I bought a Chef’s Choice knife sharpener at a garage sale. It was a discontinued cheaper model. It only sharpens as good as I do with a stone (in other words, poorly). Did I just get a bad sharpener? Any other suggestions? Do not suggest a stone or one of those wand sharpeners and the food TV chefs recommend. They don’t work for me. I will not spend another cent on them. I have bad vision and apparently can’t get the angle right, so I need automation of some kind. Please help! When I move, I won’t have anybody to sharpen for me!!
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the best knife sharpener i have ever had, and as a chef have had MANY, was a little device, that was cheap in comparison to all the rest, and was a block with a handle, and 2 small wheels inside, you placed the knife in between the 2 wheels and dragged it through, hey presto, great, safe, and very easy to use if you have visual impairment, and it was very cheap, most cook shops will have something very similar
these are what i am talking about, the first oneshttp://www.premiercutlery.co.uk/ind_cat.php?cat=sharpeners&sub_cat=chantry&gclid=CLzI5buFkY0CFRROQwod1WXxoQ
i just looked at the price of these, these are expensive, you will get these way cheaper in cookware stores
For sharpness you definitely want the benefits of a ceramic whetstone, but the trick is to find a gadget that takes away the guesswork for the knife angle while sharpening (which is the key!).
One way to achieve this is to use a guide rail, which is a metal clip which fits on the top side of your knife. You then use a standard whetstone, but the guide provides the right angle for sharpening.
The second alternative is to use a product like the MinoSharp, which is a whetstone wheel inside a device that gives the correct angle for sharpening. You just pull the blade through and it simulates the sharpening affect of a whetstone. It’s probably easier to see a picture here:
http://www.sointuusa.com/brand.php?brandID=mino&contentID=mino
I trust the claims that they make, because you will often see Minosharp recommended by the same people who sell Global Knives, which is one of the best quality Japanese chef knives. For examples of this, see these retail stores:
http://www.amazon.com/MinoSharp-Water-Knife-Sharpener-Black/dp/B00005OL3L
http://www.yuppiechef.co.za/sharpeners-&-steels.htm?id=621&name=MinoSharp-Water-Knife-Sharpener
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=13188807
I suggest when going to a hardware store talking to one of the sales persons over in the section where you buy knives, I know where I used to reside most of those guys were hunters and they are very knowledgeable about this kind of thing, they may even give you a demonstration on how to. Other than that you may have bought defective equipment. My brother in-law has one of those sharpeners shaped like a long spear that seems to work well. Good luck on the move and happy hunting.