The Best Knife Sharpeners of 2024

Ask any chef for advice and it's likely the first thing they’ll say is to keep your kitchen knives razor sharp. That's because dull knives are dangerous, requiring more force. They're also more likely to slip.

Yet go into just about any home kitchen and you’ll find a drawer full of dull cutting utensils. Why?

Part of the problem lies in the murky, myth-filled practices of “proper” knife sharpening. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find people swearing by whetstones, sharpening stones, metal rods…even the back of a ceramic plate—all while condemning the other methods as wrongheaded and harmful. It's no wonder that most people will let their knife slowly go dull rather than risk its ruin.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. There are a number of sharpeners—electric and manual—that can hone your knives quickly, easily, safely, and affordably.

If you're looking to sharpen your knives like the pros (without shipping them off to a knife sharpening company), you can't do better than the Tormek T-1 (available at Amazon) . This home countertop sharpener works like an industrial version that will maintain your precious knives for many years to come—but it comes with a steeper price tag. Otherwise, if you prefer a rolling knife sharpener, we really enjoyed using the Tumbler Rolling Knife Sharpener Kit.

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Other Knife Sharpeners We Tested

How We Test Knife Sharpeners

First, we dull the blades on a chunk of concrete. Then we use each sharpener as directed by its manufacturer to sharpen one of the knives until it could slice cleanly through a piece of paper. In each case, it's worth noting, this took more swipes through the sharpener than the companies recommended.

Next, we test the knife on a ripe tomato to see if we could cut paper-thin slices without exerting much pressure or using a sawing motion. In addition, we consider how easy each sharpener was to use, including whether the instructions were thorough and easy to understand, how much noise it made, and if any effort was required to clean it.

We downgrade models that don't feel totally safe to use. Although we certainly encourage you to use your knife sharpener as soon as your knives begin to lose their edge, we realize you may not want to leave it out on the counter, so we also evaluated how much space each would take up in your kitchen.

What to Know About Knife Sharpeners

A good knife is the single most important piece of equipment in any kitchen—for chefs and home cooks alike. However, regardless of how well-crafted and expensive it is, a dull knife is a bad knife.

Not only does a dull knife make it harder to cut precisely and quickly, it’s less safe to use as it’s more likely to slip and cut you. It’s a lot more important to sharpen your knives with any sharpener than to worry about whether the one you use is going to ruin your knife.

You hear a lot about the angle and the architecture of the edge but these are things that are microscopic and matter most if you’re slicing sashimi, fileting fish, or breaking down a side of beef. It will take many, many sharpenings before you’ll notice that a blade has gotten smaller.

The first thing—and in some cases the only thing—a knife sharpener does is file down your knife to a sharp point. Better sharpeners will then hone the point, leaving a fine, smooth, and more durable edge.

Think of a knife sharpener as an emery board. First, you use the rough side to file down your nails, then the finer side to smooth and polish them. When you use a knife that hasn’t been honed, it may bite rather than glide as its unrefined surface cuts into food. Still, a roughly sharpened knife is a lot easier and safer to use than a dull one.

What About Sharpening Steel and Whetstones?

You’ll notice that we haven’t included sharpening steels or stones. Steels, those long rods that come with a knife block, won’t sharpen a knife. They may hone the edge a bit if held properly.

However, in order for them to be effective, you need to run your knife along them at a precise, steady angle which is not easy to do. Many knife experts don’t bother with them. Keep your knife in good shape by running it through the fine stage on your sharpener. When that no longer seems to keep your knife sharp, you know it’s time to resharpen.

Stones, when used correctly, will sharpen knives. If they have a honing side, they'll also give you a smooth even edge. But with these, too, you need to master the art of holding your knife in an exact position and develop technique. All of the sharpeners in our guide take out the guesswork and help you position your knife correctly.