Electric Knife Sharpener
Equipment
Contributors to this thread:
Considering an electric knife sharpener. Let's hear your pro/con experience, thoughts and recommendations.
love the ken onion work sharp. awesome tool
Chefs Choice 317. For thick hunting knives as well as thin. Has a strop which is nice.
Had an old school setup,great for shaping blade but finish needs diamond stone.
JUST SAY NO...MAYBE... If you are sharpening buck knives or of a similar quality it is fine. I have one, and use it on certain knives all the time! it gets the job done pretty fast, with good results, but not great IMHO. If you are sharpening higher end knives and nice quality kitchen knives then I say no way. A quality knife sharpening system is worth is weight in gold. KME makes a good one, Edge Pro makes a great one., also just my opinion. I have heard really good things about Wicked, but I haven't used the system. Do your research for what you want to sharpen and go from there. Lasky and similarly priced systems are a cheaper knock off KME. But they will do the job if you are patient and have a light hand. that really is the key to getting a knife sharp! honing with a strop or piece of leather also finishes the blade off really nice.
Good Luck!
Scar.
Work sharp If you willing to be careful
I threw my Ken Onion in the trash. I use a Lansky for BHs and knives with blades shorter than about 5”. The Lansky has worked great for over 30 years.
We've had our Chef Choice Edge Select 120 (Cabelas points) for over 20 years if memory serves me. It has a coarse and medium set of diamond impregnated wheels as well as a fine stropping station. Nothing to dislike about it in my opinion. I sharpen all our Wusthof kitchen knives on them, from 4" blades up to 8" and a couple of huge non-Wusthof "watermelon" carving knives as well. Puts a hair shaving edge on in under a minute when I am touching them up. I consider Wusthof a high quality kitchen knife and the Chef's Choice has done no damage to them over the the last 20 years, and our knives are always razor sharp.
For cutting meat, I use a Wusthof fillet knife and it touches the blade up with a couple of strokes thru the powered wheels. Every 3rd time I touch up I go thru the medium diamond wheels first before the fine stropping wheel station.
I sharpen my everyday use Leatherman on it, as well as touching up replaceable broadhead blades....which are tricky to hold...usually accomplished with a pair of vise grips out on the end, and sometimes I sharpen them from each end, but ultimately get them super sharp.
The coarse diamond wheel station is used for initially setting the blade angle on a knife that has not previously been sharpened on the Chef's Choice. Also to repair a blade that was seriously dinged into a rock or steel.
I even re-sharpen the throw-away scalpel blades for my Havalon....works fine, but I do hold them with a set of vise grips.
Good luck!
Scar Finga I’m running your knife through an electric! Hahaha!!!
Joe... You have been un-invited!! LOL
Then again, you may need to by the time you get it! HA!
One of the reasons I don't like them (electric sharpeners) is because they can scratch the blades. The electric sharpeners and the Work sharp can be an effective tool, but most people I have seen use them don't use it right. They push down way to hard, don't pull at a steady pace, one inch per second with a very steady hand, usually they end up with small waves in the blade that are a bitch to ever get out.
I have a Dunn sharpening system, I used to put up a lot of fur and a sharp knife in a short amount of time was very important. My wheels are mounted on a standard bench grinder with no guards. I can get most any knife shaving sharp in less than a minute. Once its sharp use a steel regularly.
we used a dunn system when my dad and i trapped alot , worked great. at the moment i use a lansky .
I have a worksharp and love it. I quickly put good edges back on very dull knifes and it quickly keeps butchering knifes sharp.
My wife has a kitchen knife that wouldn't cut a tomato, it crushed it first! A couple passes and it slices the tomato nice and clean.
One down side, my wife hates the sound, says it sounds like a dentist drilling. To the point that she needs to leave the room.
i've been using these for year and years. you know how many deer are skinned every year at my shop.....
it's not dummy proof - but its the best system i have used....
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-8-Razor-Sharp-Edgemaking-System/G5937?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu9GKvdfC3wIVAw5pCh14QQHwEAQYAyABEgIj1vD_BwE
grubby's Link
The grizzly is the same as a dunn
You can actually make your own Grizzly/ Dunn type system. 6-7 inch round piece of 3/4" MDF or Baltic Birch plywood work the best. YouTube it! It works really well and will get a knife very very sharp. You have to turn the grinder around, yes so it runs backwards... DO NOT Try it Forward! You will seriously injure yourself! Remove the guards and you must be steady and be very careful! But, it's pretty easy! Just Be Careful... Oh, I already said that!
I can't remember the name but I have a mdf wheel that goes on my grinder that I can turn a butter knife into a surgical scaple that you can shave with a little jewelers compound
My mom hunted until age 89. She had an electric sharpener that I used for her knives which were a mix of junk and antiquity. Two that had some great steel were so old that they were ground down to maximum thickness. There is no way I could sharpen them by hand.
Besides about a dozen hunting knives I have about 30 or so Chicago Cutlery knives. I sharpen them by hand and for the Buck Knives I use a Lansky.
For routine kitchen use I think 99% of Americans would benefit from an electric sharpener.
Well after everyone’s help my vote is a Work Sharp. I’ve owned one since they first came out and just never mastered it to the point where I was satisfied with my blade sharpness.
I went to BPS today and talked with an associate in the sharpening area. He was pushing the newer 2-part sharpener. It would cost $250. I asked him about the original model and he told me it would work, it just didn’t have all the adjustments of the newer model.
I bought me some new abrasive bands to fit my unit and came home and really devoted some time on sharpening my blades. After getting them shaving sharp, I stropped with a leather strop and knife blade are really sharp.
I saw on one of the boxes that something like 3 million units have been sold. I figure if they 3 million had been sold then they must work and people are satisfied with the results. Guess I’m one of the 3 million satisfied customers now. Thanks for your input.
If it works for you, that's all that matters. Get sharp and go kill some thing to skin and eat:)
God Bless!
Outdoor edge razor pro. Just change the blade.
"Outdoor edge razor pro. Just change the blade".
I actually sharpen all the new blades from my Outdoor Edge Razor with the Cabelas Chef's Choice three station. Then resharpen after use and back in the case they go. Much sharper than factory.
Another for chefs choice. Had mine for +20 years and still works great.
I was given a set of paper wheels and leather strop wheel for Christmas this year. So far results have been mixed but it is fun to use. Nice edge on my fillet knives but still have a lot of practice to get it perfect
Craig
Nothing wrong with the Lansky, but the Gatco system is a bit easier to adjust because the rods slide inside the handles. No messing with wingnuts.
Tried the Worksharp; wasn't impressed. To each his own.
I have the Ken onion work sharp I’ll make someone a great deal on.
I must be really old school,,,, I just use a coarse and fine stone, and some oil, and a piece of leather,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,