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Most people have seen a knife butchered (pun intended) by someone using a power tool to sharpen a knife. That’s because most tools that get pressed into service as a sharpener are bench grinders and rotary tools. In my sharpening business, I’ve seen dozens of knives that needed rehabbing and reworking after someone hamfisted them with a grinding wheel.
But I’ve also used power tools to fix (as much as possible) those very same knives. The difference between destruction and a mirror-polished edge is in the design. Several electric knife sharpeners on the market today, if used properly, will put a sharp, refined edge on a knife. I put several of the best electric knife sharpeners to the test to help you find the right one for you.
How I Tested the Best Electric Knife Sharpeners
I recruited friends to bring me two dozen of their beat-up knives. The knives ranged in size and style to test the sharpeners with a variety of blades, inlcuding:
Some knives had broken tips and large rolls and chips, and some just needed a touch up.
While sharpening the knives, I evaluated each sharpener for ease of use, skill level required, quality of the edge, and how easy it was to remove damage. Only the sharpeners that produced a good working edge and, in my opinion, are worth owning made the cut.
Some sharpeners hit the trash can almost immediately and aren’t worth talking about. But my final list of the best electric knife sharpeners includes the best of the best.
The Best Electric Knife Sharpeners: Reviews and Recommendations
Best Overall: Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener with Blade Grinder Attachment
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Key Features
- Includes five 1 x 18-inch belts from 120 grit to 12,000 grit
- Adjustable edge angle from 10 degrees to 35 degrees
- Can sharpen any knife or tool (Chisels, axes, scissors, etc.)
- Adjustable belt speed
- Able to sharpen serrations
Pros
- Produced the sharpest edges
- Belts last longer because of increased surface area
- Made the fastest repairs
Cons
- Requires the most skill/practice
- Most expensive sharpener in the test
The Blade Grinder Attachment is not a self-powered tool. As the name suggests, it’s just an attachment. It works with the Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition sharpener, so you must purchase both. But it’s worth the cost of entry. The belts are wider and longer than standard Work Sharp belt sharpeners, and the adjustability allows you to get the perfect angle for any task and knife style.
With the optional stropping belts, you can get near-perfect, polished edges, and with the extra coarse belts, reshaping a broken tip or removing a large chip is quick work. Outside of sharpening, you can square the spine of a knife to make it better for scraping a fire steel or making tinder, and it’s capable enough that you can dip your toes into knifemaking.
Keeping a steady angle while sharpening takes practice since there’s no guide, but once you get it down, it will produce the sharpest edge possible. As with all electric sharpeners, you must be careful not to round the tip, especially on the coarser belts.
To keep from rounding the tip, be sure not to rotate the handle too far as you near the end, and keep your pass as one fluid motion, not pausing while the tip is still on the belt.
If you want the best edges possible from an electric sharpener, this is your tool. While the Blade Grinder attachment has a learning curve, I think it’s worth it for the unmatched end result.
Read Next: Best Knife Sharpeners
Best for Kitchen Knives: Chef’s Choice 15XV
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Key Features
- 3 stages of sharpening
- Large guides for easy operation
- Honing/Stropping disks can be dressed to extend useful life
- Will sharpen serrated kitchen knives
Pros
- Easiest to use
- Detailed instructions for sharpening specialty and single bevel Chef’s Knives
- Quietest motor of all sharpeners tested
- Low edge angle for excellent slicing
Cons
- Slowest tested for repairing chips and reprofiling
- Won’t accept thicker blades
This was the only kitchen knife sharpener to make my best electric knife sharpeners list because it actually did the job it claimed—unlike others I tested. I found it quiet, efficient, and easy to use, producing consistent edges.
I like that you can leave the Chef’s Choice 15XV on the counter because it doesn’t look like a tool from the garage. Its rectangular shape helps it easily stow in a cabinet.
I found that this sharpener is best suited for maintaining the sharpness of your kitchen knives rather than fixing heavy damage. Since the guides are too narrow for many of my outdoor knives, this sharpener lost points for versatility but gained them for ease of use.
My kids (11 and 14) easily operated the Chef’s Choice 15XV after a 30-second tutorial and got solid edges from it. I say solid edges because the 15XV won’t produce mirror-polished hair whittling edges, but it gives a great working edge for kitchen knives. It’s a great tool to just leave on the counter so you can periodically run your steak knives, chef knives, and even your serrated bread knives through it to keep them up to snuff.
The 15XV has what Chef’s Choice calls a Three Stage Trizor Edge with coarse, medium, and stropping wheels for a nice refined edge. However, you have the option of not stropping the edge if you want it a bit “toothy” to get through fibrous fare with ease. The instruction book helps show how to best sharpen serrations and specialty edges. If you’re looking for a tool to keep your kitchen sharp and want it quick and easy, the Chef’s Choice 15XV might be the one for you.
