chef's choice m130 professional knife-sharpening station, platinum

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-25
Carefull, you could easily cut yourself!
The warning that the "knives will be sharp so be carefull" should be an audio so when you open the box, it yells at you! The knives were sharpened
per instructions (a must read!)and within a few minutes, both my husband and I had cut ourselves! A little care and we are both cut free, but initially look out! This sharpener really does the job!

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-22
Worth the money!
Chef's Choice M130 Professional Knife-Sharpening Station, Platinum
I have read many reviews for knife sharpeners and this one was always at the top of the list. I was not disappointed, it is as advertised. Easy to use.It gives a knife a sharp as new edge.Well worth the money.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-21
Average Knife Sharpener Over Priced
The title say's it all, AVERAGE electric knife sharpener at OVER PRICE. I should have paid more attention to the other 3 star reviews of this product. I will KEEP this product only because my other electric sharpeners I have burned out and I don't have the time to research electric knife sharpeners. My advice to any one looking to purchase an electric knife sharpener is go to any discount store and buy any one of the many available off the shelf. Maybe someday soon a LASER sharpener will become available for home use.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-08
Somewhat of a love hate relationship.
I'll put my conclusions first so you don't have to read through my ramblings.
The Good:
Small size
Looks nice, well built and professional.
Quiet
Will easily put a good edge on a good knife that's not too dull.

The not so good:
Required quite a bit of experimentation to get the advertised results.
The best results I've been able to achieve are somewhat sloppy and inconsistent.

The Bad:
The instruction booklet.
Despite its well made appearance, I really wouldn't expect this to last very long if subjected to heavy use like in a restaurant or as the guy in the neighborhood who sharpens everyone's knives. The motor heats up rather quickly and on several occasions, under the required pressure to produce the "burr", bound up and stopped.
After getting a good edge on the first wheel, the edge shaved pieces off the stropping discs. I expect these to fail relatively quickly.
The steel in the second slot is not installed very well and rotates when used.

I'm still waffling on whether I really like this thing or not.
I read all the reviews an discounted the few negative ones as people who just didn't use it right.
My initial impression was one of profound disappointment. The box arrived somewhat mangled, though well in advance of the proposed shipping date. shipping was free, which was nice. The price I paid was considerably under what it shows today.
Upon unpacking, I liked the fact that it's smaller than I expected, and looks like a well made piece of equipment. I carefully read the directions, which as most reviewers stated, left a lot to be desired.
I correctly guessed that this was going to take a bit of trial and error, so I started out on an old, bowling ball dull chef's knife made of cheap stainless that hasn't seen use in several years. I followed the directions as best I could and got less than mediocre results. The elusive "burr" simply refused to materialize. My interpretation of the directions led me to believe that the knife was to be held perpendicular to the floor (straight up and down. This didn't work. After MANY more attempts, I finally hit upon a method that seems to work. Basically, you must pin the knife against the outside edge of the guide and draw the knife through with a slight "twisting pressure". Counterclockwise for the left guide, clockwise for the right. This required more pressure than I thought it would from the directions. The result was s good, sharp though somewhat "sloppy" edge. (I'm no knife expert, so I apologize for my weird terminology)
Once I figured out the action required, I moved on to other knives and got better and better results. Finally, on my relatively still sharp Henckels, I was able to put a pretty good edge.

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-21
Like having new knives ...
Better even. Most of my knives are now sharper than when they were taken out of their packaging. We bought this after I decided that I wanted some higher quality knives. My husband wanted to be able to keep the blades sharp after the investment in the knives. I would definitely recommend this product.

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