Tumbler sharpener for Chef style knives?

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My son is starting out as a prep chef in a restaurant (with limited knife experience) and sent me a link to the Tumbler website to ask me if I knew anything about its sharpener. I plead ignorance. Any feedback guys? :thumbsup::thumbsdown:?
 
Their site says:
"ROLL YOUR WAY TO SHARPER KNIVES
Traditional sharpening takes time to master. With Tumbler Rolling Knife Sharpener, anyone can get factory-sharp knives in minutes."

Becoming a good Chef also takes time to master. No one accomplishes anything in minutes.
Your son should learn to sharpen what will become his tool of the trade.
 
In theory it looks brilliant - simple and not too expensive at about £60 sixty quid for the basic model but I think it`s just for speed and convenience and you`re a bit limited at 17 degrees a side whatever so not ideal for Asian cutlery and probably just for a quick inconsistent touch-up.

I learnt sharpening by trial and error and watching cooks and chefs ( I`m neither )
I just practised at every opportunity using everything that was abrasive - walls, floors, stones, bricks - anything.
That was well before the internet looking at British celebrity chefs like Graham Kerr ( The Galloping Gourmet ), Franny Craddock, Delia Smith and Keith Floyd plus later the Roux Brothers and Marco Pierre White on a small black and white telly.
I`ve never read a cook book or done a recipe - never !
 
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I've seen video. I suspect it isn't going to sharpen the tip and heel of a knife that well.
Both parts would be important to a chef, the tip for fine work and the heel to chop or power through stuff.
If he won't learn to free hand sharpen (we have a sub forum to help), then I suggest one of those rigs where the knife is clamped down and an abrasive is moved on an arm. Wicked Edge and such.
 
Haha got you O Ourorboros - yep learn to sharpen by hand and just doing a quick top up when needed to get that "bite" back.
Otherwise it`s like doing a sink monster that takes blood sweat and tears instead of washing one cup, plate and cutlery straight after a meal.
I got a good Chinese guided sharpener called a Ruixin Pro-009 for the Dragon at Christmas and she`s not even opened the box yet plus I have to do her fancy Jap knives myself and she won`t touch carbon - she was supposed to learn to sharpen so we could help the various poor souls who think all knives can be done in two ticks with a crappy pull-through sharpener.
Unfortunately there are no short-cuts to some things LOL
I want a Tormek T-4 or T-8 but I can`t afford one ATM - I just have budget hand sharpening gear.

SHARPENERS.jpg
RUIXIN-PRO-009-SHARPENING-RIG-01.jpg
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Haha got you O Ourorboros - yep learn to sharpen by hand and just doing a quick top up when needed to get that "bite" back.
I just have budget hand sharpening gear.
I've been playing with low cost diamond stones like the ones you have with the hex pattern - seeing if they are something to recommend to new sharpeners. It's been going okay, if a sharpener just doesn't go too far.
 
Mmm O Ourorboros I totally concur - I have one good £150 8" x 3" 1000/400 combination stone an the other cheapie ones work fine apart from a couple of budget no names that wore really quickly.
I`d love a Japanese Atoma 140 diamond grit - but I don`t need one really.
The Catrahone Sheffield - England - electric diamond/ceramic sharpener was £100 and some of the old carborundum silicon carbide from the fifties and sixties still work great.

I`ve always got good results on budget gear.

It`s mostly experience, practice and patience that matters with sharpening fundamentally and I`ve created 3 course wedding banquets with dollar bendy knives - it`s just learning and doing something for ages.I`ve been cooking over five decades and as a hobby I`ve forged over 700 knives in forty-odd years but it`s such a big subject - I`m learning all the time - every day O Ourorboros .

Years ago I had no sharpening kit and still got reasonable results on rocks and stones in the field.Although flatter harder stones make the process faster and more consistent.

Personally I don`t see a need to spend hundreds on one stone when I can raise an apex on virtually anything abrasive with time and dedication.
Everybody is different but I`m okay using cheapie knives and gear.
Out of over fifty knives I only have a handful of decent ones but the rest still work fine for me personally.

I have one heirloom knife but that`s all I need.
 
In theory, a fixed 15,16,16,18° fixed sharpener is fine, my EDC from Olamic is set at 18 and they don't recommend anything steeper. Their steel is great as far as heat treatment etc. That's not a chef's knife of course, but after 3 years of pocket time I have never had the desire to re-grind it.
If the Tumbler can remain consistent, I don't see why you couldn't figure out how to sharpen the whole length. Same as any other sharpener, you practice with what you have.
I use TSPROF, and have a rotary grinder with wheels up to paper, but you can't easily travel with either. If you can maintain the consistent angle, the steel doesn't care the same way a circle doesn't care if you use a grammar school protractor vs. any other tool.

I'm interested in any feedback from someone who has actually used one too, same as OP. Most people suffer from confirmation bias after spending hundreds or a thousand on the best tools, that's just human nature. But it would be nice to have something portable that doesn't destroy blades like a pull sharpener!
 
How many professional Chefs actually sharpen their own knives, and not use a service that just swaps on freshly maintained knives on a regular basis?
 
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