Manual "pull through" knife sharpeners

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I recently bought a set of Wusthof Classic knives, including the Santoku. I'm interested in purchasing a "pull through" sharpener to maintain them. From what I've been able to read, the Chef's Choice ProntoPro 4643 seems like a good choice. It seems that it can be used for serrated blades, 15 degree blades (Santoku), 20 degree blades, and small blades like pocket knives. Since I've never used one of these, I thought I'd ask here. As always, thanks for any advice!

http://www.qvc.com/Chefs-Choice-ProntoPro-4643-3-Stage-Manual-Knife-Sharpener.product.K301224.html
 
Those types of knife "sharpeners" are sponsored by the people who make knives...when you see how much metal is left on the bench after a couple of strokes, you can see why they like them.

I use a steel, and a stone (eventually)
 
It is better to get a sharpening stone or rod and learn how to use it. Then finish the wire edge with a chef's steel. It is all in the angle. A sharpening steel from F. **** will last a lifetime.

Too many of those pull-through sharpeners use tungsten carbide blocks that just strip way too much metal from the blade.

You want your fine kitchen knives to last a lifetime. Bad sharpening methods will wear them much too fast.

Check out Norton sharpening stones. Call the Cutlery Shoppe and ask their recommendations. They can order for you at a good price. I use some ceramic rods that I have had for 20 years most of the time.

http://www.cutleryshoppe.com/sharpeningproducts.aspx?size=200
 
I had a cheap one that worked fine... For cheap knives. For my good knives it is just more fulfilling to use a stone, and i think the results are better.
 
these will work fine.

But you need to understand what makes knives sharp.

A cheap blade can be just as sharp or even sharper than an expensive knife. They will be easier to sharpen, but easier to dull.
Your surgeon uses a 20cent new surgical razor blade when working on your body.

What you are paying for with your expensive knives are a harder steel that is both harder to sharpen, and harder to dull.

Therefore, these sharpeners will take more time to work on your higher quality steels, then, since they are just doing their work on that edge contact point, if the rest of your blade is dull, it'll only be sharp for a short time

That being said, I both have stones and cheapo $5 pull-through sharpeners. And the pull-through sharpeners do work just fine to put an edge on a knife. Not sure I'd pay $40 for this one though...
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Shannow

I use a steel, and a stone (eventually)


+1 My father was a butcher and that's all he ever used to sharpen a knife. His knives are so sharp you can shave with them. He says the pull through sharpeners are OK for the average guy who doesn't know how to sharpen a knife, but nothing sharpens like a steel and a stone. I heard a few Chefs I know echo a similar story over the years. I can't say one way or the other, I give him my knives when they need to be sharpened.
 
I have not read the responses to this thread yet, but those "pull-through" sharpeners are garbage: They leave you with a not-very-smooth edge (which will not hold as well as a smoother edge) and will remove a LOT of metal.

Whetstone. It takes longer to sharpen and it'll take a few YouTube videos to get a good sense of how to do this; but it is an essential skill for someone with fancy-pants knives who wants things done correctly.
 
Use a stone to get them sharp, and a steel to keep them honed.

A steel only aligns an already sharpened edge, it doesn't do any true sharpening. Make sure the hardness of the steel that you use is greater than the hardness of the knife blades-a steel with low Rockwell hardness won't do well on a knife blade with a high Rockwell hardness. Sharpening and honing a good kitchen knife takes a bit of practice, but once you learn to do it correctly you can put an edge on a knife that will shave the hair from your arm. Once your knives are sharp, it's easy to keep them honed with a few seconds on the steel.

And unless it's for a cheap set of steak knives, leave the "pull through" sharpeners for the amateurs.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit


And unless it's for a cheap set of steak knives, leave the "pull through" sharpeners for the amateurs.


+1
 
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
I use a lansky 5 stone set on all of my knives.

I've used the Lansky 5 stone set for years with good results.
 
I use Lansky rods set at predetermined angles with excellent results.

Neglected knives (from others) have their edge roughed in first with a file.
 
Just have them professionally sharpened once a year and use a steel just prior to cutting.

Your Wusthof knives are relatively soft and a 20 degree edge shouldn't be too hard to get with them. Chefs Choice sells many types of electric sharpeners which are very good. It's all about technique.

Btw softer knives are easier to sharpen because the edge gets dull by rolling onto itself. Super hard knives (Asian primarily)
get dull by chipping.

I have a set of Wusthof Ikons.
 
Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
Just have them professionally sharpened once a year and use a steel just prior to cutting.


Where to go for that? Hardware store etc. I saw a nice grocery store was offering to do it one afternoon. Maybe I can ask them. This nice carving knife at my parents is like a butter knife right now.
 
+1 on what pretty much everyone else has posted.

I bought a pair of nice Wusthof knives that came with a free pull through sharpener as a bonus. I ran all my cheap Brazilian Tramontinas through it, but I would never use it on the Wusthofs. It actually made shavings while sharpening and after sharpening about 5 or 6 Tramontinas it was pretty much worn out.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
Just have them professionally sharpened once a year and use a steel just prior to cutting.


Where to go for that? Hardware store etc. I saw a nice grocery store was offering to do it one afternoon. Maybe I can ask them. This nice carving knife at my parents is like a butter knife right now.


Cooking supply stores in your area may do it.
 
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