Lansky Master's Edge Knife Sharpener For Straight & Serrated Blades - MEDGE1

This is a great sharpener. This item has replaced the full sized crock stick sharpener with a wood base formerly offered by lansky.First and foremost the rods wobbling. I know some have complained about it but in reality it is minimal, and can't be avoided with any of these types of sharpeners. I have a vintage crock stick sharpener, a spyderco sharpmaker, and the turnbox sharpener. With use even the wooden base models will develop some wobble. So don't let that discourage you. My turnbox was originally hard to get the rods in and out of but the more i use ut the easier they slip in and out, and one hole has developed rod wobble which doesn't affect the usability.The plastic base was a concern if mine as some had said it wasn't stable. Comparing it to my vintage louis graves crock sticks (which lansky bought out) it is every bit as stable. Underneath there is a rubber base to make it non slip. This feature i don't think was necessary except for one thing- it also contains slots for the rods to fit in usimg friction. They hold the rods tight if you put them in right which means pressing them in all the way so that the rubber wraps part way around rod. It holds them so good that it takes a little effort to remove them which shows they truly are secure. The only thing that would have been better is if there would be something covering the bittom to offer 360 degree protection for the rods.So far I've only used this on knives and it does a GREAT job. Every bit as good as the spyderco sharpmaker and less than half the price. Holding the knife as though i was trying to slice straight down i started at the top of the rod on one side with the heel of the blade and drew it straight back and downward with very LIGHT pressure. I alternated each stroke, left side of the blade against the left rod then right side against right rod, then repeating the process until the blade was sharp. Then i switched to the white rods and repeated the process to refine or finely hone the edge. I didn't bother using a strop but instead i used an old sharpeners trick that works just as good if not better for a knife. NEWSPAPER! I took a 2x4 about a foot long and wrapped it tightly with newspaper and used it for a strop. The result was a hair popping sharp blade.The hardest part of this or any of these V style sharpeners I've found is the clean up. If you keep up on it and try to keep it clean then maybe ajax or comet powdered cleansers scrubbed with hot water using a scotch bright pad will work. Maybe not. If you have troubles with those cleaners not getting it clean then try bar keepers friend. It contains a harsher abrasive, as well as oxalic acid which makes cleanup much easier! I recommend just using 'bar keepers friend' powder cleanser, hot water, and a rag or plastic scotch brite pads for scouring. In between those deep cleanings you can also use a good pencil eraser to remove most of the metal that loads up on the rod (try different ones to see which kind works best).So. This lansky master's edge vs the spyderco sharp maker. Does the sharp maker work better? Yes. But but not at twice the price. With a few extra strokes this will work just as good. While the sharp maker offers 2 angles to sharpen at, the lansky offers 3. If you're on a budget and can only afford the sharp maker then don't hesitate. It's a great product.If you aren't sure about the sharp maker, then buy this lansky. You won't be disappointed. If you have the money... Buy both the sharp maker, and the master's edge. If you need something that travels well or doesn't tale up a lot of space and is for smaller blades then get the lansky turrn box.This style sharpener works great, is easy to use, and cleans up relatively easily once you find out what works for you.It does take a little getting used to but like i said is still easy to use. Even kids can use this.

I just received this today and was able to use it today, it was easy to set it up and easy to use. Just keep the knife straight up and down when you use it on the rods, don't turn them at an angle, keep it straight. It sharpened the little pen knife as sharp as I have ever had it, on the paper test it went through as it should. It might not be necessary but make sure you strop it after sharpening it.I would say that it is worth the money.I will post more later on as I use it.Some are giving this a bad rap, they say the rods wobble, and this is normal, they say it takes too long, then have someone else sharpen your knives, they say it is cheap crap, no it isn't. It works just as well as any other rod sharpener. Most of the problems are people just don't know how to use this type of sharpener. Relax and take your time using it, watch a few YouTube videos.

Bottom Line: I'm happy with my purchase and will probably get many years of use out of this. Just sharpened several knives and many were brought to a very sharp state in just a minute or two. In some positions, the rods wobble a bit, but I'm just sharpening kitchen knives and pocket knives, so the little bit of wobble that affects the blade is inconsequential, in my opinion.Details:It would get five stars if the rods would have less wobble. That said, it's not much wobble to affect most people's knife angles. After all, the key is consistency -- if the rod moves the same way each time you sharpen, then your angle will be consistent. And it will be plenty sharp enough to do any carving, filleting, or kitchen application that you want, in my opinion.And for the record, this is my first impression of this sharpener, after having used it on 6 of my Chicago Cutlery kitchen knives, which I've kept super sharp, through various means, for 21 years.I chose the 17 degree rod position, so that I'd have crazy sharp knives, especially since we're doing a lot of tomato slicing these days. I may change some of our knives down to 20 if they dull too quickly. But we'll see.While at the 17 degree angle, the rod closest to the hand-hold wiggled maybe 4mm at the top of each stroke. While the rod leaning away from the hand-hold was very steady... maybe moving 1mm. With better design, the first rod's excessive movement could easily have been prevented.I thought that Amazon's price on this was fair. The Lansky site says $60 is the retail. I think that's way too much... about twice as much as I would pay for it, even if the wobble was fixed.I found it was easy to hold the sharpener on the counter because of the size of it and the rubber base.Note that it may take a while to get dull knives back into shape. I had one that wasn't sharp, but wasn't too bad. After several minutes of sharpening, I still hadn't gotten it right yet. Of course, it probably would have gotten sharp already if I had chosen the 20 degree angle, instead of the 17. At 17, I'm having to remove side metal before I can get down to the actual cutting edge (since its previous edge was probably at 20-24).I loved having the longer rods when I was sharpening my slicer/carver and chef's knife.If you follow the instructions and keep that knife blade at 90 degrees from the counter/table's surface, then all will go well. It will feel awkward and slow at first, but with practice, you'll get used to it and get into a rhythm.One YouTube reviewer said that he didn't like the way the rods stored in the bottom of the unit. He said that they were just held in there by friction, and that eventually that would wear out and they would fall out on a whim. I disagree. It's not just friction that's holding them in there. The rubber is cut out in a round shape where they should go, so I think that arrangement will hold for a very long time. Push them far enough in, and they pop into place. And if it does fail, a simple rubber band around the middle of the unit will keep them all in, no problem.Note that the instructions are oddly located. The background (while viewing from the front) of the blister pack is actually the back of the instructions card. Kudos to the Lansky folks for saving paper, but it might be easy for some to miss those instructions. And it is also nice that's it's a card instead of folded paper. The instructions are also on lansky's web site, on the product page for this item. They give instructions for sharpening to a single-beveled edge, as well as a double/compound-beveled edge.

The Lansky Master's Edge Knife Sharpener was a pleasure to use. It did the job I was looking for. I also ordered a 9 inch set of Diamond coated sticks to use for super dull knives.