Chef'sChoice 15XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener with 100-Percent Diamond Abrasives and Precision Angle Guides for Straight Edge and Serrated Knives, 3-Stage, Gray

You’d think I didn’t have to say “Read the Instructions for Best Results” but I’m saying this for myself as much as anyone who thinks instructions are only for when you get stuck. This is a large appliance but it can be stored away in between sharpenings so that’s not really an issue. It is built like a tank and you’ll probably have it for the rest of your life. It’s a great design - providing you with the various stages to properly sharpen and finish your various knives. It works really well and relatively quick to use - you must take appropriate time when dragging the blades through the stages in order to properly sharpen the knife. I am so glad I have this sharpener - it is SO MUCH cheaper than taking my knives to get sharpened and even more so than replacing my knives.

Satisfied. Easy to use. And works well. I sharpened all my knifes and now they are sharp like new ones.

1. The performance is phenomenal, knifes are coming out super sharp, but really, you need to follow the instructions! I tried just an intuitive approach and it didn’t work at all.2. Feels heavy and sturdy, like a professional sharpener should be.3. Nice looking design and silver metal finish matching many appliances in my kitchen.4. Pricy, but worth it for the quality and results.

The sharpener did what I wanted it to do...take my go-to, mostly Santoku style knives, from gliding across the skin of a tomato to slicing through effortlessly. None of my manual sharpeners plus my steel wouldn't do that unless I used the steel on the knife before every use. I'm not a knife expert and was tired of never getting that really sharp edge, so I put up the money for this. I'm glad I did. I even loaned it to my dad to sharpen their woefully...horribly dull knives and he said it just flat-out worked. I made sure he followed the instructions. I saw a couple YouTube videos where people clearly had not read the instructions. There are very detailed instructions...I also wish manufactures would stop printing everything so small...this one is not so small that I need a magnifying glass, but still uncomfortable for aging eyes.The manufacturers video doesn't exactly match up with the manual. I think it assumes you have already re-ground the knife edge to the new angle and that video is for resharpening. The biggest problem with the video is the music and constant dialog. It would be much more helpful to hear the sounds of the sharpener working to compare how it sounds when YOU use it.Now the other cons:-It's not as automatic as I would like, meaning there really is some skill and very specific instructions to follow. I'm not sure I'm doing right still because I never achieve a burr as the manual describes. I'm OK with that because it sharpens my knives, regardless if the use matching up to the manual. There is a lot of emphasis on the speed at which you pull the knives through. They actually expect you to know what exactly 3 or 5 seconds is. Ever try to do that? I guess the 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi thing is as good as one can do. Those not from the southern U.S. probably dont understand that!-It could be faster. Granted, the purpose of this sharpener it to reshape the knife edge to a new angle, then maintain that edge, but its monotonous with a possible 20 pulls on each side...40 pulls just to get started. Also, it doesn't feel perfectly stable passing through...hard to know if you are holding it right. It doesn't feel perfectly smooth at the base and tip of the knife. Many uses may correct that but at first its hard to know if you are doing it right.-I did get a little bit of scarring on the side of a couple of knives as some has mentioned. This doesn't upset me much because the knives I'm sharpening arent expensive show knives. I would be a little mad if it scarred my 8" Victorinox chefs knife, but after years of owning it, I've never had to sharpen it! That day will come, I'm sure.Al in all, $160 is a lot of money, but this thing works, and if it works for years it will be well worth it. I wish I had followed someones advice and bought this years ago.

