Average Rating: 
Rating:  - GRRRreat
I have had mine for 3 months and it's greatest item I've bought. I sharpened old knives that I had put in the back of drawers becuase they were so dull from other hand sharpeners. Now, it brought to life all my knives and even the serrated knives and the cleaver. My husband is a charter captain, he fillets large salmon and trout that his customers caught He uses the electric serrated knife and had been sending them in to be sharpen, but found buying new blades was cheaper. So, I gave it a try and sharpened 3 sets that were dull. He's amazed how well it cuts now. Use the last slot for serrated edges.
Rating: - Very nice for use at home.
Above all else read the directions & make sure your knives are clean before you sharpen them. This machine is fast, easy, & can put a variety of different edges on a blade. Although it's very simple to use, you need to read the directions to get the most out of it. I work in high volume carving stations and use the Chef's Choice 3-Stage after work every night to resurface the edges of my Henckels 5-star 10" Granton Roast Slicer & 5-star 5 1/2" Boning knife, then use a Henckels 12" diamond steel to keep them trued up throughout the night. Each set of disks are at different angles & courseness and consistantly put a quality edge on a blade. I get better, more consistant results w/this machine than by using a diamond stone by hand, & it's a helluva lot faster & easier. It's very efficent as well as it only removes as much metal as necisarry as long as you follow the directions. For home use it's the best sharpener I've found so far.UPDATE:The Chef's choice is worth 5 stars for ease of use & the quality of the edge it provides, but it's definately for light duty home use. After a month of daily use on 5-star Henkcels the discs are in need of replacement. The first two stages consist of lightly diamond dusted metal disks in which the diamond dusting eventually wears off. As far as I know you must ship it to the factory to get replacement disks. If you only use it occasionally at home the disks would last a decent amount of time. I broke down & ordered the Tormek Super Grind 2005 [$$$+$$$] for must have accessories, ouch!!).
Rating: - Not cheap, but an excellent value
The three stage strategy works very well. I've used many non-powered techniques over the years with mixed success. Rods, stones, gizmos... Most work fine under limited circumstances, but all fall short in either the time and effort involved or their ability to do a particular stage of the sharpening.I have a mixed bag of knives, ranging from Chef's Choice trizor and Sabatier au carbone to no-name stamped junk. Of course, this sharpener had no problem bringing them back to an extremely fine edge, but the interesting thing to me, was how differently these knives progress through the different stages of the sharpening. This may account for some of the different sounding reviews here. The manual has good tips, read it!
I also have a knife that has primarily been used for construction tasks including sheet metal, sheet rock and digging. Needless to say, this knife was a mess. The 1st stage of the sharpener reshaped the edge in no time. Once your knives are in good shape, it takes very little time to touch them up with the last two stages. Stage 3 is for straightening and polishing the blade, and stage 2 is a very light sharpening. Someone else here mentioned using a steel between sharpenings which is always a good idea. It's also a lot quicker/easier to pull out and put away, and for some softer knives, I think I get a somewhat sharper edge. (BTW this is an F. Dick 12" fine oval steel) There was also a comment about not having much success with serrated knives that I have to echo. It can help true an already sharp edge but it can't sharpen a dull serrated blade. Overall, I've had great results. Both in the quality of the edge it produces and the ease of use.
|
