2F) in the same drawer. If a paring knife or chef knife feels a little dull then I just give it about 6-8 alternating swipes on the rod and continue cutting. This will keep her knives in shape for a long time, it is easy. If she ever gets to a point where they need reprofiling, she could send them to you or have them locally done, but I wouldn't think she would not need to do this more than once a year, depending on how much she is using the knives. I think the rod was less than $30 and it is easy enough that I constantly keep our kitchen edges sharp.

 

[jsp]

Thanks. I actually placed an order this morning for a Chef's Choice M4633 manual 2 stage diamond pull through sharpener.

Here's a link.
http://edgecraft.com/page2b_m4633.html

I'm going to see how she likes it. I really wanted to get her the 12" DMT steels but that would have cost a little over $60 to get a fine and extra fine steel. Well Christmas is coming up so maybe I'll get them for her. I just wanted to get her something for now so she can stop bugging me.

 

[mkjellgren]

Thanks. I actually placed an order this morning for a Chef's Choice M4633 manual 2 stage diamond pull through sharpener.

Here's a link.
http://edgecraft.com/page2b_m4633.html

I'm going to see how she likes it. I really wanted to get her the 12" DMT steels but that would have cost a little over $60 to get a fine and extra fine steel. Well Christmas is coming up so maybe I'll get them for her. I just wanted to get her something for now so she can stop bugging me.

She isn't going to need an extra fine dmt for kitchen knives. Or even a fine for that matter. I cook for a living and can speak from experience when I say that many times, a coarser edge is preferred on a kitchen knife. One rod, in medium or coarse will be plenty for her. It will be much faster for her and coarser grits lead to toothier edges, and on most foods, a toothier edge is just as good or better than a polished one.

 

[jsp]

So I guess the DMT fine should be okay then. I don't think they have it in course.

 

[mkjellgren]

So I guess the DMT fine should be okay then. I don't think they have it in course.

I would think so. Personally I just keep a 2x6 double sided (coarse/fine) dmt diasharp bench stone handy and touch up my edges as needed. If your sister does not want to learn to freehand it looks like fine is all you're gonna get. It should cut fast enough and should be easy enough for her to use. Just make sure you tell her not to use very much pressure. Diamonds cut very aggressively so very light pressure is all that's needed, and in some cases, too much pressure can strip out the diamonds.

 

[Jason B.]

That might work but I would never recommend a chef choice sharpening product. They've not had the best reputation for applying a quality edge or one the untrained would even consider sharp.

 

[jsp]

That might work but I would never recommend a chef choice sharpening product. They've not had the best reputation for applying a quality edge or one the untrained would even consider sharp.

That's why I was asking here but got a little too impatient. I have an EdgePro "Pro" model and a WorkSharp WSKTS so I've never needed to get anything less. I figured it's a manual sharpener and wouldn't remove as much metal as their electric ones.