I purchased this Wusthof Electric Knife Sharpener since I'm getting behind in keeping many of my kitchen knives sharp. I have used a
GATCO 5pc Stone Sharpener Gatco Knife Sharpener for years to sharpen my kitchen knives since it uses a clamp on guide to sharpen any knife I own. However this electric sharpener is not as versatile as my Gatco or other electric ones that tell you they will handle Asian knives or boning knives that should be sharpened at a 15° angle. And you can't use the Wusthof for serrated knives. But for sharpening to a 19 to 20° angle for European or American chefs' knives, this Wusthof will handle it (and well). I wonder how much more it would have cost Wusthof to place another set of grinding wheels for a 15° angle? The help line at Wusthof tells me while I cannot use the sharpener on my Santuku knives I can use it on boning knives? Well, I don't buy that advice.
I like the fact that I run each knife between the slots between the two wheels. First the coarse wheel slot then the fine slot. Done. Next knife. Easy. But I have a tendency to pull the knife through the slot a bit too fast and the knife skips on the wheel just a bit. I guess the reason why I can't easily sharpen knives other ways is that by the time I sharpen one edge the other edge develops burrs. Sharpening both sides at the same time seems to be the easier way to get a sharp knife. I agonized just a bit over whether a hollow ground sharpened blade edge while sharper will lead me to keep sharpening or tuning the knife because others say that this type of edge tends to be weaker than a traditional edge (as the argument goes). So far, I have not found that to be the case.
PROS:
Puts a hollow ground edge that is sharper than a traditional straight edge.
The Wusthof electric sharpener leaves a very sharp and very smooth edge on my knife, even smoother than with the sharpening stones of my Gatco.
I can sharpen or tune up my knife drawer full of knives in short time.
CONS:
Cannot use it to sharpen serrated, Asian (Santuku, Chinese Chef Knife), and I would add boning knives.
Tends not to sharpen about a quarter inch close to the heel of some knifes because of the design and placement of the interlocking wheels. But will you or I notice this when we use the knife? So far, I have not noticed it.
