Smith's 2-Step Knife Sharpener

> The most convenient, compact, knife sharpener that I've found. > I use the ceramic side (with the little white cylinders) for sharpening kitchen knives (and my pocket knives). I hold the knives edge-up under running water in my sink with my left hand, and lightly move the sharpener with my right hand along the blade. About 10 very light strokes is usually enough to touch up an already fairly sharp knife. > I've nicked and scratched my kitchen countertop trying to sharpen long chef's knives using sharpeners that I have to place on a countertop and drag knives through. I appreciate that I don't have to set the Smith's sharpener on a countertop. > A few other reviewers claim that the ceramic rods broke when they were trying to sharpen knives --- if so, they were using WAY too much pressure. Use only a very light touch. > Generally speaking the carbide (metal) side should NEVER be used on chef's knives or other fine blades. The carbide takes off too much metal. In quality knives, only the very edge is treated to be hard enough to hold a very sharp edge --- grind that off (or scrape it off with a carbide sharpener), and all the sharpening in the world is a waste of time. Don't misunderstand, you can sharpen such a blade to razor sharpness --- but the blade will not hold the edge, it will quickly dull. A couple of other reviewers claim that the carbide chips fine blades -- in which case the blades are permanently ruined. > Use the carbide side for axes, machetes, and other utility blades made of comparatively softer steel. But even a utility blade can be damaged by using too much pressure with a carbide sharpener --- the edge of the blade becomes wavy and irregular. > You can touch up a utility blade, (that is, make it a little sharper) using the ceramic edge afterward --- but that extra step is usually a waste of time for utility blades, which will dull quickly in use anyway. > Maybe "medium quality" blades (such as an average quality hunting knife) might benefit from carbide followed by ceramic, but try the ceramic only, first. If, say 30, swipes with the ceramic side does not adequately sharpen the knife, then try 5 light swipes with the carbide sharpener, followed by 20 light swipes with the ceramic, and so on. > There is another option for truly fine blades -- a honer. If you see a chef "wiping" two chef's knives against each other, that's what he/she is doing -- honing. But it is better to use a honing rod (and follow the instructions which come with it, or watch a U-tube video). Honing straightens up microscopically bent or folded portions of the edge, and can dramatically "sharpen" a knife without removing any metal. If you use a honer, maybe once in 5 or 10 times that you hone the knife, you'll probably need to sharpen it with a ceramic sharpener -- albeit only a few strokes, 10 at most. > Caution, large rod-like ceramic sharpeners are sometimes described as (or sold as) "honers" -- maybe they hone and sharpen at the same time, but, if so, they are removing metal from your blade. The purpose of a honer (or a leather barber's strop) is to sharpen without removing metal. I recommend using a metal honer, followed (if necessary) by minimal sharpening with a ceramic sharpener. > How can you tell when a chef's knife is sharp? If (with a light sawing motion) the blade can cut a ripe tomato without depressing the skin, then it is sharp. I recommend that you forget about trying to sharpen blades sharp enough to shave the hair off your arms -- in the real world, there is no use for chef's knives, table knives, hunting knives, or pocket knives that sharp, and the weakened blade edges are more likely to chip, and will lose the 'edge' (become dull) much faster. I doubt that you could get a knife that sharp with a Smith CKK sharpener, anyway. That's not criticizing the Smith CKK sharpener -- it does what it needs to do quickly and easily. > Do NOT use on scissors, bypass garden shears, or grafting blades, or any other blades that are sharpened on only one side. Doing so will permanently ruin the blades.

This 2-step knife sharpener is easy to use and delivers excellent results. The preset angle guides make it simple to get a consistent edge every time, even if you’re not experienced with sharpening. The coarse stage quickly restores dull blades, and the fine stage polishes them to a smooth, sharp finish. The yellow design is bright and easy to spot in the kitchen. It’s compact, sturdy, and works well for most standard knives. A reliable tool for keeping your knives razor-sharp with minimal effort.

