I don't get the knife sharpener on the back. There is a little white plastic thing in the slot. Does that stay in there?
939337
To be honest, I had never even noticed either the slot or the white piece of plastic before. I don't use "it" for anything. I certainly wouldn't sharpen my knives with a machine though. I prefer an oiled whetstone and using a little bit of muscle.
939338
The thing you call a "little white plastic thing" is the knife sharpener. It is not an electric sharpener. Just drag the knife blade between the little white pieces manually and it sharpens the knife. The little white pieces are probably ceramic or similar material. The sharpener works, but it's not exactly great. You can see a picture of this sharpener in use on the Hamilton Beach web site.
657247
You are putting too much pressure on the knife. Just hold it gently and drag it thru the slots. I did the same thing at first.
394520
I don't have that brand of knifes... where in the ad does it say one has to have that brand for the sharpener to work properly?
1183867
No. Pulling the knife in and out of the plastic sheath does not dull it. The knife stays sharp as all get out!!!
797011
Actually there are only two sharpening options since the American and European blades both have the same angle with the Japanese angle being the one that is different. I am using the term "Japanese" because that is the word used in the instruction manual that comes with the sharpener. So each of the sharpening slots has two sides (left and right side of the knife), then you pass the sharpened blade through the honing/polishing slots - once again two slots for left and right side of the knife. It got a little tricky for me when I realized that my European brand knife had a Japanese angle blade. I almost messed that one up before I caught my mistake. Actually there are only two sharpening options since the American and European blades both have the same angle with the Japanese angle being the one that is different. I am using the term "Japanese" because that is the word used in the instruction manual that comes with the sharpener. So each of the sharpening slots has two sides (left and right side of the knife), then you pass the sharpened blade through the honing/polishing slots - once again two slots for left and right side of the knife. It got a little tricky for me when I realized that my European brand knife had a Japanese... » Read More Actually there are only two sharpening options since the American and European blades both have the same angle with the Japanese angle being the one that is different. I am using the term "Japanese" because that is the word used in the instruction manual that comes with the sharpener. So each of the sharpening slots has two sides (left and right side of the knife), then you pass the sharpened blade through the honing/polishing slots - once again two slots for left and right side of the knife. It got a little tricky for me when I realized that my European brand knife had a Japanese angle blade. I almost messed that one up before I caught my mistake. « Show Less
648023
There are two slots. The first is a rough cut and the second a fine cut. They both use the diamond rotating metal removal process, but you can tell that the second slot is a much finer cut than the first. I use this on my Victorinox Chef's Knife which has a thin 12-15 degree Japanese style taper and it works very well. This might not be the right choice if you have a typical western blade with a 22 degree angle as it would take a long time to reshape the edge.
2254180
I wondered the same thing had no luck finding one, this thing is a beast no knife block i have ever heard of has a slot big enough for it either. A realy strong magnet strip might be the only way to keep the blade safe other than giving it its own drawer.
1078744
you must have one darn sharp knife to be able to do that.... i suspect the metal from the knife blade just "colored" the sharpening sticka little bit. hit it with a scotchbrite scrubbie and it will probably turn white again. that's what i did.
543507
Most don't. We always keep our knives sharpened well and haven't had a problem. However, I bought a super sharp Victorinox bread knife with an edge with tiny serrations, and put it in there. It did cut at least one of the inner plastic rods. I decided not to store it there anymore.
1997930
Can anyone provide a picture of how the knives are placed in this thing? Thanks.
1826492
There is a little switch in the slot where knife pivots. Push it aside where it holds the blade safely open and then push the blade closed.
1271544
I measured the slots and here is what I came up with: 3 @ 2" 1 @ 2 1/8" 2 @ 1 1/4" 1 @ 1 1/2" 2 @ 1" The scissor slot is 1 5/8" wide The hole for the sharpening steel is 5/8" square These numbers are very precise. For instance, a 2 1/4" blade would not fit in the 2 1/8" slot. I have a combination of Shun, Wusthoff and Henckels knives in my block. Good luck!
2245562
When you pull the blade out, it locks. If you're holding the back of the knife away from you (blade in your left hand), the lock is at the base of the blade. You push that down and slowly close the knife. If that doesn't work, you may have a defective knife. Hope that helps!
594180
There's a tab on the inside that you push to the side, allowing the knife to close. It has ridges on it, and when the knife is closed, sits directly next to the blade,
729013
I had the same issue. There is a catch in the handle of the knife. The catch is in the underside of the handle directly "facing" the sharp edge of the blade. Push it to the side and the blade goes back into the handle.
975600
All you need to do is place the sharpener on a flat surface with the screw-heads on top, unscrew the top half and lift it up making sure that both blades are left on the bottom half. Now just lift one blade and put it in the slot of the second without rotating or flipping and the second blade in the first. When you do this, the dots on the blades will continue to point in their original direction i.e. facing toward the tail end of the handle. Its just that the position of one blade behind the other is reversed.
1921309
A bit disappointing that - mine came with a razor edge and has held it very well. There are lots of good sharpeners out there, and it's really whatever works for you. I have a old stone, which I use under a tap to keep it wet and stop clogging. Friends of mine swear by their Lansky kits, which I never got the hang of using.