Rolling knife sharpeners

Has anyone got one of the Horl type sharpeners, or a cheaper knockoff? I’m tempted to get one as a low-skilled alternative to stones, and less terrible than the drag-through ones. Not really inclined to spend the £160+ for a Horl but wondering if the knockoffs are much less good?

I know the proper STW response will be a full set of whetstones to allow one to shave a spiders arse, but I need something for someone less inclined to learn the skills required!

I’ve a Horl – got it for my 40th as, as you say, they are pricey and seemed a nice present.
I’m really happy with it – gets a great, reproducible edge.

Would recommend

DrP

I’ve got the £20 knock off one. It does the job and makes knives sharper than they were. I even managed to do a youtube style slice the paper with the knife afterwards! It’s a lot quicker and more repeatable than using whetstones. I just don’t sharpen them enough to learn proper whetstone technique and I’ve got better things to do with my time. The only downside I would say is that it’s not the easiest to get right back to the heel if there’s a chunky bolster in the way and it takes a bit of a twist to get right to tip as it curves away.

Funnily enough I just ordered one this morning, I have a whet stone which works great but tempted by the ease of use of rolling sharpener. I’ll be testing it on one of my cheaper knives first.

Rolling Knife Sharpener for Kitchen Knives – Rolling Knife Sharpening – Knife Sharpener Tool Kit Offers Sharpening Stone – Birthday Gift for Women Men https://amzn.eu/d/0cqVP4w3

There are these… forces you to sharpen at the angle you set it to…the stones look a bit on the small side though

https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/pt/-dmt-aligner-prokit-sharpening-system.htm

I am tempted but can’t justify the expense*, so feedback on the cheapies would be great.

*major issue been the amount I’ve spent on knife sharpening stuff in the past that is either, occasionally used (Japanese whetstones), or used once and filed away for ever (complicated clamp and frame thing to get the right angle).

less terrible than the drag-through ones

Terrible why? Somewhere on here there’s a professional butcher who uses, and recommends, drag through ones. But then he’s actually just using knives for a living and not trying to cash in on artisan knife knobbery (where, to be fair, there is clearly money to be made).

Terrible why? Somewhere on here there’s a professional butcher who uses, and recommends, drag through ones. But then he’s actually just using knives for a living and not trying to cash in on artisan knife knobbery (where, to be fair, there is clearly money to be made).

I think the theory is they grind off too much metal and don’t sharpen as finely, especialy if set up for western style blades, and you use a Japanese knife, as they have finer blades/angles.

To be fair, if i was a butcher using cheaper ‘workhorse’ knifes all day long, I’d probably just use a roller too!

major issue been the amount I’ve spent on knife sharpening stuff in the past that is either, occasionally used (Japanese whetstones), or used once and filed away for ever (complicated clamp and frame thing to get the right angle).

Are you me??!!!

I was actually impressed with teh clamp thingy, where you move the stones, and clamp the knife. But it was a cheap one that fell apart.

DrP

What IHN said.

The Horl looks simpler than most but still seems a bit faffier than it needs to be.

there are two sorts of pull through sharpeners – there are those that have a couple of hard edges which litterally take a little spiral of metal off your knife.  you end up with a slightly serrated edge that feels sharp but it’s pretty destructive

then there are ones with some rolling diamond wheels in.  We’ve got something like the first thing here.

https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/ct/pull-through-knife-sharpeners-test.htm

pretty much idiot proof, lives in the drawer in the kitchen and you can use it in seconds.  Gives a sharp edge.

Terrible why? Somewhere on here there’s a professional butcher who uses, and recommends, drag through ones.

Butcher’s tend not to use a chef knives for chopping up a cow.

This may be heresy but I’ve never worried too much about exact angles. Occasional Japanese wet stone and regular ceramic sharpener, all by eye / hand has worked just fine for a set of Global knives that are still going strong after nearly 15 years of constant use. I’m not entirely convinced that it matters that much. I vaguely aim for 15 degrees but like I say by nothing more than eye.

Easy solution is to get a minosharp roller sharpener – does  and recommneded by Global – ours are 18 years old and still doing a day-to-day job faultlessly. V quick, and no artisan knife nobbery needed (tho my insta feed seems to be showing the Horl things regularly,but £159….fools and their money…..;) ). Minosharp Replacement stones very affordable. Harts of Stur have them at a good price

Seems a bit gimmicky to me.

mattyfezFull MemberTo be fair, if i was a butcher using cheaper ‘workhorse’ knifes all day long, I’d probably just use a roller too!

No, we use a steel for honing, and only really put the blade on a stone every couple of months, but it depends on whether you prefer flat ground, or have a shoulder on it(A secondary angle)

So a simple oil stone is sufficient.

Some shops, or bigger places will have one of these.

https://www.scobiesdirect.com/ItemInfo.asp?ItemDesc=Whetstone+Knife+Grinding&ItemNo=WH00001

A few quid more than the Hori thing, but it will give you the initial grind, and the steel from then on or something like a Chantry will be just as good as the Hori, and considerably cheaper.

https://www.nisbets.co.uk/chantry-knife-sharpener/d133?vatToggle=incvat&cm_mmc=PLA-_-18097153123-_–_-&cm_mmca1=go_18097153123____c_&kpid=go_cmp-18097153123_adg-_ad-__dev-c_ext-_prd-D133_sig-EAIaIQobChMI8_Pc8Ke7hwMV5ZNQBh19iQEiEAQYAyABEgIJpvD_BwE&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8_Pc8Ke7hwMV5ZNQBh19iQEiEAQYAyABEgIJpvD_BwE

I started in a big shop (butchers), and when i started I couldn’t find a steel. Was told they use the chantry thing and was pretty skeptical. They had about 3 of them bolted round the shop on the blocks and stuff, and TBH i warmed to them.

