Smith's CCKS 2-Step Knife Sharpener - Yellow - 2-Step Preset Coarse & Fine Slots - Outdoor Handheld Knife Sharpener - Fishing, Hunting, Fillet, Pocket Knives - Compact Plastic Portable Keychain Tool

> The most convenient, compact, knife sharpener that I've found.> I use the ceramic side (with the little white cylinders) for sharpening kitchen knives (and my pocket knives). I hold the knives edge-up under running water in my sink with my left hand, and lightly move the sharpener with my right hand along the blade. About 10 very light strokes is usually enough to touch up an already fairly sharp knife.> I've nicked and scratched my kitchen countertop trying to sharpen long chef's knives using sharpeners that I have to place on a countertop and drag knives through. I appreciate that I don't have to set the Smith's sharpener on a countertop.> A few other reviewers claim that the ceramic rods broke when they were trying to sharpen knives --- if so, they were using WAY too much pressure. Use only a very light touch.> Generally speaking the carbide (metal) side should NEVER be used on chef's knives or other fine blades. The carbide takes off too much metal. In quality knives, only the very edge is treated to be hard enough to hold a very sharp edge --- grind that off (or scrape it off with a carbide sharpener), and all the sharpening in the world is a waste of time. Don't misunderstand, you can sharpen such a blade to razor sharpness --- but the blade will not hold the edge, it will quickly dull. A couple of other reviewers claim that the carbide chips fine blades -- in which case the blades are permanently ruined.> Use the carbide side for axes, machetes, and other utility blades made of comparatively softer steel. But even a utility blade can be damaged by using too much pressure with a carbide sharpener --- the edge of the blade becomes wavy and irregular.> You can touch up a utility blade, (that is, make it a little sharper) using the ceramic edge afterward --- but that extra step is usually a waste of time for utility blades, which will dull quickly in use anyway.> Maybe "medium quality" blades (such as an average quality hunting knife) might benefit from carbide followed by ceramic, but try the ceramic only, first. If, say 30, swipes with the ceramic side does not adequately sharpen the knife, then try 5 light swipes with the carbide sharpener, followed by 20 light swipes with the ceramic, and so on.> There is another option for truly fine blades -- a honer. If you see a chef "wiping" two chef's knives against each other, that's what he/she is doing -- honing. But it is better to use a honing rod (and follow the instructions which come with it, or watch a U-tube video). Honing straightens up microscopically bent or folded portions of the edge, and can dramatically "sharpen" a knife without removing any metal. If you use a honer, maybe once in 5 or 10 times that you hone the knife, you'll probably need to sharpen it with a ceramic sharpener -- albeit only a few strokes, 10 at most.> Caution, large rod-like ceramic sharpeners are sometimes described as (or sold as) "honers" -- maybe they hone and sharpen at the same time, but, if so, they are removing metal from your blade. The purpose of a honer (or a leather barber's strop) is to sharpen without removing metal. I recommend using a metal honer, followed (if necessary) by minimal sharpening with a ceramic sharpener.> How can you tell when a chef's knife is sharp? If (with a light sawing motion) the blade can cut a ripe tomato without depressing the skin, then it is sharp. I recommend that you forget about trying to sharpen blades sharp enough to shave the skin off your arms -- in the real world, there is no use for chef's knives, table knives, hunting knives, or pocket knives that sharp, and the weakened blades are more likely to chip. I doubt that you could get a knife that sharp with a Smith CKK sharpener. That's not criticizing the Smith CKK sharpener -- it does what it needs to do quickly and easily.> Do NOT use on scissors, bypass garden sheers, or grafting blades, or any other blades that are sharpened on only one side. Doing so will permanently ruin the blades.

Just keeps my knives and scissors sharp. I had one for almost 3 years and it started not working so I finally decided to buy some new ones and this is a great product. You don’t need a happy specific specific person to use it. It helps to keep everything sharp in cooking.

Definitely nice for touch-ups, but you'll never get your knife hair shaving sharp with it.

