WÜSTHOF 2-Stage Hand-Held Sharpener, Black

A sharpener can quickly destroy knives and scissors if not used properly. If you have little experience with sharpeners, I'd suggest watching a few how-to's from *reputable* sources. If you have expensive knives and even if you don't, buying a cheap knife to use as a trainer wouldn't hurt and may save you some grief later. Important to train on a knife made from the same material as your knives - stainless or carbon steel. When most kitchen knives are used in their swim lane and in a typical household vs commercial use, sharpening is rarely needed. A honing rod is often included with knife sets. You'll use the honing rod to to keep the knives performing well the most of the time. *Important* to check with the manufacturer for the correct type of honing rod - ceramic, steel, diamond, etc. Honing rods won't abrasively remove steel to the degree that sharpeners will. Negligible. They simply align the knife edge. The edge of a knife will deform over time. Common in softer stainless steel knives. Knives that use harder carbon steel can micro chip. These things can be seen under magnification. It is often this that results in the feel of dullness. When you do need a sharpener, this one is excellent for a sharpener *of it's type*. Safe to use, effective, almost fool proof. Those knowledgeable about knives may recommend using a whetstone or a sander. They're not wrong. That said, whetstones and sanders require set up, a certain amount of technique, patience and attention to detail. Less a task than a craftsman-like skill. There are still many knife sharpening businesses for good reason. Note that there are at least three versions of this. One for carbon steel knives and another for stainless steel knives. There's also a combo version. Important to use the right version which will also provide the correct angle at which your knives should be sharpened. Definitely read through the manual and/or reach out to the manufacturer for care and cleaning instructions. Side note: if you have the budget, take a look at some of the better American made chefs knives. Benchmade, Kramer (made in the US and Japan) and others. We have some of the best blade smith's in the world and yes, you'll pay for them. Worth taking a look.

Inexpensive and works

These work quite well but the 'fine' sides seemed to wear a little too quickly. But, it's probably still the best sharpener on the market.

Nice sharpener. Easy to use and has non skid base which is good safety feature. Leaves a nice edge on quality knives

It’s a good thing for those of us who are less skilled in sharpening. I gave my first one to a granddaughter who was moving away and had to replace it. It frees me up from worrying about the angle I’m sharpening at and helps me keep them useful between professional sharpening trips. I do steel them after I use this and in between uses but I do recommend this as a way to keep knives sharp.

This is a great knife sharpener for my Wustof knives. It has a good weight and is so easy to use. It's almost addictive! ² I've been told that I should only need to use the course side a couple times a year because it's like taking the knife to get it sharpened and that I should mainly just use the fine side to avoid taking too much blade off. My knives are very dull so I started with the coarse and will be better at maintaining with the fine. My mother has Henckels knives. They are a 15 deg blade where Wustof does 14 degree. I used it on one of her older ones with a broken tip there were so many large shavings. If you intend to use this for Henckles, it may take a long time to get it sharp because you are basically changing the angle of the blade.

If you own a Wüsthof knife you really shouldn't be using this to sharpen it. Get them sharpened professionally or learn how to use a better knife sharpener yourself and do it yourself. This will put a decent edge on a knife but if you're trying to hone or keep an already good edge on a knife this will ruin it.

Purchased this along with wüsthof knife to keep the sharpe edge.. preforms beautifully.. very pleased.

Easy and fast to use. Gives the knives an excellent edge that stays sharp during busy days.

Great sharpener. Sharpens knives fast and easy. I have two...one in each house. Can't have kitchen knives without this sharpener.

Satisfecho

Extremely happy with this purchase. As it is made by the company that also made all of my knives it is angled at the correct degree to match my knife blades. I just ran my knives through the course side only a few times and then through the smooth side several times. Results were excellent. I was also happy to find that it is not as big and bulky as it appeared to be in some of the photos. It’s a reasonably compact unit and stores easily on its side in my utensil drawer.

works fine