When anyone offers an electrically-powered knife hone for this price, there must be a catch. With the Smith's Abrasive Diamond Edge Sharpener, it's more a good idea than a catch. If you're willing to learn a simple system, this could be a very handy kitchen tool.
With most pre-set honing machines -- either electric or manual -- the problems manifest when new owners try to restore badly dulled knives. Years of abuse deform bevels and cutting edges beyond the ability of light-duty hones to repair. A hone could keep a good edge in good shape, but a ruined edge might not improve much. Smith's Abrasive Edgeware Sharpener puts the powered half of their machine to work on that first critical problem.
Running the blade of the knife through the coarse-cutting diamond hone side of the sharpener quickly restores the bevel angle to the common European and American standard angle of about 25 degrees. The edge won't be polished, smooth, or razor sharp, but it will be set to the correct shape. With that accomplished, pulling the edge through the manual side's ceramic hones puts the final set and razor edge on the blade. Angles of the ceramic hones match perfectly to the angle already set by the diamond wheels, making that last polish an easy piece of work.
No matter how good the sharpening machine, the results depend on the skill of the operator. The tricks you learned on a whetstone will still come in handy with the Smith's Edgeware Sharpener. If you've acquired Japanese knives with more acute bevel angles, you'll need a different machine.
For a fully powered sharpening system, see the Chef's Choice Commercial Knife Sharpener.
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