An excellent sharpener

[Phil]

Few gadgets I buy are worth passing on, but this thing works beautifully. It's a Chef's Choice, two stage, diamond sharpener. I paid about $35 and thought I'd take a chance. One side is sharpening and the other is honing. What is great about it are the magnets that hold the blade at 20 degrees to the stone. That is really important. I sharpened eight knives in minutes and they are sharp, sharp. Not scary sharp, but it slices paper with ease. I hope I don't break any rules by naming the brand, but it really works.

 

[MJK]

Knife Sharpener

Where did you get it? Or any ideas on where it can be found or a website?

 

[Phil]

I found it at Target...

Where did you get it? Or any ideas on where it can be found or a website?

...but did a Google on the name and found several places.

 

[bknox]

I use an old sharpener that looks like two rolls of washers. It works great but almost all my knives have burrs or gaps. It looks like the knife had such a fine edge it just broke off. Would a sharpener like the Chef's Choice fix this?

 

[GB]

My guess is that a chefs choice sharpener would fix it. I really do not like sharpeners like these because of how much metal they remove, but if you don't mind that then they do a good job.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I have this sharpener,be carefull and follow instructions,let the magnets do the work or you will lose metal, you will anyway ,but you need a light hand. Other than that that it's a great sharpener.

 

[Dmntd]

Bknox, it is very likely you had a wire edge which broke off.

When sharpening, as the blade is drawn across the stone, a fine wire is formed on the side away from the stone, this burr can be felt. Once this wire runs from hilt to tip, the blade is turned and the other side worked, until the wire has been folded over.

After this wire has been formed, the knife will seem very sharp, but this is a false edge, only the burr is sharp. If put to use at this point, the wire will break off and leave the blade dull again.

Once the wire has been formed and folded, the blade is turned for a full length stroke on the stone to fold the wire, this is repeated, turning after each stroke until the wire breaks off, at this point the blade is truely sharp. With practice its possible to work this burr off in one very fine wire.

This is then repeated on finer/smoother stones, depending on how fine an edge you prefer/need these steps can be repeated until a mirror edge has been reached on a natural black ark. stone, then final polishing done on a horse butt strop.

Every time a blade is honed, metal is removed, even on a strop. I have an 8" boning knife which started life as a bull nose butchers knife.

Cutting paper with a knife after sharpeding it, is a bad idea, kind of like licking a plate after washing it. You could, but why, it defeats the purpose.

A better test is to put the edge on a finger nail at a slight angle away from your hand, Do Not slide the blade across the finger nail, or use force, lightly try moving it as if you where shaving, if it grabs its sharp enough.

If you must cut something to be sure the blade is sharp, try shaving the hair from your arm.

In a pinch. The rough unglazed bottom of a ceramic mug is a prefect hone, using a circular motion, work the blade from tip to hilt, first on one side then the other.

Anthony

 

[bknox]

Thanks for sharpening lesson. I bet you are right. I am going to get my stones out and see if I can save the knife. It is not really expensive or high quality but I like it.

Thanks again!