Read Next: Best Sharpening Stones
Most Versatile: Work Sharp Ken Onion Mk 2
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Key Features
- 7-speed motor with LED display
- Adjustable sharpening guide
- Sharpens from: 15 to 30 degrees
- Tool sharpening adapter with 65-degree scissor guide
- Includes belts that range from extra coarse to extra fine
- Price: $200 (Blade Grinder is an additional $99)
Pros
- Quickly sharpens knives and tools
- Great for repairing chipped blades
- Excellent instructions included
- Versatile
Cons
- Can ruin a knife if you’re not careful
- Noisy
The Work Sharp Ken Onion sharpener has been our best electric knife sharpener pick for three years running because it’s versatile, fast, and easy to use. Sharpening is a skill, and you can go down the deep rabbit hole of whetstones or expensive fixed-angle systems. But most people want to sharpen their knives quickly and get on with their day. They also don’t want multiple sharpeners for kitchen knives, pocket knives, scissors, and garden tools. That’s the role the Work Sharp fills, and it does it exceptionally well.
Photo by Scott Einsmann
How it Works
This knife sharpener uses abrasive belts, rather than stones, of different grits. A small motor spins the belt, and using the angle guides, you pull the knife across the belt to remove material. Work Sharp includes detailed instructions in the box, and they have a bunch of helpful YouTube videos. I recommend learning to use the sharpener with an inexpensive knife because if you’re using a course belt at high speeds, you can quickly remove a lot of material and ruin a knife.
Testing
In testing the new Mk 2, I sharpened knives that went through my rigorous EDC knife test, hunting knives, and kitchen knives. The addition of the Blade Grinder attachment allowed me to try my hand at freehand sharpening knives, and I used it to sharpen much-neglected scissors and pruners.
The Mk 2 is just as easy to use as previous models, and it has some nice refinements. The speed control is no longer a nob, but plus and minus buttons with lighted level indicators. There’s also a constant-on function, which frees up both hands for sharpening. The angle adjustment is done on a smooth wheel with clicks for each degree.
If you want to take a knife from dull to sharp, a few passes with the medium belt is all that’s needed. The process only takes a few minutes. Progressing to finer belts results in a polished cutting edge that glides through material. But before you can enjoy that ease of sharpening you’ll have to reprofile your knife’s edge to the convex grind created by the belt sharpener. This process takes about 10 minutes, but once it’s done, maintenance is easy. — Scott Einsmann, gear editor
Things to Consider Before Buying an Electric Knife Sharpener
Choosing an electric sharpener is similar to choosing a knife. You have to be honest about what you want to do with it. Is this strictly for the kitchen? Do you have damaged knives that need repair? Are the knives you want to sharpen just for hunting and outdoor use?
If you’re looking for a kitchen tool, the 15XV will do all you want it to. If you have a wide variety of knives, some with thicker spines or recurved edges, then one of the Work Sharp Belt Sharpeners will be much more versatile, and the Mk.2 should work perfectly for you. But, if you want to bring your edges to the next level and need a sharpener that will pull double duty in the garage or barn, then go for the Ken Onion with the blade grinder attachment.
Buyer Beware
But, be aware that not all sharpeners are created equally. Plenty of cheaper sharpeners look very similar to the 15XV, but they use cheap stones instead of abrasive discs, and they quickly overheat and damage the metal at the edge. Others have guides so narrow that you can’t get the heel far enough forward to sharpen it. One sharpener I tested was so loud and shaky (due to cheap, unbalanced synthetic stones) that it walked across the table if I didn’t hold it down. It also threw loads of sparks when the blade made contact. Did it grind the edge? Yes, so much so that it made a divot and heated the edge blue. Most of these sharpeners show up on Amazon for a third of the price or less, so beware of deals that are too good to be true. Save up a little and get a quality tool to take care of the knives that keep you going in the kitchen or outdoors.
FAQs
Yes, but so can most sharpening methods. The biggest risks with electric sharpeners are rounding the tip off, getting too much heat in the blade, and u0022burningu0022 the edge. These risks are basically out of the picture when you follow the directions for the sharpener. I recommend practicing on inexpensive knives that you don’t care about as much or that are already damaged while you are learning the basics of your sharpener.
Absolutely not. There are some very poorly designed and executed electric sharpeners out there that look attractive because of the price, but they lose their luster when you hear the terrible noise and watch them burn parts of your edge while not reaching other parts. They may look like some other quality sharpeners, but they don’t work the same way.
Sharpeners with exposed belts will create metal u0022dustu0022 as they remove material, so you should do it on a surface that is easy to clean or in an area where the dust won’t get on food. I use an old box underneath them to catch the shavings on the off side of the belt, and they only make it a few inches from the sharpener. The Chef’s Choice 15XV keeps all shavings internal and has a clean-out port on the bottom, which is great for the kitchen.
Final Thoughts on the Best Electric Knife Sharpeners
Since no knife can hold its edge forever, having a quality sharpener is just as important as having a quality knife. Although I own and use sharpening stones and clamp style sharpeners, and guided systems with diamond stones, nothing beats the speed and convenience of a quality electric sharpener. If you’re looking to keep your tools up and running and razor-sharp, and you don’t want to take the time to learn a whole new skill, jumping to one of the best electric knife sharpeners might be your best move.
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