Sporting Shooter magazine KE198 Electric Knife Sharpener Review
“…it did the job in a fraction of the time it would normally take me to achieve a lesser result on a stone…”
Tony Pizzata at Sporting Shooter magazine recently wrote a review of the Nirey KE198 knife sharpener. Here’s what he had to say…
“In addition to a range of chef’s knives and skinning and hunting knives, Total Knife Care also offer a fine range of electric knife sharpeners that are guaranteed to bring even the dullest of blades to life and making them razor sharp. Referred to as the Nirey range of knife sharpeners, there are three models to choose from.
These include the top of the range KE280 Commercial Sharpener, the K3000 Professional and the KE198 Recreational Sharpener.
While the Commercial KE280 and the Professional KE3000 both use abrasive belts that are replaceable, the KE198 Recreational Sharpener offer two-stage grinding wheels that are durable and most effective for the hunter/outdoorsman or for use at home. Total Knife Care recently sent me the model KE198 for evaluation and I must say it did the job in a fraction of the time it would normally take me to achieve a lesser result on a stone. Like many others I just can’t seem to get the angle quite right or consistent for that razor sharp result, no matter how good the blade or knife brand is. The way the KE198 works is quite simple actually and there’s really no guesswork involved.
Firstly, there are two grinding wheels within the unit, a coarse and fine wheel. As different blades are of different thicknesses, these grinding wheels are actually spring loaded so that when you insert the blade, the wheels adjusts to the thickness of the blade and does its job. Next, there are two angle-controlled sharpening grooves per wheel, one for the left side of the blade and one for the right.
If the knife is dull and requires more than just sharpening, you will need to run the blade through the left (coarse) two grooves first to achieve a bevel. This will generally take less than a minute, making sure you run the blade left and right sides alternately to achieve an even edge. Next run the blade in the same fashion through the right (fine) two grooves for around a minute, making sure you don’t overdo the fine sharpening stage. In reality, some steels are harder than others, I prefer carbon steel which is relatively soft and easy to sharpen when compared to stainless steel. Either way the Nirey KE198 will do the job. I’m told the wheels on the KE198 come with a lifetime guarantee if used correctly and found it performed to expectation. After a few attempts I found that this little unit produced a razor finish to a drawer full of knives that I’d disregarded for years as impossible to sharpen.”
