Chef's Choice 316000 Asian Electric Knife Sharpener, Black, 2-Stage

I only have Japanese knives, mostly Tojiro and Global, with a Kai Shun in the mix. Apart from their specific profile and edges, part of the trouble with these knifes is that because they are very hard (at least Rockwell 61) they are also very difficult to sharpen well (the benefit being that they keep their edge for longer). I have tried several methods for sharpening them: specialised ceramic stones, traditional and ceramic steel, even a special Tojiro sharpener. I got OK results only and with a lot of effort.The Chef's Choice sharpener is different: you do need to re-hone (in slots 1) the Tojiro knives for a while as I believe that their angle is slightly different (16° instead of 15°) but once you've done that and done the polishing in slots 2, you do get razor sharp edges with comparatively very little effort. Global knives are dead easy to sharpen and in most cases do not need re-honing. The sharpener itself is very solidly made and quite heavy, which means that it does not move. it does not seem to wear out the blades (which is why I stayed well clear off popular sharpeners with a V cut: they work, but they also damage your knives very quickly). The diamond abrasives do the trick even on the Tojiro and the Kai Shun.I leave the sharpener plugged in in my utility room, this way when a knife needs sharpening it's done literally in under 30s (once they have been re-honed, maintenance is only a matter for 3 x 3-5s pulls on each side in slots 2, depending on the length of the blade, and then about 3 quick pulls. Obviously for one edge blades you only use one of the two slots for each stage.Try it, you won't regret it!

I've only had this less than a day and have used it to sharpen some knives. I have to admit I was a bit dubious that it would produce a good edge, but I was very surprised with the results. My Henckels knives are now sharper than when new and sharper that I managed with manual sharpening. While the finished edge is not a mirror polish as can be achieved by manual sharpening I could care less as I now have very sharp knives and it only took a few seconds sharpening to achieve a better than new edge. This sharpener does cost more than a set of good quality knives, but its well worth it considering the speed and ease with which this unit can put a keen edge back on your knives. This particular model 316 was available at a good price in comparison to other models in the Chef's Choice range and is perfect for my needs. So glad I didn't go for a cheaper brand as this one is perfect.

Only just got this so can't comment on how it will fair over time.Practiced on a couple of old knives to see how it worked and was easy to use.Sharpened up my I O Shen knives in slot 2 and it has improved the sharpness back to how I remember them being when they where new with no obvious damage to the blade edge. It has however made very light scratches all the way down both sides of the blades. They are being made by the plastic guides and not by the grinding wheels, the scratches are very light but over time I imagine they will get worse.After thinking about how much the marks bothered me I've decided to stick with it as the sharpness they give is good. My knives will get scratched over time with use anyway so I'm going to have to live with that.

Bought these knives about 2 days ago and purchased this for the perfect pairing (in theory) although the knives are still sharp I wanted to give this a go so got home from work and read the instructions. After giving it a shot the knife is still perfectly sharp… But has also been damaged!

This product is expensive, but it does a very good job. Unless your knives are already ground to 15 deg (most western knives are ground to 20deg) you will need to "regrind" in stage 1 before you can sharpen with stage 2. A good tip is to colour the cutting edge with a Sharpie and grind in stage 1 until all the Sharpie has been ground off. Your knife is now ground at 15 deg and ready for sharpening in Stage 2.Unless you have lots of knives you need to keep "scary sharp" this is probably not worth the money for you. If you do have lots of knives, especially if many are Japanese, and you believe that it is easier to cut yourself with a blunt knife than it is with a razor sharp one, then this is probably worth a look if you don't want to become a fully paid up member of the "extreme sharpening cult".

I bought this and it did indeed work well for a couple of years. I sharpened knives about once every three months so not very frequent use. How ever after this it became noticeable that I would have to run the blade at least 50 times before it became noticeably sharper. Now I completely lose count of how many times I have to rune the blades through and I'm not satisfies that they are being sharpened. So I guess I got about 8 good uses out of it before it began to deteriorate

Thought it was expensive but it has done a tremendous job of resharpening my knives, both Japanese and European. It is far better than non electric types and easy to use. A must if you value having a sharp knife

Bought for my wusthof standard and Asian style knives which are sharpened to 14 degrees so these are the closest match at 15 degreesIt took about 20-25 pull throughs per side to rehone the edge and about 5-10 in the 2nd slot to polish. (the knives were reasonably sharp already but would have needed bringing to 15 degree's)The result is factory sharp knives, even though i didn' feel the burr they talk about.I also sharpened a sabatier and an inexpensive carving knife and they are as sharp as they have ever been.only slight worry so far is one of the disks seems to occasionally wobble a bit when running. I'll have to keep an eye on it