GEN3 Guided Knife Sharpening System, Aluminium | Professional knife sharpener, Knife Sharpening Kit W / 3 Al Plates Diamond (320#, 800#, 2000#) for For Hunting & Kitchen Knives

After researching several make and models of fixed angle knife sharpeners I settled on the XARILK Gen 3. The TSPROF system is seriously overpriced for what it is designate do. The WORKSHARP products contain way too much plastic for long term and frequent use. The XARILK GEN 3 is made of aluminum and steel components with a wide base for stability. Several improvements suggested by users have been incorporated into the GEN 3 including aluminum backing plates for the stones to prevent bowing when installed on the guide rail. Instructions were marginal at best but there is plenty of on-line content for instruction and tips for use. I sharpened all our kitchen knives, steak knives and a couple Swiss Army knives. Totally impressed with the operation of the sharpener and end result - perfectly sharp knives! What a difference!

Excellent. You will need digital angle find, A 6 inch strop plate, and 6mm split shaft collars to stop rod for you from going past plate. Pro edge. Sharpen even small knives. Designed for ease of use. Slip resistance but use clamp if you don't screw down.

Had to order this unit twice because the first one I received was a used item with gouges and dirt, so that got sent back.The second one I received appears to be new and as far as I can tell, everything works.Overall, for the price paid (which was $79 on sale), it's a pretty good value and a good choice for someone who wants a decent sharpening system on a budget. There are much higher quality and better machined fixed angle systems like this, but are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive. This unit seems to incorporate all the necessary and important features without breaking your wallet.PROS:- Easy to assemble.- Fit and finish, although not perfect, is adequate and functional.- When used properly, wIll put a nice edge on your blades.- Virtual clone of the TSProf Kadet Pro. Not as fancy and feature-packed, but operationally almost identical.CONS:- Instructions gave virtually no indication of how to properly sharpen.- Blade clamps do not have any type of padding or finish to protect the knife from scratches. However, if you don't over-tighten and are careful, so far I haven't scratched a knife, but would have liked to see the ends of the blade clamps made from a slightly softer material.- In order to get the correct angle, you will need a magnetic digital angle finder. The angle adjustment guide only provides pictures of different blades with crude markings. This is useless. Should show the actual angles in degrees instead of useless pictures.- Would have liked to see the sliding rod use a ball bearing system instead of a metal bushing. However, that would obviously add to the price.- The clamp that holds down the angle adjustment is not precise so that after you dial in the correct angle, pushing down on the clamp will cause the mechanism to readjust the angle by a little (about 0.3°)- The mechanism that rotates the blade clamp is not machined well, causing the sharpening angle to change each time you rotate. In my case, the angle changes by 1.5°. That may not sound like much, but if one side of the knife is sharpened to a 20° angle and the other is sharpened to a 21.5° angle, that can definitely affect overall performance of the blade. Each side of the blade really should be sharpened to the same angle. Because of this, each time I rotate the knife, I have to readjust the angle.It's a pain and it definitely slows down the sharpening process. In fact of anything, this is probably my biggest complaint is that this particular part of the system is poorly machined.Some of the cons are probably nitpicks especially at this price. But figured I'd mention them anyway.There are a couple decent YouTube videos showing proper usage of this Gen 3 unit which are worth watching.This system is a copy of the TSProf Kadet Pro. Not 100%, but pretty close. There are YouTube videos showing the usage of the Kadet Pro, so some of the procedures and techniques can be applied to this unit as they operate the same way.The stones that are included with the system I think are a good simple variety. I can't speak to the quality or longevity seeing as I have not sharpened many knives with it yet and I am also not even remotely a knife or sharpening expert. but so far the stones included seem to be fine and I've been able to put a nice edge on all the knives I've used it with.Xarilk also sells a multi-pack of diamond stones for only $20, which seems to be a pretty good deal.I'm aware that top quality stones cost significantly more, but I think it would be kind of pointless to spend double the price of the entire unit on stones. So even if the included stones are not supreme quality, as far as I can tell they are adequate and acceptable.Overall, I'm reasonably pleased with the system despite some of its shortcomings, but that's to be expected at this price. Upgrading to systems that fix all those nitpicks would cost 3 to 4 times the price of this unit. For example, the Kadet Pro is $500.TIPS:- I took the time to lightly spray all the joints and mechanisms with silicone spray lubricant and it helped make things move a little smoother.- Although it's not necessary, ideally you'll want to permanently attach the base to a workbench or table top. Screws are included. I don't have mine attached yet, so I hold the base steady with one hand while sharpening with the other which is not difficult.- In order to minimize the chance of the clamps marring the blade, I wrapped the ends of the clamp holders with 1-inch wide black Gorilla tape, which is thick enough to provide protection but still allow a secure hold with no wiggle.- Something that is not mentioned and I see frequently done improperly is the correct way to find the angle you're looking for. You will need a digital magnetic angle finder that can do relative measurements. I have the Klein 935DGGD and it works pretty good (Model 935DAG will also work).- Getting everything adjusted to the correct angle is actually a multi-step process. Basically you have the angle of the guide rod and then the angle that the actual knife is sitting at when clamped, which together produce the final angle. Only adjusting the main stem using the turning knob (and the useless pictures of different blades) will NOT give you the correct angle and could cause your actual angle to be off by 5° or more. This is why the dumbed down pictures along the main stem are useless if you're serious about getting the correct angle, which I assume you are. None of this is mentioned at all in the instructions.Step 1: Securely mount your knife in the blade clamps. Make sure it's snug, but don't over-tighten or you may risk marring the surface of your blade.Step 2: Adjust the height of the guide rod angle adjuster to the height of your sharpening stone and use the set screw to keep it at that position.Step 3: Install the sharpening stone and then rest the guide rod centered on top of the blade. You're now ready to measure angles.Step 4: Place the digital angle finder on top of the guide rod stem directly above the stone and once the measurement has settled, zero out the angle finder.Step 5: Now place the angle finder directly on top of the blade and use the adjusting knob on the stem of the unit to raise it up or down until you reach the exact angle you are looking for. The angle finder may jump around and it's probably not going to be absolutely perfect, but if you are within 0.1° or 0.2° you should be fine. depends on how much time you want to spend. Personally I adjust and readjust until the angle is spot-on.Step 6: Now that everything is at the correct angle, you can begin sharpening.There are many opinions about using some type of lubricant with diamond stones. Personally, I use Krud Kutter to lubricate the stones between each pass as well as using it to clean the stones after I'm done.Note: If during the sharpening process you change to a different height stone, all you need to do is readjust the guide rod stem to the height of the height of the new stone. By doing this, you will not have to readjust the angle of the entire blade clamp.However, if you always use the same height stone, you will only have to set the height of the guide rod stem once and you'll never need to change it again.

