GATCO Sharpeners Edgemate Professional 5-Stone Knife Sharpening System

This is a nice kit. Comes with extra coarse, coarse, medium, and fine sharpening stones. As well as a stone for sharpening serrated blades. Was able to sharpen all sizes of blades without an issue everything from small pocket knives to large kitchen knives. Just follow instructions it comes with or watch one of their five minute videos on YouTube. It gave perfect sharp edge every time. If doing many knives at once can get a little tiring holding the clamp so recommend putting it in a vice or purchasing their handle made for sharpener. If your having trouble with the clamp or your blade is not coming out right your doing something wrong. Follow instructions and it's very easy to use. Don't have to apply a super amount of pressure when sharpening either. In the end it's a nice kit and should last awhile if properly taken care of.

I have to admit I was looking at the expensive $160.00 sharpeners and read the 4 reviews for this item. They all claimed that it was great so I figured I would give it a try. Here are my thoughts:1. Initial Reaction when I first opened the box was. I GOT SWINDLED. This looks like a pile of junk2. After reading the directions: I GOT SWINDLED. This looks like a pile of junk3. After using it for the first time: WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It REALLY WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Overview: The main unit is a T shaped piece of aluminum which is in two pieces (Two L brackets). It has notches in it for the different angles you want to put on the knife, i.e. How sharp do you want it to be. You place the knife between the two pieces of aluminum and tighten it in place. You then pick up the coarse stone which is one of the items in the picture that look like screw drivers. You hold onto the base of the of the T with the blade facing you and put the metal rod of the stone into the angle notch you want to use and push the stone towards the angle bracket. You then pull it back out move the stone about ¾ of the stone width down the blade and repeat until you have done the entire side of the blade. Next you flip the angle bracket upside down and repeat for the other side of the blade. You do the same thing using the medium and finally the fine stone. Once done depending on the angle you chose you will have a wickedly sharp knife.PROS: IT WORKS PERFECTLY!CONS: Ok you're not paying $160.00 for it so it has some. Most of the cons go away once you realize you do NOT have to press hard to get the job done.1. Kind of cheaply made but could easily last a lifetime with proper use.2. Holding onto the base of an L bracket is kind of stupid and difficult the first time you try to use it. They should have put some sort of hand grip to make it easier to hold on to.3. Depending on how hard you press and how long the blade is (Long kitchen knife) it is pretty hard not to have the knife swivel between the brackets. Once I realized I only had to apply light pressure this problem went away.4. You're pushing the stone over the blade. Do not slip or get your fingers in the way or you will be a bloody mess. Once again if you applying light pressure and are paying attention so your fingers do not get in the way it is not an issue.5. When you first put oil on the stones it instantly disappears. This is not really a con as the stones are new and thirsty but once they get used repeatedly this issue goes away and you still have plenty of oil left.6. The metal shaft of the stone should be steel not aluminum so it cannot accidently get bent which would mess up the angle. Once again unless you are applying way too much pressure this should not happen, but let's face it people drop thinks so steel would have been better.7. Depending on the angle chosen you could have the stone come in contact with the T bracket. This is more of the user paying attention when setting the blade between the angle brackets.8. If you do press to hard on the stone and temporarily bow the knife the stone will come in contact with the metal sides of the blade and leave scratch marks. Once again use light pressure.Conclusion: It works great and YES I would definitely recommend and buy it myself again. No I have no intentions of buying the $160.00 sharpener as this one works great. When you first get it try it out on a long junk kitchen knife that you do not care about. This will allow you to practice with how much pressure to apply. I am pretty good with it after several tries and using light pressure I can do one side of the blade using one stone in less than 20 seconds. I then come around for a second pass since I am using only very light pressure (part of the 20 seconds). Doing an entire knife on both sides using all three stones takes me about 3 minutes. I could go faster but I want to make sure the blade is not scratched and comes out perfectly and I do not want to get stupid and cut myself. I do not recommend this unit if you are not coordinated holding the T bracket in one hand and sliding the stone over the blade with the other. However, for most people especially those who have worked with tools in the past this is a much cheaper alternative than paying $160.00 and it really does work!

Overall, this is a good knife-sharpening system. It has everything you need for a range of blades, all in one case. That's also its problem. This system tries so hard to address a range of edges that it doesn't do the extremes very well. I bought this system for sharpening kitchen knives of various sizes and uses. It doesn't work well on the finer blades, as they slip around and the angle doesn't stay consistent. As well, on the larger blades, longer knives, the angle doesn't seem to stay consistent with them, either. The premise of aligning the rods in the notches for the precise angle is a great idea, but it still doesn't compensate for variance in knife styles.Generally speaking, the system is a bit awkward to use. The case is hard to open. There is no external lock or fastener. Rather, it's opened by pressing against the lid edge, and an inner catch is released. It takes a bit of maneuvering with both hands to get the case open. Sharpening seems to work best with mid-sized blades that aren't terribly long, in terms of stability, consistency of filing, and ability to equally reach the full length of the blade. Smaller and larger knives, the clamp is tedious to secure, the rods aren't long/stable enough, and the guide angle gets lost closest to the knife point. Also, when working with the smaller angles, you will take the finish off the knife if you're not careful, not to mention scuff the brace, itself. I didn't have any finger near-misses, though I can see how if you aren't paying attention, it could happen.Worth noting, as well, is that there are no empty slots for other stones in the case. If you need to purchase extras, there's nowhere to store them.I'm pleased with the sharpening this system accomplishes, it's just not as easy to use as the instructions indicate. I'm sure with use it becomes more intuitive, though the issues with the angle and consistency pervade.