Laser Knife Edge Reader- See how sharp your knife is with laser precision. For use with sharpening stones and professional equipment.

I have been sharpening all types of knives by hand for over 40 years and am prideful, probably arrogant, about the quality of the edge I put on knife for myself and my customers. I received this product today and immediately calibrated it and put a knife that I had re-ground the bevels on and sharpened for a customer yesterday after some disastrous diy attempts from him and his son. I was proud of the job I had done, trusting as always in my eye to set the bevel. I checked it with the laser edge reader and I was off by more than just a little. Time to go back to a jig to set my work. Would definitely recommend to anyone desiring a properly sharpened knife.

Does not work well with slightly convex edges produced by Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener - Ken Onion Edition. I had to give it away to a friend.

This unit will measure angles but it is cheaply made, very sensitive to touch and does not stay calibrated. I love the idea but have ordered a higher quality from England.

Very poor basic packaging, and DANGEROUS, BE VERY CAREFUL! when opening for the 1st time, the razor blade in the packaging is unsecured, and sliced my thumb wide open. I gave the ratings I did because they include very vague instructions on how to use and read, as well as the poor packaging of the razor blade. Had I not been trying to be careful opening already, I would have had to go to the emergency room, Luckily I just bled like a stuck pig for a while, my thumb hurt for a few days prohibiting my work since I use a keyboard daily, and luckily no infection. If purchasing for a younger knife sharpening enthusiast, I would not recommend, or monitor usage very closely.

I've just gotten serious about sharpening my knives over the past few years, and I've realized how crucial it is that I get a fairly good idea of an existing bevel before I just jump in and start moving metal. I'm not ready to spend a couple hundred dollars for a more exacting solution and this was the perfect substitute. I've only received it just today, but I have already used it on 4 knives before I started work. Knowing where the bevel was at the beginning has saved a great deal of time getting to the finish I was looking for.There are a couple of really good youtube videos on how to use this that I recommend watching.

Kinda difficult to use at first but maybe that's just me. Took the tool to someone who had never even heard of it before and they used it and figured it out without any guidance from me except for me telling them where to put the blade at. It's pretty simple, really. The knives I own are slightly convex from being polished and ground on a belt sander system but this knife edge reader was able to still read the edge. The person mentioned above had a knife that had been sharpened by hand with a stone and was concave but the edge reader still worked. (though, it was not really possible to determine where the mark was located at as the laser's beam was widened by the trough in the edge.) Razors work the best with this tool, but it appears they are all (regardless of style or manufacturerer) 8° angle and 16° included angle.Note: this tool will not tell you the included angle. You must double the angle the tool tells you on the mark it gives on either side, alternatively you may view the angle included as being a combination of the two marks the tool displays as it reads which may be different depending on how the knife was sharpened. I prefer the latter, but if you know the angle of both edges are the same the former works just as well.Edit:Big error. I didn't test this thoroughly enough. I used a different knife sharpening system to test the angle of a razor blade and found it was nearly 20°. That method appears to be the more trustworthy of the two, the knife sharpening system can have it's stone's angle checked via smartphone inclinometers and the knife's edge can then be tested with the sharpie trick to determine where the edge meets the stone. The razor was used because it has an edge that is rather consistent from razor to razor and doesn't vary greatly. Also 20° is closer to a known edge for a razor than the angle given by the laser edge reader of the same razor (8°). Returning this immediately.

I say this is worth it because it is hard to take edge angle measurents without an instrument. My old method was to hold up a knife, lazer, and ruler in front of a whiteboard with graduation marks on it, and that was very clumsy. This tool makes it so I don't have to walk, talk, and chew bubble gum at the same time. The LKER is giving measurements consistent with my prior method.Be aware, the test blade is actually sharp and it can hurt you.What improvements would I make?.....As other reviews have stated, the laser is too bright. I mitigated that by replacing one battery with a foil shim to reduce the voltage by one third, and that made the laser pleasantly dim.The scale only goes up to 24 degrees per side. In contrast, the more expensive CATRA Hobbi-Goniometer goes much higher.Aligning the laser is a bit clumsy. It would be nice if the mounting screws were thumb screws or knurled finger screws instead of Phillips head.

This device works really well once you get the hang of it. There is a YouTube video that let's you see how it supposed to work. Once you understand how it works it does exactly as described. There is a bit of a learning curve with this device. It's worth the effort.