- Joined
- Nov 21, 2006
- Messages
- 113
The Chefs Choice edgeselect 120 is a three station electric sharpener app.12"x4"x4".Mine is black.It also comes in white,red,chrome plated and brushed stainless.I bought mine from a place called livingincomfort.com.Not really a knife store but one of those buy low sell high doo-dad places so common on the internet.Paid $130 shipped on wednsday morning was waiting for me friday afternoon,so that's good.It was packaged inside a larger box with NO filler material(peanuts etc.)so I don't necessesarily recommend them.The fact that it did survive the journey unscathed speaks well of the sturdiness of the CC-120.
The way it works is to run the blade through the first station which consists of two coarse diamond grinding wheels,one for each side.This removes a lot of metal from the blade and sets the initial bevel.For a badly damaged or too thick blade you can run it through more then once.After the initial sharpening one should not have to use this station again.Well unless you like to chop concrete
The second station also consists of two diamond grinding wheels this time much finer.Does not remove nearly as much metal as the first station.This sets the secondary bevel.It is also for everyday sharpening of dull knives.The literature that came with the 120 said you can do the initial sharpening on station two if the edge is okay just dull.I found it works much better if I did the initial profiling on station one.
Station number three consists of two leather stropping wheels.The name is pretty self-explanatory.This polishes the final edge and is good for quick touch-ups.Removes VERY little metal at all.
You can use the three stations in varying orders,number of strokes etc. to get different edges from very toothy to very fine.
My first try was on ak74 kalishnakov auto.It's my at home beater knife.Has a 3" blade of AUS-8 with a full height flat grind,distal taper and teflon coating.Nice thin blade.This knife is a cardboard and blister pack champ straight out of the box but could never push cut newsprint.Definitely kind of dull at this point.Took me three tries to get the hang of the 120 about twenty minutes total till I figured out the correct pressure and time.Once I got that all figured out the AK-74 came out with a beautiful polished symetrical edge that easily push cut newsprint and glided through cardboard,I have no blister packs to try it on right now.There was significant scuffing of the teflon finish however.
Next I did my edc,a Queen/S&M/Bowie mini sunfish in ats-34.Again the CC120 did a real nice job with minimal scuffing of the mirror finish but it was pretty scuffed up anyway as I really abuse this one.Again it pushcut newsprint easily and guided through cardboard.Took about three minutes total.I only did the large blade on this one since I rarely use the small blade.This gives me a good point of reference.Out of the box the small blade was considerably sharper then the large.My friend Fred has been sharpening the large blade (and trying to teach me how to sharpen freehand-HAH!) for me every couple weeks.He did improve sharpness from the factory state but could never get it as sharp as the smaller blade.After the CC120 the large blade is noticably sharper then the small blade.
Did a couple of other blades and then moved on to the Busse Satin Jack Tac.I had bought this one off the exchange a little while back for $315,by far my most expensive knife purchase to date.It was brand spanking factory fresh.I was utterly horrified when I recieved it and it would not actually cut anything.Spoke to Garth@Busse and he patiently explained to me how the SJT was designed to stab its way out of a burning tank and the edge was intentionally left that dull.He offered to reprofile it for free.
Chefs Choice to the rescue! I had to grind a lot of INFI off the edge before it even began to resemble a knife.After five passes through (about fifteen minutes) finally got an acceptable edge.No scuffing of the finish!Would not pushcut newsprint but would now cut (but not glide) through cardboard,easily shaved armhair though.A little torture testing.There's a old dead satin leaf tree in a vacant lot nearby.The wood is incredibly hard.I hacked off a branch about three inches around by six feet long.Then I chopped that into one foot long pieces.This took me over an hour and my right arm is very sore.There was some dulling but no visible edge damage and had it re-sharpened with one run per side in station two and a couple through station three in just a minute or two.
Did you make it this far?
I am extremely pleased with my Chefs Choice 120 and find it performs just as advertised.I know there other sharpening solutions that are just as good or better.But when the convenience and quickness of the the 120 are factored in,then for me,it is hard to beat.
Andy K
The way it works is to run the blade through the first station which consists of two coarse diamond grinding wheels,one for each side.This removes a lot of metal from the blade and sets the initial bevel.For a badly damaged or too thick blade you can run it through more then once.After the initial sharpening one should not have to use this station again.Well unless you like to chop concrete
The second station also consists of two diamond grinding wheels this time much finer.Does not remove nearly as much metal as the first station.This sets the secondary bevel.It is also for everyday sharpening of dull knives.The literature that came with the 120 said you can do the initial sharpening on station two if the edge is okay just dull.I found it works much better if I did the initial profiling on station one.
Station number three consists of two leather stropping wheels.The name is pretty self-explanatory.This polishes the final edge and is good for quick touch-ups.Removes VERY little metal at all.
You can use the three stations in varying orders,number of strokes etc. to get different edges from very toothy to very fine.
My first try was on ak74 kalishnakov auto.It's my at home beater knife.Has a 3" blade of AUS-8 with a full height flat grind,distal taper and teflon coating.Nice thin blade.This knife is a cardboard and blister pack champ straight out of the box but could never push cut newsprint.Definitely kind of dull at this point.Took me three tries to get the hang of the 120 about twenty minutes total till I figured out the correct pressure and time.Once I got that all figured out the AK-74 came out with a beautiful polished symetrical edge that easily push cut newsprint and glided through cardboard,I have no blister packs to try it on right now.There was significant scuffing of the teflon finish however.
Next I did my edc,a Queen/S&M/Bowie mini sunfish in ats-34.Again the CC120 did a real nice job with minimal scuffing of the mirror finish but it was pretty scuffed up anyway as I really abuse this one.Again it pushcut newsprint easily and guided through cardboard.Took about three minutes total.I only did the large blade on this one since I rarely use the small blade.This gives me a good point of reference.Out of the box the small blade was considerably sharper then the large.My friend Fred has been sharpening the large blade (and trying to teach me how to sharpen freehand-HAH!) for me every couple weeks.He did improve sharpness from the factory state but could never get it as sharp as the smaller blade.After the CC120 the large blade is noticably sharper then the small blade.
Did a couple of other blades and then moved on to the Busse Satin Jack Tac.I had bought this one off the exchange a little while back for $315,by far my most expensive knife purchase to date.It was brand spanking factory fresh.I was utterly horrified when I recieved it and it would not actually cut anything.Spoke to Garth@Busse and he patiently explained to me how the SJT was designed to stab its way out of a burning tank and the edge was intentionally left that dull.He offered to reprofile it for free.
Chefs Choice to the rescue! I had to grind a lot of INFI off the edge before it even began to resemble a knife.After five passes through (about fifteen minutes) finally got an acceptable edge.No scuffing of the finish!Would not pushcut newsprint but would now cut (but not glide) through cardboard,easily shaved armhair though.A little torture testing.There's a old dead satin leaf tree in a vacant lot nearby.The wood is incredibly hard.I hacked off a branch about three inches around by six feet long.Then I chopped that into one foot long pieces.This took me over an hour and my right arm is very sore.There was some dulling but no visible edge damage and had it re-sharpened with one run per side in station two and a couple through station three in just a minute or two.
Did you make it this far?
I am extremely pleased with my Chefs Choice 120 and find it performs just as advertised.I know there other sharpening solutions that are just as good or better.But when the convenience and quickness of the the 120 are factored in,then for me,it is hard to beat.Andy K
Even uglier then your picture.Glad it was just a cheap beater.After that I got the hang of it.