My favorite sharpener is the "Deluxe Turn-Box Crock Stick" by Lanksy, although I've had similar "crock sticks" from others. Ceramic rods (or the bottom rim of a stoneware coffee mug) work wonders.I've also used Arkansas etc. stones and very fine grit sandpaper, BUT flat stones and flat sandpaper require a degree of "free hand" control - keeping the angle consistent - that I've never properly mastered, so it takes me a lot of time and some portions of the blade end up being sharp and some portions not so sharp.More recently I've heard great things about the original design Worksharp, which uses a motorized belt with embedded grit (sandpaper, essentially, that won't break down) and solves the "angle" thing by having a draw-through guide. Their conventional flat surface hone also has an angle control that might help, but I don't want to invest the time and money since this Smith's plus some blades to a pro sharpener work for me.At the end of the day my current solution is this Smith's CCKS 2-step, using two of them, one for quick sharpening of kitchen knives, and the second for finish sharpening of pocket knives - the ceramic rods tend to clog up so I keep a relatively clean one for the pocket knives. (Yeah that's counter intuitive - you'd think the kitchen knives should get more love and attention, but pocket knife fans want to brag about "hair popping sharp" and people who used kitchen knives generally just want some tomato cutting success.)The carbide side of the Smith's really never wears out for me. IF the ceramic rods side works, I never touch the carbide side, since the carbide side removes metal. It's roughly 20-25 degrees, and seems to match most but not all of my pocket knives. With my nicer pocket knives, if the ceramic rods side won't sharpen due to an angle mismatch, I just save that pocket knife for a factory resharpening or professional service as part of a batch, taken in periodically (hint: factory resharpening is always better, they keep the original blade angle, while most of the local resharpening shops don't).With my budget pocket knives, it depends on whether they arrived with a "pop the arm hairs, slice typing paper" edge or what I call a utility edge - fine for most knife purposes, but not for showing off. If they come with hair popping sharpness, I usually try the ceramic rods on the Smith's to see if the angles are compatible enough for resharpening, and if they are, I'm good to go.If the ceramic rods won't restore the edge, I save those budget (but originally hair popping sharp) knives and run them through a local sharpening service in a batch later on - shipping them back for factory resharpening isn't worth it and often isn't offered, except for Buck. The reason I take better care of budget knives that come with exceptional edges is because I figure if the designer, company, and factory cared enough, so do I. IF I'm lucky, the Smith's portable sharpener is enough.BUT there are those budget knives that just come with a decent but not exceptional working edge.With these, I will use the carbide side of the Smith's to "re-profile" the blade into the angle that is acceptable to the Smith's sharpener. I know that might not be the edge angle the designer intended, but it's fast and easy and practical for me to use the Smith's to "adjust" the factory angle.Thereafter, all I use is the ceramic side of the Smith's - which now matches the edge angle and works.The BIG limitation of the Smith's is "loading up" the ceramic rods with black metal particles from the resharpening process. With conventional crock sticks, we are supposed to use scouring (cleansing) powder like Ajax to clean off the black grit (NOT Bartender's Friend, a non-abrasive cleanser).While re-writing my review today, I noticed one reviewer recommended moistening the ceramic rods before sharpening, to form an abrasive slurry. I'm going to try this and see if it helps with the effectiveness and lifespan of the ceramic rods side.Otherwise, I just periodically add a new Smith's to my collection. At under $4 it's a more cost-effective solution than buying a fancy kit.PLUSES: consistent angle since this is "draw through". I can maintain a more consistent draw-through angle on this portable, than I can with v-rod crock sticks which call for a consistent "slice down" angle. Also, in general, once you get the edges on your knives to match the angle of the carbide and ceramic rods in the Smith's, you are good to go for future resharpenings.NEGATIVES: Only one angle. The carbide is VERY aggressive in terms of removing stock edge material, so only use it as necessary. The portion of blade closes to the handle may never actually get resharpened, due the slight thickness of this hand held sharpener.FAVORITE USES: Opinel, which are otherwise hard to resharpen in Inox.

Best compact knife sharpener I've ever used. So good, I've bragged about it and given it as a gift. If the most dangerous knife is a dull knife, this sharpener is the solution. One side preps the blade, and the other side quickly hones it to razor sharpness. It makes any knife better. Plus, it's very lightweight and compact for campers, fishermen, and hikers.

This works..but doesn't last long... maybe for 6-12 good uses and it just doesn't work as good as it should after that ...which leaves more a rolled edge vs a sharp edge

Best 6 bucks i ever spent

The coarse side really gets the blade into a straight shape and then the ceramic side seriously sharpens it. Def recommend. Very quick and easy.