Does anyone have any experience with electric knife sharpeners? I have always used a stone for all knives but now I am responsible for sharpening knives for my wife who is a culinary arts teacher in an environment where knives can't be sharpener by s

[mainebricklayer]

Does anyone have any experience with electric knife sharpeners? I have always used a stone for all knives but now I am responsible for sharpening knives for my wife who is a culinary arts teacher in an environment where knives can't be sharpener by students. Any help is appreciated.

[jhjimbo]

I have a Craftsman wet wheel that works good. Only wish it had more than one wheel for a final sharp edge.

Here are some I use depending on the knife. The electric works good then I finish with the Lansky or wet stones.

[Drover1]

I was at a hunting camp with a guy who brought a "Work Sharp" belt sharpener. It seemed to work very well on a wide variety of blades.

[fitch270]

Work Sharp is a great sharpener, bought mine before they came out with the Ken Onion edition. The latter has a few upgrades but costs a little more. The belts come in different grits and don't grind excessive amounts of the blade. My F-I-L bought himself one and two others as gifts after I touched up a few of his knives.

[Buckshott00]

I don't care for electric knife sharpeners but I sympathize for your position.

This site ranks and gives info about different sharpeners
http://www.knifeista.com/best-knife-sharpener/

Careful though, not all knives sharpen the same. Different sharpeners work better for kitchen knives than on pocket knives.

[mainebricklayer]

I don't care for electric knife sharpeners but I sympathize for your position.

This site ranks and gives info about different sharpeners
http://www.knifeista.com/best-knife-sharpener/

Careful though, not all knives sharpen the same. Different sharpeners work better for kitchen knives than on pocket knives.

Thank you I will check it out.

[mainebricklayer]

Work Sharp is a great sharpener, bought mine before they came out with the Ken Onion edition. The latter has a few upgrades but costs a little more. The belts come in different grits and don't grind excessive amounts of the blade. My F-I-L bought himself one and two others as gifts after I touched up a few of his knives.

Thanks

[FirstBubba]

I was (repeat, WAS!) a hard core "stone" user.
I finally stepped away from the fancy alloyed steel blades and went back to easier to sharpen mild steel blades.
I have a drawer full of the "Old Hickory" style butcher knives.
My oldest, for whatever reason, left this device. (see pic)
In a hurry one day, I grabbed it and ran a blade through it!
WOW!
My stones (good Norton carborundum stones!) are now collecting dust in the back of a junk drawer.
About 3 swipes through this thing and a mild steel knife is right back to shaving sharp!
This and a steel keep me going during a deer processing session.
Heck! Even works on my Case pocket knives.

[VAHunter540]

When quantity and time are a factor its hard to beat the WorkSharp Belt Sharpener. Like others have mentioned before, it works on all sorts of blades, the different grit belts really let you hone the blade, and you can control the angle of the edge.

[DakotaMan]

Another vote for the WorkSharp belt sharpener. Given the ability to use various grit belts you can sharpen anything you like. It is the only one I've used that will put a sharp enough edge on your knife that you will actually be able to shave with it.

A couple notes of caution though:
1. Such extreme sharpening is seldom required on a working knife such as those used in a butcher shop or culinary arts school. Steeling the edge to re-align the razor edge is all that is necessary for a good, well sharpened knife. I worked for a while in a butcher shop and two grits of steel were all that we used. We would steel our edges with a smooth steel about every 15 minutes.

2. These techniques put a razor edge on a knife and few everyday people (e.g. students) are accustomed to working with them. They are dangerous and can slice to the bone with hardly any force. If your wife uses these knives in class, she needs to instruct students in the proper use of a knife; mainly NEVER slice toward a body part. She also should have some sutures on hand to stop the bleeding and she should have a plan for transporting students for stitches.

I would also note that knives used every day for business can't be sharpened as aggressively as a hunting knife (that is seldom used). Doing so will wear away too much material and within months, the knife will literally be worn away. That is why professionals use steels rather than such aggressive knife sharpeners.

[mainebricklayer]

Another vote for the WorkSharp belt sharpener. Given the ability to use various grit belts you can sharpen anything you like. It is the only one I've used that will put a sharp enough edge on your knife that you will actually be able to shave with it.

A couple notes of caution though:
1. Such extreme sharpening is seldom required on a working knife such as those used in a butcher shop or culinary arts school. Steeling the edge to re-align the razor edge is all that is necessary for a good, well sharpened knife. I worked for a while in a butcher shop and two grits of steel were all that we used. We would steel our edges with a smooth steel about every 15 minutes.

2. These techniques put a razor edge on a knife and few everyday people (e.g. students) are accustomed to working with them. They are dangerous and can slice to the bone with hardly any force. If your wife uses these knives in class, she needs to instruct students in the proper use of a knife; mainly NEVER slice toward a body part. She also should have some sutures on hand to stop the bleeding and she should have a plan for transporting students for stitches.

I would also note that knives used every day for business can't be sharpened as aggressively as a hunting knife (that is seldom used). Doing so will wear away too much material and within months, the knife will literally be worn away. That is why professionals use steels rather than such aggressive knife sharpeners.

Thanks DakotaMan. I agree several sharpenings a day are much better then anything mechanical and my wife has always been able to keep up at work but her job has expanded and a bunch of very dull and neglected knives just got dropped on me. I'm hoping that in the near future it will be taken care of in house again but for now I have a lot to sharpen in a short time. I'm going to look into the workshop for the bulk of it but I'm too stubborn to give up my steel and stone.