Cutting meat, the blade needs to be a certain degree of sharpness, and while i initially thought they would not be good enough they actually were. There is a slight learning curve to using one, more down to how much pressure you apply, but its not difficult, and you’d pick it up pretty quickly.

I have one of these chantry sharpeners int he house bolted to the edge of a work top, and being a Butcher, i do appreciate a sharp knife and this does the job.

I also have a Sharpenset whetstone as above, but as that thing is about sharpening and not just knives, on mine i have their attachment for doing the knives off my 10″ planer/thicknesser as well as chisels

That Chantry thing looks decent for not crazy money… me being an ‘artisan knife knobber’, would this be suitable for jap knifes, like this sort of thing?

Tsunehisa VG1 Nakiri 165mm

I had a set of Global knives passed them on to my brother, they’ll be at least 20 years old now and still going well. Changed to Richardson which I found a huge improvement, used a ceramic sharpener for the global but switched a a whet stone made a huge difference. I recently purchased a Damascus  Japanese knife, it’s insanely sharp so will be trying out my roller on that when it arrives.

Couldnt really say as the Japanese knives are a sandwich of hard and soft metals, and most knives it was meant to be used with will be the standard stainless/steel ones Well maybe, can but try, though i dont see it harming it

That Chantry thing looks decent for not crazy money… me being an ‘artisan knife knobber’, would this be suitable for jap knifes, like this sort of thing?

I’d go for one of what I was told was called a “Japanese Bullet Train style” roller sharpener – which is what Global recommend (and charge twice the price for). It will be the right angle for Japanese knives, you get a course and fine roller, and is proper wet whetstone-ing.

I’d go for one of what I was told was called a “Japanese Bullet Train style” roller sharpener – which is what Global recommend (and charge twice the price for). It will be the right angle for Japanese knives, you get a course and fine roller, and is proper wet whetstone-ing.

Thanks, yeah I was looking at those, funnily enough…

..I read that global knives have more of a Japanese angle, e.g. 15c rather than 20c so in theory should be suitable?

Yep, global recommend 15 degrees and hence minosharp

I’ve got a pro cook roller one….. seems decent enough to me. This thread has taught me that I know very little about knives or how to sharpen them though!

Terrible why? Somewhere on here there’s a professional butcher who uses, and recommends, drag through ones.

Most pull-through sharpeners remove way more metal from the blade than you would with a whetstone, they often also leave a slightly saw-tooth profile on the edge. This means they feel very sharp on the first couple of uses as the micro teeth help with cutting but they quickly wear off leaving a duller blade.

So for a butcher that sees knives as disposable tools and doesn’t mind sharpening regularly (probably multiple times a day) a pull-through makes sense but for home use on quality (and therefore usually expensive) knives you want to last a long time then it’s generally not a good idea.

I’d go for one of what I was told was called a “Japanese Bullet Train style” roller

Yeah that’s what I used for my Global knives, worked ok.

Of course, you could actually learn how to use a sharpening stone, which is probably a better thing to have, as it gives you another string to add to your bow. And its not hard really, just down to practise.

But I do think a good investment is a quality steel. 12″ is ideal but not shorter than that, and certainly not one of those cheap ones with a surface like a metal file.

If you look at the surface of the steel in my link, you’ll see its really smooth. Thats the type you want, not rough, its for polishing/honing the edge

I know this is expensive, and you’ll probably only need to give the knife a wipe down/across it once before using it

https://www.nisbets.co.uk/dick-knives-dickoron-sharpening-steel-305mm-red/dl335

You’ve spent a lot of money on your kinify so spending a good amount on a steel will mean theres less need(especially in a home setting) to put it on a stone or other grinder type. This will prolong the life of the knife.

TIP:

A straight router bit can be used to put an edge on a blunt cheapo knife(or axe/cleaver/garden implement) It takes off a lot of metal very quickly. Certainly not the best edge, but it does the job.

Somewhere on here there’s a professional butcher who uses

I think the theory is they grind off too much metal

I took my chef’s knife to a local butcher and asked him to sharpen it.  He did a good job, but took a lot of metal off it.

I’ve got a Horl, and a Taylor’s eye chantry.

The Horl is OK but the chantry gives a better edge in my opinion, it’s certainly quicker to use. I use Wusthoff ikon knives and they keep an edge longer than some cheaper knives I’ve used in the past.

Using the Horl probably gives a more consistent degree angle to the edge as you’re never going to hit a perfect angle freehand in a chantry but to be honest, is one or two degrees really going to make that much difference? I’m not busy making instagram posts of slicing tomatoes wafer thin after all.

I took my chef’s knife to a local butcher and asked him to sharpen it.

As this sounds like the start of a joke…

I went in to the local butcher and he told me he’d had to sack his apprentice for repeatedly putting his dick in the bacon slicer in the back room.

“The dirty get,” I said, “what did you do with the bacon slicer?”

“I sacked her an’ all”

Boom boom!

Yeah honestly it’s really not hard to learn a decent whetstone technique. I bought a double stone from amazon, 1000/6000 for not a lot of money, and I learned the technique in like 10 minutes. It’s not some super complicated thing. The video linked above is all you need, plus you’ll save a lot of money by not having to buy gimmicky sharpening tools.

Trying to message Mowgli! Sorry, messaging on here seems inactive for me, you can get me on . Cheers Steve  [Mod] removed.