Messermeister Chantry Mini Knife Sharpener, Black

I did not buy this product via Amazon, but felt compelled to write a review once I came across it here. Actually, I have had two for almost two decades (well before Amazon.com was even around). It's a simple design but totally effective for maintaining the edge of your knives. Just a couple of swipes thru the aperture and the knife is good to go. The miniature steels rotate and work just like a regular sized steel, but without the guess work of maintaining the proper angle. It won't sharpen the blade if totally dull (unless you want to sit there for several hours swiping away), but will help maintain the edge. The only upkeep is a few drops of oil every few years, or whenever you notice the steels not spinning. I strongly recommend this product, or its all metal counterpart.

We have owned the larger white "Taylor's Eye Chantry Knife Sharpener" ( http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Chantry-Knife-Sharpener-White/dp/B000IXHING/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top ) for many years, use it routinely to maintain the edge on our knifes, and are very happy with it. I wanted to get a second unit for a vacation home and decided to purchase this smaller black Mini Chantry since it has the same internal mechanism.

While looking at reviews for the bigger white unit, I came across a "one star" review by Jack B. Adams who mentioned a manufacturing change from regular metallic "butcher's steel rods" to something of black color which does not work nearly as well. But since the product images for the Black Mini Chantry of this review clearly displayed a grey color for the rods on Amazon.com, I decided to order it anyway. When it arrived, I was rather surprised that this model also features the black "butcher's steel rods" mentioned above. Apparently this is a design change across their whole product line and the pictures have not been updated (my guess).

From my own tests and from experience with my older model, I can only affirm what the other review from Jack B. Adams for the larger white unit states: these new black rollers do not work nearly as well as the previous gray/metallic ones in older Chantrys, at least for me. Since knife sharpening is part art and part science, your mileage may vary, but for me this was not worth keeping. I can only thank Amazon for their extremely simple and straightforward return procedure (this was my first return and a pleasant experience).

On a side note, there is some rather puzzling text on the product package Quote: "It works by applying a fine micro serration to the blade edge". I have not seen this explanation anywhere else while researching the Chantry line and I am wondering how this compares to the original posted explanation of "reproducing the action of a butcher's steel with spring loaded steel rods", but it would explain why the product description has a firm disclaimer that it is "not recommended for fine edge elite knives or Japanese knives".

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use it often to sharpen your knife, does not destroy or file of the blade.

do not use any other sharpener as the bevel angle will be different.

nothing more to say.

Read Best Reviews of Messermeister Chantry Mini Knife Sharpener, Black Here

Admittedly, I never got to use the sharpener. However, I was expecting cast iron and was disappointment in the plastic. The larger one is excellent.

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