Spent $250 on a new electric knife sharpener that ruined two of my good blades

I bought a brand name sharpener last month thinking it would save me time on the block. It overheated on the second blade and took the temper out of the steel, making them useless. I lost a boning knife and a cimeter that cost me over $300 together. What do you folks use for keeping your edges right without messing them up?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elizabeth16d ago

Man, that "overheated and took the temper out" line gave me a chill. I had a pricey pull-through sharpener do something similar to my favorite chef's knife. It felt like such a waste. I went back to basics with a simple two-sided whetstone, the kind with a coarse and a fine grit. It took a few YouTube videos to get the angle right, but now I can put a good edge on anything in my block. The control is way better and there's no motor to ruin the blade.

emerycarr16d ago

Tell me more about the pull-through sharpener that did the damage. Was it one of those electric ones with the spinning wheels, or a manual carbide type? I'm trying to figure out if the heat came from fast grinding or just from bad blade contact and too much pressure.

the_sean16d agoTop Commenter

My old pull through sharpener basically sanded down the tip of my best paring knife. That was the last straw. I watched a video on how to use a basic King 1000 grit whetstone, the cheap one from the hardware store. It felt weird at first, but after practicing on some old knives, I got a feel for the angle. Now my main chef's knife gets scary sharp with just a few minutes on the stone every couple weeks.