Customer Reviews

Anolon 52255 Universal Knife Sharpener

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of my hobbies is kitchen knives; a corollary is knife sharpeners. I've bought a dozen or two, and tried many more. This is the best of those I've tried. It addresses all the issues. There are three stones with three angles, giving the compound edge that experts prefer (this proves it superior to the carbide sharpeners, with a single angle). The stones are wet (water bath), producing a finer set of cuts, and a more durable edge. It's not motor operated, substantially reducing cost. Global produced a similar sharpener, but with only two edge angles, and has raised the price. My knives include Global, Forstner (Victorinox), Wüsthof, Gerber, Fiskars, and Brieto (my favorite, an extraordinary Japanese knife). All have superior metallurgy. With each of them, this sharpener has produced the sharpest and most durable edge. One of those technologically superior products that doesn't come along very often.

The sharpening stones are wheels that spin on plastic axles. One of the axels broke after a couple of uses. Maybe I applied too much downward pressure on the knife when sharpening, which the instructions warn against, but I still consider the design to be poor and/or the construction to be cheap.

I bought this sharpener over a year ago and have used it a lot. It works great. I have been using it on my Global knives and have noticed no excessive wear and tear on the blades. Some sharpening systems seem to take a lot of the blade off when they sharpen, but this one does not. I liked it so much I bought one as a gift for my parents!

The universal sharpener is fast and easy to use and, being a 3-stage whetstone type,
it puts a nice fine edge on knives and scissors. I have a honing steel that I use often, but if I need to sharpen a dull knife or get extreme on a hunting knife, I pass it back and forth on each stage of the Analon a few times and it gets a sharp edge with almost no effort.

This is not the answer to my problem of dull knives but it is better than what I have been using. Not sure there is an answer to the problem short of professional grinding.