If you own lots of expensive knives, you need this machine. The more you own, the more you need it. If you have invested a decent amount of money in knives, it's a good bet you did that not just for how nice they look, but for how sharp they are.Consider how much their value diminishes with a dull or even slightly dull edge. Most people don't even know what sharp is. After the initial factory edge wares off, they never feel that super clean slice of a tomato again. That's why some people buy serrated knives, to cut tomatoes. That's crazy because serrated knives really don't cut well and a razor sharp knife does, they just can't get back to that razor sharp edge, not on their own.No matter how much I tried, I could never duplicate that factory fresh edge for myself. I didn't have the skill to pull it off, even if I had all the tools for sharpening, the steel, the crock sticks, the wet stones, I tried but failed to shave hair with my kitchen knives.That was until I bought my first Chef'sChoice model 120. Instantly I became an expert sharpener and found myself offering to sharpen any of my friends and family's knives too because I hated seeing them struggle with dull knives. If you cook, and you like quality gear, like sharp knives, then you have a real treat coming.This is one of the best things you will ever buy. It's half the price of one good knife but it will keep all your knives razor sharp.Once you have the shape of the edge down with the first wheel or two, all you need is the last wheel on the right to touch it up once in awhile and from then on, that's probably the only wheel you will need to use on your knife. Good knives only need sharpening once or twice a year. The key is using a great quality blade with a decent cutting board like wood or soft plastic and stay away from cutting into bones except with your one and only boning knife. Fish bones are no big deal but the other types can mess up a nice edge fast. Also, keep the uneducated away from expensive, sharp knives, give them something else to use. This is very important because it only takes about 3 seconds to ruin the edge on a good blade.I have owned the Chef'sChoice model 120 for about 12 years and love it. I bought this 15 Trizor XV for my Japanese knives. They come with a 16 degree edge so this model is better for them. I have changed all my kitchen knives over to 15 degrees now and I like it even better than the original 20-22 degree German edge. It makes a big, very noticeable difference when slicing just about everything. I keep my folding pocket knives at 20 degrees because they need to hold up to much tuffer chores working outdoors.Some people claim that a machine like this can't produce the ultimate sharpness of large Japanese wet stones and 15-30 minutes of sharpening. That may be true. It's a totally different approach to the task at hand. I believe I can get a more perfect, slightly sharper edge if I took 30 minutes per blade and slowly stroked the edge to sheer perfection of wet stone treatment. Sometimes, when I have nothing to do, I still like to play around with wet stones but 99% of the time, I don't find it worth it. I can get such a sharp edge in about 5 seconds with the Chef'sChoice machines that it's not even close to deciding witch system I'll use almost all the time. Comparing the two very different techniques is comparing apples to oranges. One way is results in a near perfect edge in less then 10 seconds and the other maybe gets you a slightly sharper edge but maybe not, but it will take several minutes maybe 15 or more to get similar results as I can get with the Chef'sChoice system.Don't listen to reviews that say this will ruin you blades. It won't. No more than any system will. It's all up to you. Do you want to read the manual for five minutes so you learn how to use this thing or just wing it. It has the power and the discs to destroy a blade in seconds if you don't know what you are doing. But, It's so easy, a child can use this thing. You just need to take a minute at first so you know exactly what to do. Practice with cheap knives first and get your skill level up to the job. Once you do that, your good forever but like anything, if you want to pay attention and get really good at it, you can always improve what you're doing.Once you have your edge right, the only disc you need to use is the last one on the right. It is like super fine, basically polishing the edge to super sharpness. It's almost all I ever use and if you wanted to, you could run you very best knives through that last disc every day, without any significant ware to your blade.Knife sharpening is mostly about consistent angle and nothing provides fast sharpening with a consistent angle than Chef'sChoice.I told you it will be the best thing you ever bought. That applies only if you really, really care about quality gear, sharp knives and the ability to always have razor sharpness to your expensive knives. Once you learn how to use this, and it won't take but a few minutes, you'll love it. The more quality knives you own, the more you will appreciate a device like this. It's so easy and so fast, the price is like nothing because it will restore all your expensive blades and probably outlast you. My first model 120 is right here working fine after a dozen years, but this new 15 Trizor is even better, faster and it's the exact same price I paid over a decade ago for my 120.Good luck.