We have a very special guest, Nick DiGiovanni, on Gear Heads, to chat with Lisa and Hannah about how to keep a chef’s best friend (aka a good knife) sharp and in great shape.
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The instructions say to use a sawing motion for this manual sharpener. Is there a reason she isn’t doing that?
I have five observations to share:
1) I flinched when I saw a $100 Japanese whetstone (water stone) ruined to dull a knife.
(a 25¢ clay brick will dull a knife just as well)
2) The manual pull-through "sharpeners" are useless and will eventually ruin the knife edge (Yes, I know even ZWILLING sells them)
3) The Chef's Choice Knife Sharpener really works, I have one.
4) Chef's Choice sharpener's diamond wheels will eventually lose their diamond grit and one has to buy a new sharpener. A new replacement wheel is not available, you have to buy a whole new machine. (I contacted the company).
5) Nothing beats (Japanese) Water Stones (I use 4000 and 8000 grit with a Nagura to create a slurry)
Admittedly, I am a "knife nerd" (with a university education in engineering) and understand what it means when it is reported that a knife is made of X50CrMoV15 steel, heat treated to HRC 58.
So perhaps that is why I consider this ATK video among their less stellar ones. 🙁
It's really hard to take knife advice from someone who's throwing his knives into his cutting board.
Nick: talks about caring for knives
Ends segment by treating it like a dart
You can't be serious. Ever heard, just for the example of Tormek
A better method and safer method of actually honing the steel is to draw the knife edge backward, not forward. You won't cut yourself and it re-aligns the edge on the blade. What Nick demonstrates does work but not as well. Go ahead and try it and you'll probably agree.
I went to a thrift store and bought 8 random knives to use to practice sharpening. Even with an electric sharpener, I'd recommend getting a cheap knife to practice with so you don't ruin a good blade.
I'm surprised you did not use a Blade Edge Sharpness machine to give more objective results.
I've been cooking for over 50 years and have destroyed my fair share of knives using cheap and not so cheap knife sharpeners. About ten years ago I got serious about my knives and started buying Japanese knives. Not wanting to destroy them I bought a high end Wicked Edge sharpener. It does a great job on knives down to 14 degrees but that is where the WE ends. I can't sharpen a knife with a finer than 14 degree bevel on my WE. So I had only one option, learn to use a wet stone. Today I can put an edge on any of my knives with a stone in less time than it takes to get the WE of of the pantry and set it up.
I use a much older model of the electric sharpener and I’ve used it for years reliably. I’ve been rough on it, toting it to nearly every personal chef gig I’ve had.
Do you think there have been enough improvements over the years to warrant an upgrade to a newer model?
A tic toc chef? Really? 😥
What about different edge angles? My Wusthof santoku has a 10 degree (double) bevel, while my Wusthof chef's knife is 14, and my Shun is 16. You didn't talk about how the sharpener works on these different angles. I know it must be important because knife geeks use those crazy elaborate guided rod systems. So: do I need to compensate for the different angles, and what happens if I don't?? Thanks.
Great video – thank you thank you!
I bought the manual one and ha 5 times, mine are so dull it is taking 40 pulls, wondering if I am doing something wrong?
Hope the 2 step xv is as good as this as it is lacking the really coarse one. I think it fits better into my needs anyhow as I only want to keep the sharpness not do a major blade correction
Lol – this would have been a good video without the moron Tik Toker. He doesn't lend an air of credibility. Quite the opposite – he makes it seem like a joke. Be more professional, ATK.
Whetstones
I have been using the electric Chef's Choice model 120 for about 6 years now. I would not change it for any other. It works great in keeping my knives sharp.
I always heard to use knife sharpeners you should be at a 90 degree angle. Is that a special sharpen meant to be used at side angles?
My Chef’s Choice is 20 yrs old. How long do they last?
A chefs choice is a wet stone, period.
I have a 120, a 320, an 800, 1000, 3000, 6000 and 10,000 series of whetstones. All splash and go’s.
Electric sharpeners are for commies and cowards.
Electric knife sharpeners are trash. You don't know until you learn to sharpen a knife on quality abrasives, remove all the fatigued steel, learn about edge retention, and much more.
The journey begins (on YouTube anyway) with the channel "Cliff Stamp". I'd also recommend "Michael Christy" and "stroppystuff". I've chosen these 3 for good reason. Good luck to anyone who reads this, as this is only for serious sharpeners.
Please correct the Video information, This verion of the knife sharpner reshapes your 20 degree knifes to 15 and if you like to keep the 20 degree on your knifes, you are destroying them using this machine , below is from the link you added for Amazon.
CONVERT YOUR KNIVES: Ideal for converting traditional 20-degree factory edges of household knives into high performance Trizor XV 15-degree edges
nick is so corny
I recommend avoiding the most coarse slot of the Chef's Choice unless the knife is obviously severely damaged, or chipped, or if it is actually as dull as a butter knife. The most coarse slot is very aggressive and removes a lot of metal, not recommended for your nicer knives. I generally get by with using only the finest honing slot. I know that some of the stores that sell nice knives offer a sharpening service, but it may just be a commercial version of the Chef's Choice in the back room that the clerk runs it through rather than being sent to a professional knife sharpener.