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Amesser A-65 3-Stage vs. Mueller 4-Stage Sharpener Side-by-Side Comparison

Anh Ngo
Anh Ngo
Reviewer
Nguyen Ntk
Nguyen Ntk
Visual Specialist
Updated
Tested Using Methodology v1.1
Updated Mar 17, 2023
Tested Using Methodology v1.1
Updated Mar 17, 2023
The Amesser 3-stage manual knife sharpener on a cutting board, its package box, knife, chilli peppers, carrot, guavas
Person holding the Mueller 4-stage manual knife sharpener in one hand
Knife Sharpeners type
manual
manual

Our Verdict

7.6
Overall Score
  • Performance (50%)
    6.3/10
  • Design (15%)
    9.3/10
  • Ease of Use (35%)
    8.8/10
7.6
Overall Score
  • Performance (50%)
    6.7/10
  • Design (15%)
    9.1/10
  • Ease of Use (35%)
    8.3/10

While the discrepancy in their overall ratings is negligible, the Amesser A-65 and the Mueller 4-stage sharpeners don’t share similar scores in every category.

In speed, for example, the latter has the upper hand. It took much less time to sharpen a knife to a serviceable level. Not only that, but the Mueller could bring the knife to a higher level of keenness compared to the Amesser, when given the same amount of sharpening time.

The Amesser, on the other hand, didn’t shave as much steel off the knife’s edge as its Mueller counterpart did. We also ended up with a more refined edge compared to that produced by the Mueller.

Amesser A-65 3-stage Knife Sharpener’s Performance

Mueller 4-Stage Knife Sharpener’s Performance
6.3
Performance Scores
  • Sharpening Time to Cut a Lemon (35%)5.2/10
  • Maximum Sharpness Achieved (20%)7.0/10
  • Edge Smoothness (20%)7.7/10
  • Material Retention (25%)6.0/10
6.7
Performance Scores
  • Sharpening Time to Cut a Lemon (35%)8.8/10
  • Maximum Sharpness Achieved (20%)8.0/10
  • Edge Smoothness (20%)4.0/10
  • Material Retention (25%)5.0/10
5.2

Sharpening Time to Cut a Lemon

8.8
  • Sharpening Time: 2 minutes
  • Cutting Feel: Swift and smooth

The Amesser clocked 120 seconds to restore a blunted blade back to use on a lemon. 

This is double the ideal time (60 seconds), but is still within acceptable ranges. It’s actually a few seconds faster than its identical cousin, the Kitchellence. If your kitchen knives are regularly maintained, you should be able to get them ready for a cooking session within 30 - 60 seconds on this sharpener.

  • Sharpening Time: 1 minute 15 seconds
  • Cutting Feel: Swift and smooth

The Mueller isn’t the speediest of sharpeners, but it works fast enough. We put it through the lemon test twice, and it took 60 and 90 seconds respectively to complete the task. This is quite a reasonable time range, considering how dull we made the knife before testing.

Skipping the diamond rods won’t affect the result. We only used them to rid the knife edge of metal particles and make sure it was as smooth as it could be, but if you’re in a hurry, the ceramic rods alone would suffice.

7.0

Maximum Sharpness Achieved

8.0
  • Sharpening Time: 6 minutes
  • Sharpness Level: 8 - (Chicken breast, two swipes)

On a ripe tomato, there was no need to apply any extra effort. The tomato split cleanly without leaving behind any trace on the chopping block.

The next checkpoint—chicken breast with skin—was a slight challenge. The test knife did well on a small piece, as indicated in the video. However, on a larger piece of breast, it failed to sever the tough skin and slippery fat in one go, hence our final score of 7.0.

  • Sharpening Time: 6 minutes
  • Sharpness Level: 8 (Chicken breast with skin, 1 swipe)

After 5 minutes on Slot 2 and 30 seconds on each of the remaining slots, our test knife was able to cut through a raw chicken breast with the skin still attached. It did need a second swipe to sever the tough, slippery fat and skin, but this is the case for most devices.

7.7

Edge Smoothness

4.0

Here are the magnified shots of the test knife after sharpening with the Amesser A-65.

The edge came out straight and well polished with minimal signs of chips, burrs, or other defects. In comparison to the other handheld sharpeners we’ve experimented with so far, this sharpener did a good job of straightening and restoring the edge. And it’s no surprise that the result is almost a mirror image of what the Kitchellence produced.

The diamond dust and ceramic rods didn’t seem to do much if anything to smoothen the edge: It came out rough with waves and small chips all across its length. I could see it with my naked eyes and feel the chips and small particles as I ran my fingers along the edge. The discrepancy between the two sides just tops it off.

