Andrew James Electric Knife Sharpener | Professional Knives Sharpener for Kitchen Knives & Chefs Knives | Electric Knife Sharpeners with 2 Grinding Wheels | Grinds, Sharpens and Hones Blades

When the time came for me to purchase a new knife sharpener I, like just about everyone else, searched the net to see what was not only the very best product I could buy but, of course, also at the very best price!Then I started to read a few of the moaning, whinging, one and two-star reviews that a few poor unenlightened souls had written about how the sharpener 'chewed up their knives', jammed up in use' and generally did a totally lousy job!This is absolute nonsense!! The ANDREW JAMES KNIFE SHARPENER is, in specification, exactly the same as some of the top-named (and TOP-PRICED! - hundreds of pounds some of `em!) so-called professional sharpeners - and I have used a few of them in my time.The key to the proper use of this product is to understand not only what it does - but also how it does it.Think of a saw cutting wood. How many of you have tried to force the saw through its cut by pulling and pushing harder and faster in the hope that it would have a better effect on the cut? Of course, the only thing that happens is the saw's teeth become damaged, the wood cut gets hotter and eventually the saw becomes jammed deep in the cut! Not to mention the user becoming very frustrated, tired and very hot about the collar!Let's look at this kind of product the other way around. Once you have a well-sharpened and honed knife, how are we supposed to use it? Just like the saw, as my Dad taught me when I was very young, you let the knife do the work. Do NOT apply too much pressure or it will not cut at all, but simply allow the knife to draw across the food item you are wishing to cut and let that nice razor-sharp edge do all the work!Likewise, when you are using the ANDREW JAMES KNIFE SHARPENER, or any other similar one, simply allow the grinding wheels to do all the work also. YOUR job is to simply lay the knife blade at the right angle into the grinding slots and simply, gently and without undue pressure, draw it through the grinding wheels - exactly in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. It's very simple really.I have a very large array of kitchen knives - most of tempered and drop-forged steel - (I like to think of myself as the Gordon Ramsay of my terrace! - who doesn't?!) - and within ten minutes of having received my sharpener from the postman, I was at work in the kitchen re-shaping and honing most of my knives' cutting edges. And - EVEN I was totally astonished at the amazingly 'professional' results I had achieved. 9 knives of different lengths and sizes (two with serrated edges) - all near enough razor sharp and cutting my fingers off(!) in a total of about 40 minutes!! For a miniscule £9.95 (plus p&p, of course!) who can argue with that?!!One further piece of good news - I ordered the product on the afternoon of 17th July this year and the postman was knocking at my door on the morning of the 20th July! 4 days before the earliest estimated delivery date!! So - TOP MARKS there, Andrew James Ltd.However - let's be honest - there is just one small thing I think they should work on. Some people in their reviews stated that the iron filings from the grinder spill over the worktop. Well - they are right - they do! A simple enough matter to remedy, Mr R & D Manager at Andrew James!!But - in my case, instead of whinging about it, I simply place the sharpener on a small tray, which very satisfactorily collects the filings that spill out whilst grinding and then after use, I simply turn the sharpener upside down and shake out the residue - then simply wash away in the sink! A small price to pay for such a brilliant, easy to use and unbelievably low-priced and essential kitchen product.Just a tip: sharpening and honing once is all very well, but any good chef, butcher, fishmonger will tell you - it is important to quickly draw your knife through the honing wheels to refresh its edge almost every time you use it.Then you will be FULLY satisfied. As I am!

This is not the sturdiest machine but it does sharpen your knives. For the price it does a really good job. The motor is a bit underpowered and struggles a bit. It is important just the hold the knife lightly but firmly when sharpening. Don't force it down against the stones. I have found that by following the instructions given my knives become sharper than I have ever known them. It is heavy enough and has good suckers to stick it to the work surface so it doesn't slip about. I have never been able to achieve a sharp knife with a sharpening steel so this is great for me. If you don't want to spend a fortune but want your knives sharpened this is a good buy.

Brought this as Christmas was approaching fast and it was either sharpen or buy new knives.Read all the reviews and also those of more expensive versions, for what I needed I decided to purchase this model based on price and that it appeared to do everything the more expensive versions do.Arrived in the biggest Amazon box they could find, inside was a smaller box and inside that the unit.The unit has a solid feel and when you switch it on there is no kick, the motor just runs.I read the instructions and the reviews. Firstly this unit does not sharpen serrated edge knives as one person mentioned.The left hand slots as the heavy grind and the right hand slots are the fine.Having read the reviews I place the unit on a glass cutting tray with a very powerful magnet close by.I took the heaviest knife I had and lowered it into the slot pulling gently backwards as per the instructions with no downward pressure, repeated the process in the other slot and then moved the fine slots. This knife was pretty blunt, so did three runs in each slot, it finished being quite sharp but not as smooth as I would have expected, but used a piece of emery paper just to smooth off, it did not need much of the emery paper, and I had a very sharp knife. I proceeded to do the remaining knives with similar results. The one knife had a curved blade, once I got the hang of keeping the blade parallel to the base, this sharpened really well.The proof was on Christmas day when the veg and meats were cut and not hacked!As for the cleaning I took the unit into the garden an blew the best I could to get rid of any fillings, unit went back in the box. Used the magnet over the glass tray and picked up all the filings. Remember us a piece of paper between the magnet and picking up else it takes ages to get the fillings off the magnet (I need to take my own advice).I do not know how long the discs will last, but if this unit woks for the rest of the year it is worth it, around 20seconds to sharpen a knife. I assume that next time I will only use the fine disc so hopefully the knives will not shrink too much!

Unpacked it and set it up as per the booklet. Sharpened two knives as instructed and it was perfect - not absolutely ideal but very goodNext morning I set out to sharpen 5 knifes. Planned to start on the course side then move to the fine. On coarse the knife began to jump and buck for no apparent reason. Moving to fine, the grinder started but then whined and literally ground to a halt. There was no excessive pressure and I followed the guidance exactly .Tried another and it was the same again. With the third knife it began to whirr then ground to a haltAppalling product

I'm not sure if i like this sharpener or not ........ the electric motor does not seem very powerful, when i run a knife through i have to be very gently or the grinding stone stops. Perhaps it the way i try to sharpen my knives !!!.