Chef's Choice M130 Professional Sharpening Stations

I am an Executive Chef and have worked in a kitchen for over 25 years. I purchased this sharpener about a month ago and so far I am very satisfied. If you read the manual, it is very easy to use. I was at first worried about taking too much metal off of my kinves. As long as you don't over use the first stage that should not be a problem.

It put a good edge on my knives quickly and easily. I have a 10 inch wusthof that is my main kitchen knife. I put an edge on it with stage 1 over a month ago and it has remanined very sharp since. All you have to do is run it through stage 2 ( which is just like a steel) every once and a while and it maintains it's sharpness.

So far I am very satisfied.

As a user of Chef's Choice model 110 and 120 for over ten years I had greatly anticipated the release of this new model.Unfortunately some poor design choices prevent me from fully recomending this product.The older M120 provided 3 stages and created a triple bevel edge.The new M130 can create at best two bevels and only one if you use the sharpening steel.The first stage creates a single edge that can then be steeled with the second stage.If the third polishing stage is used the steeled edge is ground away.That being said the number of bevels is secondary to sharpness of the blade.In comparing the sharpness of the two machines they are very similar with the new 130 seeming slightly sharper.The major issue with the machine is the need to have it out on the counter at all times.The whole point of a sharping steel is to hone your knives each time you use them in order to maintain an edge.This means you need to lug out the box every time you cook, or to have it out on the counter taking up space.If you are model 120 owner looking to the M130 as an upgrade you are much better off buying the Chef's Choice 470 SteelPro.That way you only need to have the larger machine out for major sharpening and can quickly grab the small steel for honing.You'll also notice the M470 has two steeling rods versus the M130's one rod.

I would like to add one note of warning to anyone new to the Chef's Choice line.If you have a collection of knives with heavy bolster heels, know that Chef's Choice models have problems with sharpening all the way to the base due to the heel not fitting into the sharpener.Most Japenese(Shun,Global,MAC, etc) knives aren't effected since the blade extends the full lenght of the knife.Many European(Wusthof,Henckels,Sabatier) knives have the heavy metal heel, and will over years of sharpening develop a gap as the metal from the blade is ground down and the bolster remains.meaning the base of the knife will no longer be flush with your cutting board from the heel extending below it.

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When I bought my Henckels (not the el cheapo Henckels International, mind you) knives I was looking for a sharpening steel but ended up with the pull-through gadget they call a "sharpener". Someone's already pointed out the difference, that the device is a "honer" that merely sets the blade straight. It returns usability but doesn't actually SHARPEN, i.e, shave off metal and recreate the edge. After reality set in that I could keep running my knives in this honer until I was blue in the face and never increase the sharpness but merely prolong it, I decided to look for a way to really sharpen a knife.

Local and mail-order services didn't appeal to me because I didn't want the knives out of my hands or tested on stuff I wouldn't cut in my kitchen. So I went looking for sharpeners I could use in the home.

As I read opinions, the whetstone seems to be the best possible way. The electrical sharpeners are about the only alternative that actually re-create an edge, so I thought if the best of them doesn't satisfy me I'll have to go with a whetstone. And I bought this machine.

As one reviewer pointed out on a slightly different model, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. If you think you'll simply get an edge by running the blades through the six grooves in order, you will be sorely disappointed.

The first and second pairs of grooves are for different knives and the third works with the first, maybe the second too. And that's not all.

You have to run the knife, test for a good burr on the new edge, and polish the edge straight to get your razor sharpness.

Don't forget to wash the knives, before and after the sharpening. You don't want food or moisture in the sharpener, or microscopic metal in your cut food.

Big question: is it razor sharp? Yes, but under some conditions. I tried this with five knives: Four Henckels five-star blades, and one some-other brand blade. On one Henckels santoku, I made do with a minimum burr and got a sharp blade, but it wasn't razor sharp. This will be done over. The other brand blade got a nice burr and everything, but never got razor sharp, though it was sharper than it had ever been. The three other Henckels knives, they are as close to razor sharp as anything.

What do I consider razor sharp? I ran an edge across a small part of my arm and it took off all the hair. THIS IS NOT SAFE I have shaved with a straight razor so I didn't cut myself. DON'T DO THIS, read on: I used the same blade to cut a slice off a vine ripened ripe tomato without using a chopping board, and established this test: The slice comes off with no skin left on the end of the slice where the knife finishes the cut. That is razor sharp. Vine-ripened, ripe tomatoes tend to have a skin that is almost like plastic wrap thin and very resilient to the sharpest blade.

None of my newly bought knives were able to pass the hand-held ripe tomato or hair-on-arm test when they were new. So the sharpness is better than the factory blade.

The second groove can put a microscopic serration on the edge for better cutting in some situations. Or sharpen a serrated edge. I haven't tried this yet, will update the review when I do. But I'm very happy with this product.

Criticism that won't take away a star: Reading the manual in this age of short-attention can be painful because the text is small and the lines too long. Paragraph breaks are scant. More pictures, narrower columns and some white space couldn't hurt, especially here where reading the manual is a requirement (not just an overload of warnings or obvious, unnecessary direction)

All this seems long and tedious the way I describe it, but once you've read the manual, you will have your knives sharp in minutes. So sharp you may be tempted to try to work on the factory edge of a newly bought knife. Just remember, it's important to start with a reasonably good quality knife whose metal can stand up to a fine edge.

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I just finished sharpening the knives in my knife drawer with the M130. Some of the older knives took a while to get a burr in step one but once the burr showed up even my older dull knives were sharp again. My every day knives sharpened in less than a minute. My best knives sharpened in a few seconds.

The middle position is not motorized. It is a quality sharpening steel like you use by hand but this position keeps the knife near the optimal angle so the steel works optimally. You don't turn the motor on to use the middle position so you can walk over to the sharpener and put a quick hone on your knives without using any electricity. This is the big difference between this model and the Chef's Choice M120. For the extra $10, I prefer the sharpening steel over having a second grinding wheel. The third position is a "polishing" wheel which is similar in effect to the old barber shop razor strap which smoothed and polishing the knife edge.

I like the 20 degree grind used by the Position 1 wheel and see no need for an additional wheel used to change the grind angle in the Trizor system used in the M120.

I have a wide range of quality in my knives and this system seems to work well on all of them. I don't have serrated edge knifes since a well steeled knife works as well for me. I won't spend hours using an oil stone to sharpen knives any more. Also at 55 years old I don't see as well as I once did and can't hold a consistent angle using the stone. This system gives you a consistent sharpening angle.

I sharpened 10 knives in less than 15 minutes with some them being quite dull. I thought about giving the M130 4 stars based on cost but it saved me so much time, the cost was worth it.

UPDATE: I've been using the M130 for two years now. I use it daily (sharpening steel plus polishing wheel) on my best kitchen knives (Calphalon Katana Series) and they remain super sharp under constant use for about a month before I do a touch up with a single pass under the grinding wheel. I don't hand sharpen any of my knives now.

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For an electric sharpener, this one is nice. I've used it on five knives now, and all of them are sharp enough to slice a tomato without any pressure from me (just run the knife across the surface under its own weight). So I'm happy. I know that on reviews of the previous models some people complained that the sharpener didn't get their knives razor sharp. This one doesn't either. But it gets them plenty sharp enough for cooking! And much sharper than the knife vendor here in town does...

The only serious negative is that I'm not very impressed with the manual. While it does give instructions on how to sharpen your knives, I didn't think it did a good job of explaining the different types of edges this sharpener can create.

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