I had a slight problem with my sharpener and received a replacement sharpener THE SAME DAY I returned the original. This foldable sharpener works great. Everything is machined nice, the coatings seem durable, and the whole same of parts is quality and stout. The diamond grit is mounted to aluminum rails, nice and rigid, the grit did NoT loose any aggressiveness after my first sharpening. The action of sharpening is very precise, and smooth. The blade clamp is also stout and the flip is very accurate. I would recommend this sharpener to anyone, don't hesitate to buy anything from this company...

I've been a traditional whetstones sharpener for a few years now, I can get mirror edge shaving sharp edges. But only on my good days when I feel good and am patient and controlled, then I can get good edges. If I'm tired or frustrated working with the knife it shows on my edge. This fixed angle sharpener consistantly beats my whetstone skills with its included stones, non dependent on the human factor (mostly). You still need to properly deburr, choose the right angle (preferably with a digital inclinometer/level, pressure, and scratch mark direction. But I am impressed. The 3 aluminum backed stones work well so far. Sharpened 5 knives including reprofiling a Japanese chef knife to a couple degrees lower. I still plan on getting a couple venev stones. The sharpener came well put together and tuned, nothing loose. There is a loose screw in the box for the arm assembly, make sure you set it aside. Also, my sharpener after extended use wasn't switching sides smoothly. The spring wasn't kicking it out enough to turn. I added a bit of grease and loosen the screws a little. It fixed it but I will update if it comes back.