6.0

Material Retention

5.0
  • Sharpening Time: 1 minute
  • Target Sharpness:

You can bet that all knife sharpeners grind away a certain amount of material from the blade to reform the edge: the only difference is the length they go to. In just one minute, the Amesser A-65 took a heavy toll on the knife’s edge, as evident by the pictures here.

We were rather astonished how this tri-stage sharpener managed to shear off almost as much metal as ones with fewer stages. Indeed, the quantity of swarf collected was somewhat similar to that produced by the Sunrise Pro and KitchenIQ.

So, if you do purchase the Amesser A-65, it’d be a good idea to use the second stage only on really dull knives. For milder cases, the ceramic rods in the third stage would suffice.

  • Sharpening Time: 1 minute
  • Target Sharpness:

The Mueller is a disappointment when it comes to preserving edge integrity. We were horrified at the size and amount of swarf the sharpener churned out after every swipe on the tungsten carbide blades. It’s all or nothing with this slot: When it works, it shaves off as much metal as it can. When it doesn’t, your knife simply glides through it, untouched.

The icing on the cake is the obvious unevenness on the two sides of the edge. We can’t quite work out the reason for this, because its sharpening slots look exactly the same as the Longzon, which created a very nice edge in our test. We re-edged the test knife and tried again, and even replaced the test knife in case it was a faulty one, but the end result was the same.

Amesser A-65 3-stage Knife Sharpener’s Design

Mueller Knife Sharpener’s Design
9.3
design Scores
  • Build Quality (75%)9.2/10
  • Grip (25%)9.5/10
9.1
design Scores
  • Build Quality (75%)9.1/10
  • Grip (25%)9.0/10

What’s in the Box With the Amesser A-65 Manual Knife Sharpener

What’s in the Box With the Mueller Scissors and Knife Sharpener
  • Amesser sharpener
  • Instruction manual
  • Protection glove
  • Thank-you note

The cardboard package includes the sharpener, a cut-resistant glove, a user’s guide, and an appreciation card from the manufacturer. This product is under warranty for up to 18 months.

  • The Mueller 4-stage knife sharpener 
  • Instruction manual 
  • Appreciation card & promotional leaflet 

The Muller KS-4ST knife sharpener comes in a nice cardboard box. Included is a detailed user guide with safety notes and instructions on how to sharpen knives of different dullness levels.

Dimensions

  • Length:
    7.9" (20.1 cm)
  • Width:
    1.9" (4.8 cm)
  • Height:
    2.9" (7.4 cm)
  • Weight:
    6.4 oz (183 g)

  • Length:
    9.3" (23.6 cm)
  • Width:
    1.8" (4.6 cm)
  • Height:
    3.1" (7.9 cm)
  • Weight:
    8.6 oz (244 g)

9.2

Build Quality

9.1

This sharpener is well put together and feels sturdy. Shake as hard as you might, and everything stays perfectly intact as if the whole thing is made of one solid block.

At one point, we plucked off the working section and took a quick peek inside the base. It has a metal piece attached underneath and weighs 6.44 ounces, accounting for the majority of the sharpener’s total weight.

The working section has several contact points that lock into the base and click when assembled correctly. Sadly, this part isn’t available for purchase or replacement. Once it breaks, you’ll have to toss the whole thing in the trash and get a brand-new unit.

The Muller sharpener appears to be made from decent-quality materials. There’s also little to complain about regarding the construction: Its parts align well and even when we dropped the device on the floor they stayed together like a one-piece tool. We don’t like its high center of gravity and prefer a more weighted base, but at the same time, we can’t deny how well it was put together.

9.5

Grip

9.0
  • Material:
    ABS plastic

In general, the Amesser’s handle offers a great sense of comfort and safety. You can skip using the glove if you want to: the handle’s material feels soft and grippy, while the size is just about perfect for a good, strong grasp. The icing on the cake is a series of finger nubs running along the handle’s length.

  • Material:
    ABS plastic and rubber

The Muller has a grip that’s proportional to its wide working section. It offers lots of space for those with large hands, and there are finger nubs that make it easy to hold on to. We also appreciate the rubber padding on the upper side of the grip: It’s soft and gentle to your palm while also creating useful friction against grease or moisture.

Working Section

  • Levels of Sharpening:
    Prepare, Sharpen, Polish
  • Abrasive:
    Diamond-coated rods, tungsten steel blades, ceramic rods
  • Mechanism:
    Pull-through
  • Sharpening Angle:
    20°

Each stage of the working section features ordinal numbering and some visual cues that display the slot’s material and function. 

The sharpening process begins with the Prep stage whose main purpose is to straighten the knife’s edge. Following that is the middle stage, used to sharpen the edge. Meanwhile, the final stage is meant for honing or giving a slightly blunt knife some light touch-ups every once in a while. 

On the whole, the Amesser A-65 should handle most types of kitchen knives.

