The Heart of The Home Beats in The Kitchen
Sharpness Scale
Forget the thumbnail test. There are safer, more accurate ways — and more convenient ways — to measure knife sharpness.
Sharpening Time
Obviously, the faster a device can sharpen, the more desirable it is. That’s why we decided to test how long each sharpener takes to bring a knife to workable sharpness.
Maximum Sharpness Achievable
Exactly how sharp can your knives get with a handheld sharpener? This test, performed on all the sharpeners we come across, is designed to find out the highest level of sharpness you can achieve with each device within 6 minutes.
Edge Smoothness
Sharpness alone isn’t the only indicator of a good sharpening device: Toothy or chipped edges perform differently than smooth ones. Here we discuss why we want a smooth edge and how we test handheld sharpeners for it.
Material Retention
We collect and compare the amount of metal dust and particles produced by each sharpener after bringing a knife to Level 6 on the Practical Sharpness Scale. The less steel a sharpener shaves off the blade, the better rating it gets.