Both sides work great! But most of my knifes are too wide at the handle. So, about a 1/2" to 3/4" up against the hilt where the blade enters the handle, doesn't get sharpened. But it is a small price to pay for a very sharp knife. I sharpened about 12 knives cleaning the sharpener with dish soap and a long bristle toothbrush after the 6th knife.

I own several of these, so that already tells you what I really think about them. They are inexpensive, portable and easy to use. They handle curved blades easily, even a reverse curve blade which is challenging to sharpen with a stone. This is not meant to be a replacement for a sophisticated sharpening system, but it's quick, requires no setup or waiting for stones to absorb water and does the job well enough. I use it for kitchen knives, as a quick touch up of the edge, using the ceramic side, and also for outdoors knives. Again, I use the ceramic side mostly, as I don't wait for the edge to get too blunt before sharpening. The carbide side works well on very dulled edges, but all carbide sharpeners remove a good amount of steel from the knife edge, so I try to use sparingly. Cons: A few minor limitations that I am willing to live with include: - Because of the compact size (which is a plus, in my mind) the handle is small and you can only use 2 fingers to hold it in place. - Edge angle is fixed and cannot be changed or effectively controlled. - The ceramic rods are hard to reach for cleaning purposes, so they do accumulate steel residue from the knife edge. I am not sure how much of a problem this is in reducing the effectiveness of the sharpener over time. I will try some other methods of cleaning them and I'll update this review. Overall, it does what it's designed to do with no fuss and meets my everyday needs quite well especially in a portable situation. For me, it's also one tool among several that I use, depending on what I want to achieve. I have other, more sophisticated (and much larger, heavier and/or more delicate/breakable) sharpeners, if I want to spend more time and give that "special" blade more attention or if I just want to control edge angle.

This little knife sharpener is A great tool to have. Sharpens knifes perfectly. One side does the hard sharpening and the other fine tunes it.

Works and is very easy to use but even after a long time it doesn't get blades as sharp as I would like.

I bought this to sharpen 2 blades on my Victorinox Swiss Army pocket knife, and 3 German kitchen knives. The kitchen knives over the years had gotten to where they were sharp enough once you got them slicing, but couldn't do things like just pull it through the plastic covering on frozen pizzas without it often snagging and tearing instead of cutting. When pulling them through the carbide sharpeners, it was obvious that some small dings and snags in the knife had developed, not really visible but easy to feel. Once they were gone, I then finished the job on the ceramic sharpeners. Very sharp, like new,though I then intentionally slightly dulled them on the ceramic to make a light tap on skin not draw blood. On the pocket knife, they were more dinged up, but sharpened well after a bit more work, still easy. I slightly dulled the smaller blade that I use for cutting wire, etc. I didn't dull the bigger blade that I use on food and rope. I should have. I accidentally bumped it very lightly with a knuckle a few days later, and immediately felt it cut me. Great sharpener for the price, just be careful about how sharp you decide to make a blade.

Works as should,,nice little sharpener great quality, price, fast shipping, the no -slip pads are nice makes a sharp knife sharper! ,just post office screwed up by 3 days again,, after useing it I can cut paper for sharpness test . awesome.

It’s a great design, brilliantly product. Transformed my knives, I have used alternatives before but this is the best of the bunch and worth the money. Top marks 👍

Es un producto pequeño, y los cuchillos los afila muy bien

I like the fact that it is lightweight and it floats. A simple design makes knife sharpening easy with 2 hoaning tools and it is small enough to throw in a camping kit.

Really good one. It really sharpens the knife after 5-10 strocks. Though the price is pretty high but is worth it. I had a cheaper one earlier but is was of no use. Pretty crap. This one is handy and portable. But since this is imported delivery takes some time.

The one they shipped me doesn't have the sharpening angle selector. It's still a good and simple knife sharpener. It works great, and puts a 20° edge according to the manufacturer.