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Picked by 452 people this month!
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There’s an old saying to describe everything from barbed insults to a bad breakup: “It cuts like a knife.” Unless that knife is dull. But you don’t need to throw out that old knife set just yet. The right knife sharpener can have your carefully chosen set of blades operating like new in no time, creating less waste and with the bonus of being easier on your pocketbook.
With a variety of knife sharpeners on the market, you can find one to suit just about any need, from sharpening lawnmower blades to giving your favorite dicing knife a touch-up. Here are some things to consider while shopping for that perfect knife sharpener.
Knife sharpeners fall into two broad categories: handheld, and electric.
Electric
In general, electric sharpeners utilize stones that spin when the device is turned on. They include several slots, each representing a different step in the knife-sharpening process. A very dull blade, for example, will be placed first in the coarser gritted slot, which will help sharpen the knife to a basic level of sharpness. The next slot will use an even smaller grit to shape the blade into an even greater sharpness.
Handheld
Handheld knife sharpeners are simplest; you draw the knife blade through a slot or down the length of the blade as the sharpener remains stationary. These types of sharpeners are desirable for their portability, but the outcome can be a bit less reliable than the electric models. Additionally, some knife aficionados decry the way that handhelds tend to shave a greater amount of metal off the knife than their peers, resulting in a decrease in the blade’s overall lifespan.
Technically speaking, that metal dowel that often comes with wood-block knife sets (you know, the one that looks like a giant, round nail file) falls into the handheld category—but these tools are not intended to sharpen a blade, but to shape it to perform certain cuts more efficiently. In terms of sharpening, they are not the best option for the job.
It might seem like too fine a detail, but not all knife sharpening stones will give you the same result when it comes to the edge of the knife blade. This can be important because the type of knife-edge you want might vary depending on if you will be using the blade for your lawnmower or to dice delicate vegetables.
In general, knife sharpeners use bevels and angles to create a variety of different knife blade edges. Ideally, the finished result creates a perfect balance between sharpness and toughness. With most electric sharpeners, the perfect combination of various angles and bevels are programmed in – the device does the thinking for you! Here are a few knife-sharpening settings and terminologies to watch for and what they mean:
Bevels
The shapes of the sharpening bevels for knife sharpeners is vast, but a few common ones include:
Sabre – This all-purpose bevel produces the edge most commonly used in most kitchen knives. It may not be the sharpest edge, but it is long-lasting.
Convex – The almost sharp oval shape results in a stronger metal blade, albeit less sharp. This is ideal for knives used as cleavers.
Chisel – Only one side of the blade is sharpened with the bevel, while the other side is left flat. This is a popular design in certain culinary knives.
Angles
Knife angle measurements represent the angle at which each side of the blade is sharpened. In general, the larger the angle, the stronger the blade will be, and conversely, the less sharp it will be.
Most kitchen blades measure in at around a 20-degree angle. Smaller angles in the 12 to 18-degree range are used for less daunting tasks such as paring fruits, while larger angles in the 30 to 35-degree range are used for more substantial tasks such as meat cleaving.
Depending on how you will be using your knife, you might want to focus your knife sharpener on a particular task. For example, if your knife will be used for outdoor sports and hunting use (as opposed to everyday kitchen tasks), you might want to get a sharpener that is designed to result in a durable blade.
Besides all of the above, consider that serrated knives typically need special treatment, and there are knife sharpeners made to address their specific needs.
Working with sharp knives shouldn’t land you a trip to the emergency room. Here are a few knife sharpener safety features to be aware of:
Navigating the many choices for every consumer purchase can be challenging. Our team spends hours doing research, combing through forums, and reading consumer reviews on even the most basic of household items, and we summarize that information in clear, precise comparisons.
Join the millions that have trusted Haffprice to help them make smarter buying decisions. We help our readers spend their money wisely and find the right product to suit their specific needs. Our independent expert reviews and data-driven shopping recommendations empower you find the knife sharpener that’s right for you.
We leverage user data to understand decision-making and put the best products in front of each user. We tailor our comparisons to what matters to our user’s needs, specific or broad. We keep our content up to date, we are constantly looking for new merchants and products to compare, and we are quick to remove any that are outdated or no longer meeting our standards.
Our rankings change day-to-day based on our proprietary algorithms that crunch data to identify top-performing products and tailor recommendations to exactly what our readers are looking for.
Written By Ryan W.
Ryan graduated with a degree in journalism and spent years building his writing career in the tech media field. An avid fan of gadgets and tech in general, Ryan has spent years testing and reviewing a wide array of devices. He specializes in reviewing everything from laptops and smartphones to more niche items like smart home devices and security cameras.
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