Smith Abrasives 10-Second Knife and Scissors Sharpener Review.
"Down 'n Dirty" 2005-12-28
By M. Jones (Fresno, CA United States)
This sharpener will put a sharp, if technically inferior, edge on your blade. What does that mean? To use it you drag your knife through the sharpener a couple of times and the carbide scrapes a new edge onto your knife. The job is done in about 10 seconds and off you go to slice your tomatoes. However since this is not a carefully honed edge it will not last as long as one that is. The sharpener is so easy to use that I don't mind having to resharpen more frequently, as opposed to my other sharpeners that put a nice edge on a blade but are a huge pain to use.
"Knife sharpner" 2008-09-07
By Christopher G. Conrad (Green Bay)
Best knife sharpner I have ever seen or used. So easy and quick to use.Very good price as well. I have given one to every one in my family.
"best bang for the buck" 2009-07-19
By Robert Hoffman (Fleetwood PA. USA)
I purchaced this sharpener and used it on a few knives that never seemed to get sharp and with in a few swipes they were razer sharp. Very easy to use. I want to buy about 12 more for christmas gifts.
"One Of My Best Buys" 2009-10-26
By W. Dorland (Canada)
These things are easy to use and do a really good job. I've had one for years and it works as good now as it did when I bought it. I bought one for each of my family members as a stocking stuffer. They all have had great success with this item.
"Saves time but not metal" 2007-04-25
By Scott Burright (Laramie, WY USA)
I haven't had much success or ambition when it comes to sharpening knives on stones or sandpaper. I've read numerous articles and watched numerous videos on how to sharpen knives, and I've made a few attempts, but I still haven't got the knack. I've even heard conflicting advice. One master chef says it's easy to sharpen your own knives on a stone, and another says that chefs send their cutlery to a professional for sharpening.
I often find myself fresh out of time and patience for all this fuss, and so I have resorted to various cheap gizmos to do the work for me. This one actually works. As you run it over your knife blade, you can feel the resistance as it hogs off steel and forms a new edge. When the resistance is gone, typically after 5-10 light strokes, that's your signal that the carbide V has done all the shaping it's going to do for now. There is no guesswork.
It puts a nice utility edge on a blade. How sharp and durable that edge may be depends on several things, such as the blade's hardness and edge geometry. It's nowhere near glassy smooth, but that's OK, because the nearly invisible snaggletoothed "micro-serrations" help the knife bite into most materials.
The downside is that it does hog off material. It'll eventually wear out any knife you use and sharpen constantly. If you do happen to be a chef, for example, using this thing means that your favorite knife is not going to last for years. But most chefs probably figure out how to keep their knives in good shape fairly early in their careers. And I'm not a chef. Even my favorite knives get relatively light use, and one of those is an $8 Old Hickory butcher knife. So I'm not too worried about the loss of steel.
I do have knives that I like too much to run through this thing. Anything with a convex grind seems particularly ill-suited to it, although I could be wrong about that. Still, it's great for whacking a quick edge onto the average knife, and I use it more than any other of my gizmos.
AccuSharp has a similar device that gets high praise, but it's harder to find. In fact, I bought one and promptly lost it and have just not got back to the one place I know that carries it. In any case, the carbide V sharpener concept definitely has its uses.
By M. Jones (Fresno, CA United States)
This sharpener will put a sharp, if technically inferior, edge on your blade. What does that mean? To use it you drag your knife through the sharpener a couple of times and the carbide scrapes a new edge onto your knife. The job is done in about 10 seconds and off you go to slice your tomatoes. However since this is not a carefully honed edge it will not last as long as one that is. The sharpener is so easy to use that I don't mind having to resharpen more frequently, as opposed to my other sharpeners that put a nice edge on a blade but are a huge pain to use.
By Christopher G. Conrad (Green Bay)
Best knife sharpner I have ever seen or used. So easy and quick to use.Very good price as well. I have given one to every one in my family.
By Robert Hoffman (Fleetwood PA. USA)
I purchaced this sharpener and used it on a few knives that never seemed to get sharp and with in a few swipes they were razer sharp. Very easy to use. I want to buy about 12 more for christmas gifts.
By W. Dorland (Canada)
These things are easy to use and do a really good job. I've had one for years and it works as good now as it did when I bought it. I bought one for each of my family members as a stocking stuffer. They all have had great success with this item.
By Scott Burright (Laramie, WY USA)
I haven't had much success or ambition when it comes to sharpening knives on stones or sandpaper. I've read numerous articles and watched numerous videos on how to sharpen knives, and I've made a few attempts, but I still haven't got the knack. I've even heard conflicting advice. One master chef says it's easy to sharpen your own knives on a stone, and another says that chefs send their cutlery to a professional for sharpening.
I often find myself fresh out of time and patience for all this fuss, and so I have resorted to various cheap gizmos to do the work for me. This one actually works. As you run it over your knife blade, you can feel the resistance as it hogs off steel and forms a new edge. When the resistance is gone, typically after 5-10 light strokes, that's your signal that the carbide V has done all the shaping it's going to do for now. There is no guesswork.
It puts a nice utility edge on a blade. How sharp and durable that edge may be depends on several things, such as the blade's hardness and edge geometry. It's nowhere near glassy smooth, but that's OK, because the nearly invisible snaggletoothed "micro-serrations" help the knife bite into most materials.
The downside is that it does hog off material. It'll eventually wear out any knife you use and sharpen constantly. If you do happen to be a chef, for example, using this thing means that your favorite knife is not going to last for years. But most chefs probably figure out how to keep their knives in good shape fairly early in their careers. And I'm not a chef. Even my favorite knives get relatively light use, and one of those is an $8 Old Hickory butcher knife. So I'm not too worried about the loss of steel.
I do have knives that I like too much to run through this thing. Anything with a convex grind seems particularly ill-suited to it, although I could be wrong about that. Still, it's great for whacking a quick edge onto the average knife, and I use it more than any other of my gizmos.
AccuSharp has a similar device that gets high praise, but it's harder to find. In fact, I bought one and promptly lost it and have just not got back to the one place I know that carries it. In any case, the carbide V sharpener concept definitely has its uses.