  • Levels of Sharpening:
    Sharpen (slot 1, 2, 3), Hone (slot 4)
  • Abrasive:
    Tungsten carbide blades, diamond rods, ceramic rods
  • Mechanism:
    Pull through
  • Sharpening Angle:
    20 degree

The Muller has a large working section with one slot for scissors and three for kitchen knives. It’s placed on a rather thick base — in fact, the Muller is among the tallest of all the devices we’ve tested. Unfortunately, this is not an advantage in the world of handheld sharpeners: A high working section only makes it more prone to toppling during operation.

Base

Mueller 4-Stage Knife Sharpener’s Base
  • Material:
    ABS plastic
  • Feet Type:
    Non-slip rubber base

The Amesser’s base is a checker-patterned pad that gradually tapers toward the direction of the handle. The pattern helps with creating friction and thus preventing the device from sliding across the countertop during sharpening; however, it does pick up residue and specks of dirt.

  • Material:
    ABS plastic
  • Feet Type:
    Anti-slip rubber pads

The Muller has a base running from the heel of its handle to underneath its working section. The base is supported with two flat rubber pads that offer friction and keep it from sliding across the countertop during sharpening.

Ease of Use

Amesser 3-stage Knife Sharpener Review

Mueller 4-Stage Knife Sharpener Review: Ease of Use
8.8
usability Scores
  • Slot Arrangement (10%)10/10
  • Insertion (20%)9.0/10
  • Pulling Through (10%)9.5/10
  • Stability on a Clean Surface (40%)9.0/10
  • Stability on a Wet and Dirty Surface (20%)7.5/10
8.3
usability Scores
  • Slot Arrangement (10%)7.0/10
  • Insertion (20%)9.0/10
  • Pulling Through (10%)7.5/10
  • Stability on a Clean Surface (40%)8.5/10
  • Stability on a Wet and Dirty Surface (20%)8.0/10
10

Slot Arrangement

7.0

Like the majority of handheld sharpeners, the slot structure advances from left to right. Each slot has some handy visual cues as a brief introduction to help cooks identify its function and feature. These fine prints are easy to read and they eliminate any unnecessary guesswork that may arise in the process.

Unlike many other sharpeners where the diamond rods serve as a “prep” stage, on the Mueller, you start sharpening your knife with the tungsten carbide blades (Slot 2), then move on to the diamond rods (Slot 3) and finish on the ceramic rods (Slot 4). Interestingly, in the Amazon product description, slots 2 and 3 are swapped. 

The tungsten carbide blades remove the most material from the knife, so it makes sense that they’re the ‘coarsest’ stage. However, we found that the diamond and ceramic rods may sometimes dullen a keen edge, especially when you use both of them to ‘polish’ it. As a result, we prefer the more common setting of starting with the diamond rods for the straightening effect.

9.0

Insertion

9.0

The entries into the sharpening slots are just wide and deep enough to accommodate the blade properly but not comfortably. During the course of the test, there were occasional bumps here and there when positioning the knife into the slots.

We also noticed some wiggle room between the abrasives, resulting in the knife leaning and jigging sideways. This was also the reason why we sometimes had trouble keeping our draw straight, as you can see from these overhead shots.

With a long grip and a wide working section, blade insertion into the sharpening slots was effortless and didn’t require much caution. If you’ve been sharpening with mini-size devices such as the KitchenIQ, where you’re gripping right next to the sharpening slot, you will likely notice the lack of stress when working with the Mueller.

9.5

Pulling Through

7.5

On the whole, the abrasives were tight and solid. The first two stages actually felt a little heavy at times due to the nature of the material. 

It’s unlikely that you’ll overshoot the blade and cut into parts of the device by mistake—the plastic frame is far enough below the abrasives to prevent that.

The test knife went through the last two sharpening slots with little problem. However, our experience with the coarse slot seemed to be hit-and-miss:  Sometimes, the tungsten carbide blades were almost slippery with no friction or pressure felt, which means they weren’t doing their job. Other times, they were tight and ended up removing too much material from the knife.

9.0

Stability on a Clean Surface

8.5

Save for some slight backward tilts, the Amesser barely moved at all. Thanks to its well-proportioned body, this sharpener was firm, steady, and stable. For the most part, you shouldn’t encounter any discernible problem with the device’s stability on a clean surface.

The Muller keeps its balance well on a dry and clean wooden table or marble countertop. It’s taller than most devices, but thanks to the flat and frictious base, we never had to use excessive force to keep it in place during our multiple tests.

7.5

Stability on a Wet and Dirty Surface

8.0

Prior to this test, we splashed a spoonful of oil and salt on the countertop surface to create an exaggerated mimicry of a real-life messy cooking area. The sharpener lost its footing, slipping and inching away from the original spot after just a few pulls.

We had to be a little more cautious on a messy slippery countertop, but as long as you don’t work too fast, balance and stability won’t be an issue.