I have a rather large collection of knives, they are my “handbags”. They look so nice on the shelf and I can image the perfect use for all of them. I got my first real knife about 5 years and have been acquiring ever since.

I have not been so good with keeping them sharp though. This is not for a lack of trying though! I have tried using rod-style systems like the Gatco and Lansky systems. I have also tried freehand sharpening on a waterstone. Everything I have tried have all had the same drawback. They take a long time! Because of this I didn’t do that much sharpening. When I did I wasn’t able to get the knives that sharp! The freehand sharpening is tough, unless you get the same angle time after time and maintain that angle over the length of the blade, the knife will not be sharp as it could be. Also if you don’t get the right angle you will get a knife that does not have a durable edge. I have also brought knives to be professionally sharpened. It took a while, and it was expensive. The results were good… but they were not amazing and I was hoping for amazing for the money I was paying. I wanted a brand new knife back!

And this is why I am so happy I got the Chef’s Choice m130. This is the latest in what is supposed to be a great line of knife sharpeners from Chef’s Choice / EdgeCraft. I have been eyeing these sharpeners for a while and when I saw an updated version I had to go in… and I am happy I did.

The Chef’s Choice M130 has 3 different stages.

How it works

There are 3 “Stages”, each which has two slots, one for each side of the knife. The first stage has a set of diamond coated disks that creates the main bevel for the edge. The second and third stages have a slightly lower bevel angle than the first stage, called a micro bevel. Having two different angles means you only have to remove a small amount of metal to touch up the micro bevel. The micro bevel does all of the cutting, the larger bevel splits the cut. If you need to resharpen you knife, all you need to do is touch up the micro bevel instead of having regrind the entire edge.

The first stage has two diamond coated disks that set the base bevel angle for the knife. If you want to have a very sharp knife with a smooth micro-bevel for precise slicing you would then sharpen you knife in the third stage. The third stage has two polishing disk, that will hone the knife and smooth the surface. If you want a knife that has a little more “bite” and would be better for cutting fiberous stuff, you would want to use the second stage. The second stage steels the micro-bevel and gives the edge micro serrations. This makes it easier to cut through things like tomato skin and meat fibers. You can also bring the knife quickly through stage 3 after stage 2 for the best of both worlds.

Each stage has two disks, one for each side of the knife.

Review

I love this sharpener! So far I have tried it with my knives from Global, Lamson Sharp, and Forschners and it has put an amazing edge on all of them. I would say that they are probably as sharp or sharper than when I got them. They also don’t seem to be dulling too quickly, but I haven’t done any long term tests.

I think my only question is which Chef’s Choice knife sharpener to get. The 130 is the top of the line, but the 110 and 120 have always ranked pretty high. This is the only one that can “steel” the knives, but I am not sure if it is that much better than the method used in the older models. Still the 130 is only $10 than the 120, if you look at the difference over 1000 sharpenings or 5 years or more it is really not that big a difference.

Conclusions

One of the reasons that cooks on TV are able to cut so quickly and preciously is because they are using sharp knives! Sharpening up my knives made such a difference, and the Chef’s Choice does a great job of sharpening. You will have a hard time finding a way to get your knives sharper and if you do it will either cost so much or take so much time that you will not do it often and your knives will go dull. I highly recommend the Chef’s Choice 130!