Sharpal 198H 3-Stage Diamond Abrasion Electric Knife Sharpener

Am an amateur when it comes to sharpening knives. I have an inexpensive set of kitchen knives from walmart that have gotten dull over time. I used to have a combination can opener/knife sharpener that had a strong motor with a grinding wheel that did an ok job of sharpening knives. It finally wore out so i bought another can opener but it didn't have a knife sharpener on it. The only other sharpeners I had were hand held ones that did an ok job too, but not on really dull knives. So I bought this sharpener for its versatility and ability to sharpen knives in any state of sharpness, ( or dullness ). So I used this sharpener on about 12 knives that were in various states of sharpness depending on how much I used them. The ones I used the most were very dull and so I used all three steps on them. This method using the coarse, fine, and polishing slots did a good job of putting a NEW edge on the blades and making them very sharp. I found that slicing raw carrots was no longer a chore with the knives slapping the cutting board hard. Instead they glided through the carrots with ease and I found it easy to get very thin slices of carrots. Now I don't have to clean my food processor's slicing blade every time I want some thinly sliced veggies. For the knives that were not totally dull, I was able to use just slots 2 and 3 to get good sharpness. For knives that had an edge on them already, I just ran them through the number 3 slot a couple of times and they ended up with a fine cutting edge. Since the number 3 slot does not have a rotating disc, it means the sharpener does not have to be on when using this slot. So what I did was sharpen all the knives and then unplug the sharpener, put the power supply in the drawer and leave the sharpener on the counter next to the knife rack to use the number 3 slot to maintain the edge on every knife after each use. This way the knives will always be sharp and ready to use when I need them. I found that when I first used the number 1 slot, the sharpener stalled as soon as I put the knife in. This was because I used too much downward pressure on the knife. There was a slight learning curve on how much pressure to use, but after a couple of minutes I was good to go. I think a good way to explain the best way to use it is to set the knife gently in the slot and let gravity provide the downward pressure as you draw the knife through the slot. This is a good starting point and for heavier knives this may be all the pressure you need. Also when using slot 3, I found that if I laid the knives flat against the bevels of the slot when drawing the knives through, you could feel the reaction of the knives to the process better than when holding at 90 degrees like the manual instructions tell you to do. Doing this allowed me to have a better knowledge of when the knives were done by being able to actually feel and hear when the edge was smoothly polished. Hopefully this method won't wear the sharpener out.

This made my knives Japanese Sword sharp with minimal effort. I could fillet the zest off of a lime with very little effort. This way s the best knife sharpener I have ever purchased. I love it