Thinking about buying an electric sharpener? Then you need to read this.
Electric sharpeners are dangerous! And I don't mean dangerous to you, I mean dangerous to your knives. In the best case, a poor-quality sharpener will leave your edges dull. Worst case, it will remove a ton of metal from your edges and leave you with a knife that can not be resharpened again.
EdgeCraft's Chef's Choice models, on the other hand, can do the job right. The Model 120 provides three stages: a pre-sharpening stage, a sharpening stage and a honing stage.
The pre-sharpening stage will restore an edge that is pretty much trashed. It is quite aggressive, so use it sparingly. You should not need to use it very often and, if you do, you'll reduce the lifespan of your knives.
The second stage is a sharpening stage that will be more commonly used. It will put a sharp edge on a knife that's been dulled by normal use.
The third stage is a stropping stage that will fine-tune your edge. You can use this stage as often as you like as it will restore a fine-edge to a knife without removing any metal from the edge.
Confused about the difference between the Chef's Choice M130 and the 120? The 130 has a honing steel for re-aligning edges instead of the pre-sharpening stage.
Either model is a fine choice.
Find this Chef's Choice M120 Sharpener:
Find this Chef's Choice Sharpener on eBay:
 | CHEFS CHOICE 120 BLACK ELECTRIC KNIFE SHARPENER NIB US $107.95   Auction Ends: 8d 5h 39m Make it yours... |
 | CHEFSS CHOICE EDGE SELECT 120 KNIFE SHARPENER US $43.60 3 Bids Auction Ends: 1d 13h 16m Make it yours... |
 | Chefs Choice New Edgeselect Knife Sharpener Chrome 120 US $.99 0 Bid Auction Ends: 4d 19h 3m Make it yours... |
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August 1st, 2008 at 11:29 am
[...] a more aggressive edge grinder instead of that second-slot steel? Then check out the Chef’s Choice M120 [...]
August 4th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
[...] Option #1 is to sharpen your knives yourself. Not ready to take on a new hobby? Option #2 is to have your knives professionally resharpened. Option #3 is to get a higher-end electric sharpener, like our favorite: the Chef’s Choice. [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
[...] and you’re looking for a way to maintain them, this gadget is not the answer. Get yourself a Chef’s Choice M120 electric sharpener, send your knives to a professional, or learn to do it [...]
August 11th, 2008 at 10:04 am
[...] what do we recommend as an alternative? The Chef’s Choice M120 is more expensive, but you’ll be much happier with it in the long [...]
August 28th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
[...] Choice lineup of electric sharpeners can be a bit tricky to navigate. We’ve written about the Chef’s Choice M120 and the M130 previously, so now we’ll tackle the [...]
April 16th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
[...] the 316 is probably for you. If you’ve got exclusively European knives, check out the model 110, model 120 or model 130. Got a mix of both? Then you’ll want the model [...]