# Work Sharp vs Chef'sChoice



## RichardBerg (Dec 22, 2017)

Santa is going to buy an idiot-proof power tool to sharpen my kitchen knives.

(I know, I know. Waterstones are better. I own some; they sit in a closet, mocking me. Manual jig systems are better. I owned an Edge Pro Apex for 3yr and used it maybe twice before reselling. Sending knives to a professional is better. I know a wonderful lady who picks up & drops off in Manhattan, always returns them polished up scary sharp, by hand, using very fine stones; nevertheless, I still let things grow dull far longer than they should. So, time to respect my inherently lazy constraints and buy something I'll actually use.)

Skipping right over the cheap crap, it looks like there are two contenders:

1) Serious Eats recommends Work Sharp Culinary E3 ($130), a belt system similar to the famous Ken Onion that trades some flexibility for ease of use. Their system reshapes everything to a 17 degree convex edge using a medium grit belt, unless you splurge for the top model ($250) which adjusts from 15-20 degrees in fine increments + accepts a range of finer belts.

2) Wirecutter and ATK recommend Chef'sChoice Trizor XV ($127), a disk grinder that supposedly doesn't suck. It reshapes everything to a 15 degree beveled edge using 3 different disk stages.

My thoughts:

All else equal, a belt system seems less damaging than a disk system, though don't have firsthand experience with these particular machines.
15 degrees is preferable to 17. If the edge is a little more fragile, that's fine; being unafraid to sharpen more often is the whole point of this purchase!
I assume I can kiss unequal bevels (like the 70/30 geometry on my Misono carbon blades) goodbye? Hrm...
I could get the original Ken Onion model -- more versatility for about the same money -- but it doesn't look very apartment friendly. No vacuum, for instance.

For reference, my collection has some nice knives, but nothing collectible / one-of-a-kind. Think Kikuichi, Misono, Tojiro, Ryusen. You guys would probably consider it inexpensive  If the tool let me sharpen pocket knives, hone serrated knives, etc that would be a nice bonus but not critical.

What do ya think?


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## RichardBerg (Jan 8, 2018)

Bumping to the top, now that I've escaped the moderation queue!

(feel free to move to the Sharpening forum if more appropriate -- the site didn't let me post there)


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## Noodle Soup (Jan 8, 2018)

I've used both and prefer the ChefsChoice.


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## Pensacola Tiger (Jan 8, 2018)

I used a Chef's Choice for years on my Wusthof knives before I learned better. A powered sharpener has a tendency to remove much more metal than freehand or jig sharpening. I would stay with the "wonderful lady" unless you want to drastically shorten the life of your knives. If you must, get the Chef's Choice model 316 that is designed for Japanese blades: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FKV96Y/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## HRC_64 (Jan 8, 2018)

> I assume I can kiss unequal bevels (like the 70/30 geometry on my Misono carbon blades) goodbye? Hrm...



OP, read this thread before you make a decision on this...one way or the other

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...-Explanation-of-Asymmetry?highlight=assymetry




Kippington said:


> *A Basic Explanation of Asymmetry*
> 
> Way back when I began sharpening I remember reading through many forum threads about asymmetry in double bevel knives and having no idea what was going on. All this talk about 70/30 and 80/20, "You should be doing this and shouldn't do that", but no real explanation for what was actually going on. So I ignored the whole thing and went on sharpening in my 50/50 way.
> 
> ...


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## rickg17 (Jan 9, 2018)

I... don't get why you don't just use the stones you have. It's not that hard and you can even just use a ~3k stone to touch up the edges between sharpening. More info than you'll ever need here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEBF55079F53216AB


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## RichardBerg (Jan 14, 2018)

rickg17 said:


> I... don't get why you don't just use the stones you have. It's not that hard and you can even just use a ~3k stone to touch up the edges between sharpening. More info than you'll ever need here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEBF55079F53216AB


Because I suck at it, basically. Whenever I try, things end up duller than when I started.

(With the Edge Pro, at least knives didn't get worse, but I couldn't make them noticeably better, either.)

The diagrams quoted above are a tremendous resource, thanks. They're also a good illustration of how far behind I am. I can't even make an edge look like Figure 1, so getting to Figure 7 looks months or years away. Hell, just watching that JKI playlist would take 4+ hours, before I ever got to trying it IRL...!

I see the value in honest practice at a soothing & practical trade, but sadly I have too many hobbies already. Can't afford to pick up another one.


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## RichardBerg (Jan 14, 2018)

Pensacola Tiger said:


> I would stay with the "wonderful lady" unless you want to drastically shorten the life of your knives. If you must, get the Chef's Choice model 316 that is designed for Japanese blades: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FKV96Y/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Oh I will, definitely. At least for the really expensive gyutos. I anticipate using the electric gadget for:

Times of year when she is not taking sharpening jobs. (eg she does tax prep gigs in April, and leaves the city during the holiday season)
All of my cheap knives: paring, boning, roast slicer, bread knife, etc are all flimsy stamped stainless steel. Or my cleaver, which feels nice & heavy but only cost a few bucks in Chinatown. I feel silly sending those to a professional @ $15/ea.
Household / utility stuff like pocketknives, scissors.
Last minute touch ups on short notice, ie big dinner party coming up this weekend & no time to send them out.


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## inferno (Jan 15, 2018)

RichardBerg said:


> Oh I will, definitely. At least for the really expensive gyutos. I anticipate using the electric gadget for:
> 
> Times of year when she is not taking sharpening jobs. (eg she does tax prep gigs in April, and leaves the city during the holiday season)
> All of my cheap knives: paring, boning, roast slicer, bread knife, etc are all flimsy stamped stainless steel. Or my cleaver, which feels nice & heavy but only cost a few bucks in Chinatown. I feel silly sending those to a professional @ $15/ea.
> ...



You should look into Spyderco sharpmaker. I used one as my single sharpener for several years and its good. with the standard stones knives got so sharp on it I cut myself almost to the bone without noticing it.
Its not very fast on supersteels though. But it delivers consistent repeatable good results.

And it does serrated, fish hooks, scissors and whatever else you want.


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## rickg17 (Jan 15, 2018)

RichardBerg said:


> Because I suck at it, basically. Whenever I try, things end up duller than when I started.
> 
> (With the Edge Pro, at least knives didn't get worse, but I couldn't make them noticeably better, either.)
> 
> ...



Again, look at the basic videos in the playlist above. It's not really something that's a hobby that takes time - an hour a month MAYBE - unless you get into doing it for friends, etc. I wouldn't suggest this except for the fact that you have the stones. But if I can do it... anyone can.


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## merlijny2k (Jan 16, 2018)

RichardBerg said:


> The diagrams quoted above are a tremendous resource, thanks. They're also a good illustration of how far behind I am. I can't even make an edge look like Figure 1, so getting to Figure 7 looks months or years away. Hell, just watching that JKI playlist would take 4+ hours, before I ever got to trying it IRL...!



Getting a good figure 1 edge freehanding on stones is actually pretty hard. It always comes out sort of no2-ish. Factory knives often have a no1 edge because it is easy to do with powertools and it retains its toothiness longer than a thin edge. Key is to stop trying to reproduce what a machine does. If you have or can get your edge thin enough sharpening technique matters a lot less. Grind a cheap knife flat on a course stone until you raised one hell of a burr. Then it's thin. Then polish a little on a finer stone and you already went three quarters of the way to as sharp as can be . The dilemma is sort fo that thinning and repolishing takes a bit of patience, and hand sharpening a thick edge takes a bit of skill.


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