Its $129 but it works exceptionally well and fast. It’s a belt driven sharpener with knife guides from 15 Degrees to 30. It takes about 7 min per knife but they are razor sharp.
For those of us who are slightly mechanically challenged, The Ken onion is a savior. I have read lots of TS prof comments and I prefer setting and gliding knives through .
Seems like possibly a good compromise for me. I don’t have a knife collection outside of kitchen knives so the whole TS Prof thing always seems like overkill. The local guy only charges 1.50 per inch so he’s not getting rich, but it would be nice to be able to just do it myself before they get to the point of having to take them to him. I’d never heard of this one so thanks for the link.
Using a belt grinder on a fine steel knife should result in all nice things being taken away from you. Steel was forged by hand then hand made into a glorious knife then you take an industrial tool and hack it like its an axe blade.
Japanese knives must be hand sharpened on stones, if your to lazy or dumb to do this then you should just buy cheap shitty knives that nobody cares how they are sharpened
Japanese Knife imports are great, they are high end though so not much in the way of starter stuff. CKTG in Wisconsin is also great, Mark who runs it does get occasionally knocked in the knife forums but its not justified, he does a great job of balancing commercial awareness with good product good customer service
The purists among you make me laugh and cringe. It’s the same on the wine board. God forbid, one of us actually gets more pleasure from IGP Languedoc wines than first growths. If you actually took the time to learn about the Ken Onion. It’s designed by one of the best knife makers in the States. Watch the reviews on Youtube.
I ask, how long does it take to sharpen a Japanese knife on stones? Bet it’s a lot longer…
More importantly, the belts with different grits have not harmed my knives. It 's a question of skill and knowledge. This myth that Japanese knives need to sharpened on a stone is total BS.
I am a former Paris trained, Michelin 3 star trained chef. I have owned Global knives for a very long time and I will gladly hold up my razor sharp edges to any stone sharpened knives. I haven’t chipped a blade or rendered it un-sharpenable(sic). One of the great things about the Ken Onion is that I have a quiver of knives with different angles of attack on the blades. It makes it really easy to go from my 30 degree Chinese cleaver to the 16 degree Global knives. Also, there is a guide that creates less chance of angle error.
I propose “getting off your high horse” and realize that most of us can’t spend hours upon hours using stones. By the way, replacement Grit belts only cost $20.
Please continue your own habits and traditions. I will also continue to expose this community to newer interesting and less expensive wines and to technology that saves money and creates more leisure time for the home chef.
I spend $150 to have 7 medium and large European, American and Japanese knives sharpened in the Greater Boston area and i always have to touch them up myself.