4643

Kitchen newbies to experienced cooks will love this sharpener. I have a large collection of European (Henckels & Wustof) and Asian (MAC) kitchen knives and want them very sharp for ease of use and safety. I also have a large collection of manual and electric knife sharpeners that I never use because: 1) they don't make knives wicked sharp 2) they take lots of time and skill to use 3) they don't work on both Asian and European knives, and 4) .they are big and stored away in a closet. I have tried the manual stones, CrockStick, Accusharp, Chantry, Fiskars Rollsharp and at least 3 earlier Chef's Choice manual and electric models spanning 25+ years and this one works as fast and more easily than all of them. Plus it is 1/3 the price of some of the electrics and it works on both Asian & European knives. The latest Chef's Choice I have is Model 120 and is works well on my Euro knives but you have to be quick with the coarsest grinding stages otherwise you will grind in a divot near the bolster. And, the 120 only works on Euros. I recently fell in love with MAC knives from Japan which are so hard they stay sharp longer than my Henckels, but the Rollsharp recommended by MAC wasn't able to remove microchipping of the edge created after several years of use. Instead of buying a dedicated electric Asian or a Asian/Euro model from Chef's Choice I did some reasearch about this model and other brands and bought one as a gift for a relative setting up her kitchen. I tried it out at Christmas and loved it, she tried it and loved it, her Mom tried it and loved it. Since then I have given four more as gifts or as recommendations to friends and family whose knives I sharpen annually at Thanksgiving or Christmas on my electric Model 120. Only rave reviews so far. I've now sharpened about 50 knives with my Model 4643, including several Shun's and carbon steel chinese cleavers and it still restores a hair popping edges on my heavily used MAC 8 1/2" chefs knife. I can now cut ripe tomatoes and crusty bread without a serrated knife because the blade is so sharp. So small, it stores in a drawer for handy access. Sharpens both sides of the blade on both forward and backward strokes. It is easy to use, but please read and follow the instructions. Unlike some sharpeners, a moderate amount of pressure is recommended (3 tp 5 lbs, use you kitchen scale to get a feel for it). If your blade is curved, rotate the handle up or down to keep the portion of the edge in the sharpener parallel to the table, otherwise you may cut into the plastic body and undo your sharpening. A reviewer of the Asian only Model 463 said they liked the Minosharp ceramic roller sharpener much better because the Chef's Choice because it uses flat diamond plates instead of double-sided rollling cones like the Minosharp. Older and less expenisve Chef's Choice manual sharpeners do use flat diamond coated plates but the Models 4643, 463 and 464 all use double sided-cones like the Minosharp and Rollsharp, but, the Chef's Choice cones are diamond coated metal instead of ceramic. The only cons I find with this manual model is that it takes longer than an electric to sharpen a very dull knife, that said, it has eventually sharpened every knife I have tried, no matter how dull, wicked sharp. Just keep sharpening in the first stage until it shreds paper, then finish in the second stage. Not suitable for thick bladed Japanese knives sharpened only on one face. Chef's Choice sells over a dozen manual sharpeners, the older ones cost less, but they don't work nearly as well as the Model 4643, 463 or 464.

Easy to use. Does a good job.

I was looking for something that would sharpen a high-quality kitchen knife in a minute or less. This does the trick well enough. The edges are sharp and smooth when little pressure is applied; I suspect that more pressure would damage the cutting edge, so I'm electing for more times through versus more pressure). For high-quality steel knives, they don't sharpen as well as more laborious, time-consuming approaches. However, I bought this item because doing it the right way took so long that I didn't sharpen knives as often as I should have, and I rarely sharpened all of my knives in one sitting. I still will use my sharpening steel every time I put a knife away rather than running it through here more than a few times a year. I've read elsewhere that these types of units grind down a knife more quickly than more laborious approaches. I don't own any Asian knives (i.e., one's needing one of the three-angle options), so I could have saved a few nickels buying the two-slot option. One thing I'm looking forward to with this product is its longevity. I think the diamond-abrasive wheels approach make this product last. I have an expensive ceramic rod sharpening system, and for those to work well, you need to clean the rods when they get gummed up after extensive use.

