What do you think of this type of knife sharpener?

K

kgriggs8

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I don't know what you call it but I have one in my kitchen drawer. It seems to do a decent job on my kitchen knives and my cheaper folding knives like my Kershaw Vapor and SAK but not so well on my Benchmade with ATS-34 steel.

Is there a better, inexpensive and easy to use knive sharpener out there? I have access to a lanskey at my dad's house if I really need to re-shape the edge but for quick touch ups, is there a better design?

here is a link to the type I am talking about. You can get them anywhere and they run from $5-20. Is there a brand that is better than the rest? They al seem to have the same make-up, two pieces of carbide steel set at angles and you run your knife between them. It seems to work okay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42577&item=7115653507&rd=1
 
That is all bad. It scrapes metal off the edge in a destructive way. You need something with stones that just gently reshape the edge without large amounts of metal being removed.

A spyderco tri angle is great and so is the Lansky. It's more expensive for either but it will definately keep better care of your knives.

N2
 
There are some non-shisty sharpeners like this out there. J.A. Henkles makes one that works very well. The Problem with these systems, even the good ones, is that they work off of ceramic wheels. After much use (or not so much use on the lesser ones) these wheels clog. There is no way to clean them, so they must then be disposed of.
If you are looking for a new sharpener, then the Spyderco is great. If your budget does not allow for it, then Lansky makes some similar alternatives. Most of the Lansky's, however, will not do serrations.
-KC
 
Junk. Bad for your knives.

The problem with these is that they really screw with the edge. One half will try to bend the edge one way, the other will bend it the other way. Pretty quickly you will have a knife with one f***ed up wire edge.

They're OK for old ladies with kitchen knives that never were sharp in the first place, since they do have the ability to make a dull knife less dull. But for putting a real edge (one that knife knuts like us would consider a "real edge"), these aren't much better than cutting sandpaper and hoping the random grit pieces happen to sharpen it.

If you don't believe me, take a newly sharpened knife, and do one stroke with one of these sharpeners, then kiss your edge goodbye.
 
As N2 said, these scrape metal off the blade and should never be called a sharpener and should never be purchased by knife enthusiasts. An abomination.
 
I used a v-type like that on my kitchen knives for a while and it takes chunks and chips out of the edge. Please don't use such a thing. Get a lansky, gatco or spyderco sharpmaker. Any of these systems are less than 50.00, easy to use and will do a beautiful job.
 
Wolfman-My neighbor had a practically new chef's choice 120 in a garage sale recently so I tried it out with one of the cheap kitchen knives they were selling. It sharpened the knife ok but left a lot of unsightly scratches where the magnet holds the blade against the guide. I certainly wouldn't attempt to sharpen a knife of any value on one of those things.

IMO, you just cannot beat a Syderco Sharpmaker for the money. It may be the best $43.99(at knifeworks.com)I've ever spent.
 
Thanks for the info. I am still figuring out the Edgepro I won here after the passaround. I would not personally consider using an electric style sharpener but I hear all the hype and have read very little regarding their actual performance. The Chef's choice 120 hypes up that it's a three station sharpener and it does a great job blah, blah.........

I was just wondering.........
 
RazorEdge Systems. http://www.razoredgesystems.com. I have a Lansky, Spyderco, Edgepro and so on. I bought the 2 stones (fine and course), edge tester, sharpening steel, and guides for both small/large blades. Cost me about $90, but I am happy that I got it. I use all the sharpeners I have, some are better for kitchen cutlery, and some are better used for others. Atleast that is my opinion anyway.

Lee
 
The Spyderco Tri AngleSharpMaker is just top drawer, I use it personally and it produces razor edges, no fuss no mess, you can bank on it that's for sure, good quality + durability... A Lansky is a very close second!!! :p
 
This system works surprisingly well on cheap kitchen knives. It is sort of equivalent to sharpening a knife with a file. It removes more material than you generally want and leaves a rough finish, but the rough finish is great for slicing. A friend's mother had a similar one that she had worn out. She wanted me to sharpen her sharpener. On hers you could remove and rotate the inserts. That gave her another 5 to 10 years of use out of her blade scraper.

If you use the system on really hard blade edges they can be overstressed and chip. On softer steel you can start to develop a sort of wavy edge since the scraper can wander up and down. You can also have a rather weak edge. I wouldn't use it myself, but I might give one to an old lady who lived alone.
 
flbache said:
RazorEdge Systems. http://www.razoredgesystems.com. I have a Lansky, Spyderco, Edgepro and so on. I bought the 2 stones (fine and course), edge tester, sharpening steel, and guides for both small/large blades. Cost me about $90, but I am happy that I got it. I use all the sharpeners I have, some are better for kitchen cutlery, and some are better used for others. Atleast that is my opinion anyway.

Lee
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Then the Razors edge is the best around. If not then almost any stone or diamond hone will do. I use a Smith's pocket diamond hone and I can sharpen any knife to a razor in a short time. I also have a rod from Gerber that is nice when there needs to be a touch up. :D
 
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