Electric knife Sharpeners

wolfmann601

wolfmann601

Gone, but not forgotton. RIP Ira.
Joined
Mar 12, 2001
Messages
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Being a Newbie and trying to be very careful not to really bung up a nice knife, I looked at this three "stage" electric sharpener. saw it on maybe Cumberland or Northwest"s Web site and it looks like a kitchen type white device with three different knife "grooves". propaganda says" put blade into groove one, then two and finish it in groove three for that like new edge" sells for around 100 bucks. What do ya think?....Thanks,
wolf
 
My parents used the Chef's Choice product, years ago, and did not like it at all. I think something like that is better suited for someone who doesn't want to spend much time working on an edge and doesn't care too muck about performance.

I like my Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker. It allows good combination of hand work (not too automatic) and "jigging", to fix the angles.

Good luck.
 
I have never seen a modern sharpening contraption based on wheels that did not scratch the living crap out of the blades. Stick with flat stones and you will never have to worry.
Bob
 
I've used a few of these over the years when I was in food service part-time. My opinion is this: do not let anything other than a Ginsu touch those things. Not only do they put fairly deep scratches in the blade, they also remove a lot more steel than needed even when putting on a new edge. The life of any blade is drastically reduced when used with these sharpeners.

That's my experience and honest opinion.

-Al-
 
I have one - Chefs Choice model 130, I believe it is.

Used it on a bunch of kitchen knives, and:

1. It scratches the hell out of them, although blue masking tape helps.

2. It removes more metal than necessary.

3. It's _fast_, and works fairly well. I planned to relegate it to sharpening all the "camping" cutlery, but never got around to it.

Mike
 
EEEEK!:eek: :eek: IMHO those devices should be avoided. Follow the advice given above. The Sharpmaker 204 is a very good system for all types of blades.
 
I have the Chef's Choice one too. Mine's only two stages though.

You can't sharpen to the end of the edge, it does remove too much metal, and it won't make an edge as good as you can by hand. But for super-hard blades (like Chef's Choice knives), it works well enough. Watch out for chipping, though.
 
Just like those sharpeners that you pull down the blade, use at your own risk. I've seen many a knife become a serrated because of all the chips and nicks taken out of the blade by those things.

Chris
 
Thanks Guys. I figured anything that made a job that really required That "touch" had to be dangerous to a knife's well-being. Yup I am gonna buy a sharpening system, but nothing electric. Just sticks and stones and a BOOK!!!!!!! Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!wolf
 
and I like it for sharpening kitchen knives and my Gerber carving knife. But I very strongly recommend that you avoid using the first stage, the rotating diamond-impregnated wheel, as that will chew up your blades very badly. The hone stages work pretty well on your basic knives, but I have to agree with those who have said that the way to go is the Spyderco Sharpmaker. I have a Model 204 and I swear by it. What finally drove me to buying one was that I had found nothing else that would effectively return a shaving edge to my CPM440V Spydie knives. That steel is just wonderful until you have to sharpen it, and then a SharpMaker is a "must have" item. You would be amazed at the way 440V chews up honing steels! Not surprising when you think about it, but it took me a bit to realize this.

Save your money and buy a SharpMaker 204 and get it right from the beginning!
 
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