I also have the ChefsChoice model #463 for Asian knives and wasn't too happy with it until I found out that I was using it totally wrong. I found out from one of the reviews that these sharpeners require a sawing motion to sharpen knives rather than swiping in one direction. I didn't have the user instructions handy, so I downloaded the .PDF instructions. When I used the sharpener correctly, it worked surprisingly well. So, I decided to order this sharpener that works for both Asian knives and Euro/American knives. I have an electric sharpener that has good reviews, but these hand sharpeners seem to work more effectively, and they are much more handy. As soon as i got this sharpener, I tried it out on some old Chicago cutlery steak knives we have. They were so dull, I could not have cut my finger if I wanted to. It took 20 swipes on the Euro/American slot and 10 on the polishing slot, but these knives were razor sharp and passed the paper test. Then I tried this sharpener on one of my most used Shun knives using the Asian slot and the polishing slot. The knife was restored to like new sharpness. This sharpener seems to do a lot better job of sharpening knives than my electric one. If you decide to get this sharpener, you have to keep in mind that you need to put 4-5 pounds of pressure on the knife as you sharpen it. You also need to use a saw motion rather that the one-directional motion used for most sharpeners. If you use it correctly, this sharpener will sharpen your dullest knives. UPDATE 04/03/20: I have been using this sharpener for about 2 years, and it still sharpens my knives as well today as the day I bought it. I know some people prefer sharpening stones or rods, but when using these, you have to make sure you use them at the correct angle of the blade. If you don't, you can easily damage the blade of an expensive knife. By using this knife sharpener, I only need to use the correct slot for the type of knife I am sharpening and then use the honing/polishing slot. Once I sharpen a knife, I have to be careful so I don't accidentally cut myself. A couple of times, when I was in a hurry, I lightly touched the blade of a sharpened knife on my hand or finger, and didn't realize I cut myself until I saw the blood. UPDATE 06/11/22: I have had this sharpener for over 4 years, and just noticed it isn't sharpening knives as well as it used to. lSo, I bought another and love it as much as the previous sharpener when I first got it. I swipe the knife back and forth in the appropriate slot (Asian or Euro) 20 or so times, and then do the same using the honing/polishing slot. After sharpening, even the less expensive knives are razor sharp. As mentioned previously, after sharpening knives, even the slightest touch to your skin will cause a cut. Most often you don't realize you were cut until you see the blood. If this sharpener ever wears out, I will definitely buy another. I have given away the electric sharpener I had as it never worked as well as this one. UPDATE 09/06/25: So, it is now 3 years later, and the sharpener I bought in 2022, isn't working as well as it used to. So, I bought another one and also decided to try another that included a scissor sharpener that cost more than this one. Having tried both sharpeners, this sharpener does a much better job of sharpening knives. I will be returning the sharpener with the scissor sharpener and look for a sharpener that is only for scissors. I have used this brand and model of knife sharpener since 2018 (7 years), and have not yet found a sharpener that works as well as this one. I hope this review was helpful for you. I will update this review if my opinion changes.

Made my dull knives super sharp. So easy to use. Great purchase.

Ich habe einige Schärfsysteme zuhause (Lansky, Diamantsteine, Wassersteine, Worksharp Onion) und benutze diesen Schärfer am liebsten für die Alltagsmesser. Die erreichte Schärfe ist sehr gut. Natürlich kann man noch mehr erreichen mit den anderen Systemenm aber das nur mit einem vielfachen des Aufwands. Wer möchte kann die Messer danach auch auf einem Lederriemen mit einer feinen Schleifpaste auf Rasierschärfe bekommen. Den Tomaten- und Papiertest bestehen sie aber auch ohne hervorragend. Für sehr sehr hochwertige Messer >150€ würde ich einen anderen Schärfer einsetzen, da die Messer kaum sichtbare Spuren durch die Führung bekommen können. Für Alltagsmesser ist das aber nicht relevant. Da möchte ich nur schnell wieder scharfe Messer haben. Wichtig ist das man die Messer schön gerade und mit etwas Druck durchschiebt (wie in der Anleitung beschrieben).

Excelente calidad, tengo unos cuchillos japoneses que compré en Japón hace unos años, siempre tuve miedo de afilarlos con algo más que no fuera la piedra, pero necesitaba algo más rápido. Compré este afilador después de ver reseñas en internet y se pudieron afilar perfecto sin ningún rayón o abolladura. 100% recomendado.

Highly usable & effective

I have had various makes of manual wheel sharpeners including Minosharp & Kitchen devils. This is by far the best. I am concerned about the longevity of the wheels but after sharpening 8 different knives, including Global & Robert Welch, I am extremely impressed by how sharp they all are. On first use it is clear that the diamond abrasive is really working hard and it quickly grinds the edge back to remove a few years worth of damage. It is a bit expensive but since it really works well I believe it still represents the best value.

Had just recently been upgraded to a better quality set of kitchen knives. And we're still learning how to use the whetstone. In the meantime, this would certainly help alot. The build quality is superb and we like that its using polishing wheels instead of a plate with the abrasive glued onto it.