Knife Sharpener opinions, please.

[rexster]

I had a Norton 3 rotating stone sharpener at work that I really liked, but it's about $250 or so now. My Worksharp does just fine for my pocket knives, kitchen knives. Only thing about the sharpener is to watch how you draw the blade through as you'll lose that point on the blade if you're not careful

[waycoolcat]

Yes, the primary reason I selected the Tormek was for sharpening woodworking, chisels, planes, gouges, jointer knives, planer knives, etc. I agree it is too pricey for just sharpening kitchen knives. I've had mine for at least 15 years and its paid for itself many times.

I see the concern for over grinding on a stone, but it turns at such a slow, (really slow) revolution its easy to control the grind. In about 30 seconds on the stone followed by the leather wheel with mild abrasive it gets very sharp.

[meyer lemon]

I use a Tormack T-7 for my professional sharpening business... I can say it is a fabulous piece of equipment.  Although a bit pricey for home use.
One bit of advice for any pull through sharpener...make sure you begin sharpening as close to the bolster as possible.  I see a lot of knives have a large gouge in the blade due to improper sharpening.

[tskeeter]

Yes, the primary reason I selected the Tormek was for sharpening woodworking, chisels, planes, gouges, jointer knives, planer knives, etc. I agree it is too pricey for just sharpening kitchen knives. I've had mine for at least 15 years and its paid for itself many times.

I see the concern for over grinding on a stone, but it turns at such a slow, (really slow) revolution its easy to control the grind. In about 30 seconds on the stone followed by the leather wheel with mild abrasive it gets very sharp.

WCC, my concern about machine sharpening knives is two fold.  One is over grinding during a single sharpening.  With a low speed sharpener, the risk of something like an over heated a blade is fairly limited.  How many passes the user makes on each grit of stone is the question.  How does someone who sharpens knives on an infrequent basis know whether it'll take one pass, or three passes over the coarsest grit to put an appropriate edge back on the blade?  My fear is that we would have an inclination to take the "more is better" approach when it is unnecessary.   My more significant concern was whether sharpening machines would get used to grind away more of the blade each time the knife should get a little TLC with a steel.  I suspect we all have a tendency to use the tools we are comfortable with.  Having an easy to use grinder could easily become a substitute for learning how and when to use a steel.

[WeWilly]

The only problem I have is my friends want me to sharpen their knifes.

[MrSlick]

I have the Worksharp KO edition and love it.  In about five minutes time I can sharpen up all the kitchen knives. 

I took the sharpener on a hunting trip recently and after seeing how easy it was to use everyone brought out their knives for a test "sharpen".  I expected this and brought an extra set of belts and everyone went home with sharp knives.

[Quarlow]

I know it is not what you are looking at but I have the Lansky system and love it.

[Kummok]

I like my fishing and cooking knives razor sharp and my life super simple....the Tru Hone LC w/ 220 grit wheels works well for me.  https://www.truhone.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=3

[Quarlow]

Ok that looks like a good one but I almost sh.t when I saw the price. $975 seems like an exorbitant price. I can't see how they could charge that much. I think I could buy their wheels and make the same thing. Maybe you could enlighten me as to why this thing cost that much.

[ragweed]

That is quite a bit.  Too much for me, but they offer a sharpening service for a few bucks a knife.  I might just send them my knives and save the big investment.

[ragweed]

Santa brought me a Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition sharpener.   ;D ;D  I love it!!  Thanks for helping Santa decide which to bring me!!