Well I did it!


 
Reviving this thread as I just went through the process of sharpening our knives in our house with this sharpener which I bought about 4-5 years ago:

I spent about 45 minutes on them. They were better but not really sharp, in fact, disappointing. I researched alternatives and bought this one based on reviews from several online sources:
Presto 08800 EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener, 2 stage, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IUWM/?tag=tvwb-20
This was yesterday afternoon around 1500 hours. Well Amazon delivered it this AM at around 0600 hours!
After a good cup of Joe, I went about resharpening all the knives and even added an old Chicago Cutlery chefs knife we've had for more than 35 years just now. What a difference! This Presto sharpener got every knife razor sharp in 3 passes of two stages...6 total passes/knife. 15 minutes for all of them plus the CC 8" chefs.
I'm now convinced the Chefs Choice is garbage and has been since new.
I'm tossing it and bringing the Presto down go sharpen the knives in our beach house.
 
Ya know what? That sharpener sits in a box in my cabinet untouched save for the day it got here I tested it for maybe 10 min. Put it away and have literally forgotten about it. And my knives are in great need right now. I just have not had time to sit down with them all and the machine
 
LMichaels said:
Ya know what? That sharpener sits in a box in my cabinet untouched save for the day it got here I tested it for maybe 10 min. Put it away and have literally forgotten about it. And my knives are in great need right now. I just have not had time to sit down with them all and the machine
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Which one? Chefs Choice or Presto? I bought the Chefs Choice because I got a deal on it and they were originally designed by a local guy that was an engineer for either Gore or du Pont years ago in Delaware, where we lived at the time. Now I'm convinced it wasn't my "technique " with the Chefs Choice, it's the machine. It sucks.
 
LMichaels said:
Ya know what? That sharpener sits in a box in my cabinet untouched save for the day it got here I tested it for maybe 10 min. Put it away and have literally forgotten about it. And my knives are in great need right now. I just have not had time to sit down with them all and the machine
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I use mine outside and do all my knifes at once.

I set a small table on the lawn and put the sharpener on the table, have a patio chair to sit on and another small table to hold a sheet pan with the knives.

Mine has red belt for sharpening and purple for finishing. I do all the knives with the red, shut off the sharpener and let it cool a min. Switch belts to the honing belt and run them all through again. Once it's setup it only takes a few minutes to sharpen 4 to 8 knives.

Why outside? Why over the lawn?

There is a little metal dust that came off during sharpening and the dust rusted on a glass table from overnight dew the first time i used it there. My lawn needs iron so it won't care about the dust.

Why sitting down?

I don't have a table outside high enough to stand at.
 
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That model was not available when I got mine. Mine has these little vibrating "blocks" and just does not do anything. But it's back from about 1988 or so, Does that trizor use wheels or does it vibrate all over the place?
 
LMichaels said:
That model was not available when I got mine. Mine has these little vibrating "blocks" and just does not do anything. But it's back from about 1988 or so, Does that trizor use wheels or does it vibrate all over the place?
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Wheels. 3 sets. I only use the first set to get knives to 15 degrees out badly damaged edge.
 
One thing I never noticed with the Chefs Choice I had was any hint of metal grounds. Not that I want it to produce like a bench grinder, but there should be some evidence of knife blade edge being removed.
The Presto does not have this issue and after six passes...3 for step 1 and 3 for step 2...the knives are noticeably sharper. I did 5 passes for each step(10 total)and my knives are finally sharp...REALLY sharp.
 
Yeah, at least some of the Chef's Choice sharpeners that are frowned upon here and another thread are older (and less costly) units than the 130 and Trizor that I have. I started with the Ken Onion and it performed flawlessly for me and has greater flexibility but I prefer the 130 where I simply move the knife from one slot to another without needing to change belts.

But I'm not a chef and I don't compare my knives to others' knives; I can only say I'm very satisfied with the CC. I can hold a sheet of paper in one hand and get slice after slice of clean cuts.

I think there was talk about the CC not sharpening all the way to the bolster on some blades and I agree but I'm not smart enough to know why I need one sharpened all the way to the bolster.
 
There's a few different sharpeners with the Chef's Choice brand. AFAIK, all have the tri-beveled edge feature, some will not sharpen all the way back to the bolster.

I do have a Chef's Choice sharpener somewhere around here. I refuse to use it, or recommend it. I really dislike the tri-beveled edge, it just never seems to really be sharp. Once you put a tri-bevel on a knife, you're going to lose some of the edge (to my way of thinking, at least several years of home wear & tear,) and that's just the final nail in the coffin.

@LMichaels I'd agree, I don't get why Chef's Choice sharpeners are so highly recommended. Drop the tri-bevel, and just form a good edge. I think the basic mechanical design in each slot is reasonably sound, especially for the models that will sharpen all the way to the bolster, and the stones are generally good, maybe a bit on the coarse side for me. But, as they're currently made, I won't use them and won't recommend them. Shoot, I've sold a few WorkSharp kits myself. My brother even uses one to keep his orchard pruners sharp (he's pruning something like 100 acres of cherries.)
 
This is what I use these days. I've used several electric models, and none can touch this simple, inexpensive stone. I don't mean to sound contrarian; use whatever you like. I had moderate success with electric. But the 6000 grit whetstone is unreal. Yes, it's more time and care. I do my knives once per month no matter what, and I actually look forward to it with this stone.

Back in the day I worked in a bunch of different restaurants. Every one of them still sends their knives for professional sharpening.

Again, I don't mean this to come across as anything but helpful. I've used $15 sharpeners and $100 ones. The King stone is unbelievable of you have a spare 40 minutes monthly.

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I bought this set up about 35 years ago and used it to sharpen chisels and plane blades.
I moved on to running machinery and didn’t use it much until recently, actually because of this thread.

It works well and is pretty user friendly, imo.

Fwiw
 
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