Gorilla Grip Manual Knife Sharpener In-depth Review
We tested the Gorilla Grip for sharpness, sharpening time, and knife edge quality, among other criteria. Here’s our ratings and detailed review.
Overall Verdict
The Gorilla Grip is a good-value buy: It has a decent build and offers good sharpness for a handheld sharpening device. It’s also easy to use, though it is not as stable as the devices that it resembles so closely, such as the Kitchellence or the Amesser.
Be mindful, though, that it can be harsh on your knife edge. Don’t sharpen your expensive knives with this one.
Things We Like
- Substantial sharpening rods
- Solid construction
- Intuitive order of sharpening slots
- Ergonomic grip
Things We Don’t Like
- Tapered and bumpy base
- Poorly fitted rubber feet
We came across the Gorilla Grip after the Kitchellence and the Amesser A-65, which are basically its identical brothers. At the time of writing, the Gorilla Grip is slightly cheaper in price compared to the other two, sold without safety gloves or even a logo on it. But does the lower price translate to subpar performance? Or will it make it to our top choices list?
We put it through the same tests to find the answer to that question.
Key Specs
Where to Buy Price at publication $9.43
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Compared to Other Manual Knife Sharpeners
6.5 Performance
The Gorilla Grip seems to be the opposite of the Kitchellence in this regard. It sharpens quickly and effectively but can peel off a lot of material from your blade. Despite the ‘Polish’ slot, our test knife ended up with a rough, uneven edge.
7.6 Sharpening Time to Cut a Lemon
We spent 15 seconds on the Prepare slot, 1 minute on the Sharpen slot, plus 15 seconds on the Polish slot. The dull test knife came out keen enough to slice through the lemon without us applying significant force.
If you’re in a hurry, five or six swipes on the second slot should be enough to bring a regular chef’s knife to serviceable sharpness.
8.0 Maximum Sharpness Achieved
We spent a total of 5 minutes on the tungsten carbide blades and 30 seconds on each of the remaining stages.
The Gorilla Grip sliced through ripe tomatoes and chicken breasts with skin with minimal resistance, though the slippery chicken skin did slow it down a bit. It took two to three rather heavy swipes to sever a piece of beef tendon. However, at this sharpness level, your knives shouldn’t have a problem performing most cutting tasks.
5.0 Edge Smoothness
Despite their substantial size, the ceramic rods in the Polish slot did not seem to help with smoothening and polishing the knife edge.
The aggressive removal of steel is evident on the knife’s edge — the tungsten carbide blades created small but deep waves along it. These waves should not have any negative effect on your cutting experience, but they are unsightly and will bother you if you’re a knife connoisseur.
Also, if your knife is made of a particularly hard steel, the uneven thickness of the edge may make it more prone to chipping.
5.0 Material Retention
The Gorilla Grip is aggressive: It removed a great amount of metal off the blade during the one minute we sharpened the knife with it. The Prepare slot doesn’t seem to do too much to minimize the peeling during the next stage.
Given how quickly the device sharpens, we don’t recommend more than a few swipes on the Sharpen slot unless your knife is really dull.
8.8 Design
The Gorilla Grip looks almost identical to the Amesser and the Kitchellence: It has a tall but weighted body, a tapered base, an ergonomic grip, and a soft cover. Unfortunately, the shaky base and the poorly fitted rubber pad set it back by a few points.
In the Box
- Gorilla Grip sharpener
- Care and use instructions
The Gorilla Grip sharpener comes in a neat cardboard box with detailed instructions on how to use and maintain it. The Amazon photos really don’t do it justice: The actual device looks much sleeker, and the almond color is lighter too. It’s also easy to find your favorite color among its nine color options.
Dimensions
8.5 Build Quality
The Gorilla Grip has a better build than what its price suggests: It’s neat, weighted, and substantial, with parts fitting together firmly and seamlessly. Although the working section is removable, it feels like one piece with the rest of the device.
The minus points are due to its bumpy base and rubber pads, which could use better fitting and gluing. Also, the device’s exterior doesn’t feel as soft and comfy as those of its brethrens, the Kitchellence and the Amesser, but this aspect is negligible. The lack of a name or logo is surprising but doesn’t affect the overall quality in any way.
Working Section
The working section of the Gorilla Grip features three sharpening slots that repair, sharpen, and polish your blade. Its sharpening rods are larger than those on other devices, such as the Cubikook or the Wamery. The working section sits securely on a rather tall, but heavy, heel and enjoys reasonable stability.
This part is removable and replaceable in theory, though we couldn’t find a place that sells it separately online.
9.5 Grip
The grip of this device is very comfortable, thanks to its decent size, ergonomic shape, and quality material. Though not a closed loop, the handle forms a hook so that you can hang it near your countertop for quick retrieving.
There’s little to complain about the grip, though we thought a bigger foot would be better for stability.
Base
The Gorilla Grip has textured rubber pads underneath it to enhance friction against the countertop. The pads don’t fit into their designated slots very well, though we think that’s more a problem of aesthetics than functionality.
The real problem is that when standing, only a part of the bigger pad is in contact with the countertop, which means it’s not completely flat. We’re not sure if it’s the pad, the base, or the glue that attaches them that has uneven thickness, but this factor noticeably reduces the device’s stability.
8.6 Ease of Use
With a straightforward design, the Gorilla Grip is easy to use. We didn’t record any difficulty while inserting the knife or pulling it through the device’s sharpening slots. Stability could be improved, but we didn’t have to tire our wrists to keep it in place during sharpening.
10 Slot Arrangement
With three working slots progressing from left to right, the Gorilla Grip doesn’t require a good memory or logical skills to work with. The function of each of the slots is also engraved right next to it, so even first-time users should have no problem working out the order.
9.0 Insertion
Its slot openings are wide and at a reasonable distance from each other, so it was easy to place the knife in the right slot with the Gorilla Grip.
8.5 Pulling Through
Similar to the Kitchellence and the Amesser, the Gorilla Grip’s solid body structure makes pulling the knife through its slots a breeze: It was easy for us to apply a steady force from the knife’s heel to its top. The friction was just right at every point along the blade. The knife did cut into the plastic parts of the sharpener at times, but it happened less often than with other devices.
8.0 Stability on a Clean Surface
The Gorilla Grip’s base isn’t completely flat, so it wobbled as we pushed it lightly while it was placed on a table. It also has a high center of gravity and a tapered heel — big no-nos — but to some extent, the heavy weight makes up for that.
7.0 Stability on a Wet and Dirty Surface
The slippery cooking oil and salt on the countertop didn’t seem to affect the device’s stability to a great extent. Neither did the salt pose much of a challenge to the textured rubber feet.
Behind the review
Anh Ngo is a writer with 9 years experience at different media outlets, covering from public news and events to product testing and analysis. At HealthyKitchen101, she works across different departments, communicating closely with its network of writers, editors, and health, tech, and search engine experts to provide a meaningful and pleasant reading experience for visitors.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
Nguyen Ntk is a graphic designer, photographer, and videographer whose philosophy centers around respecting and celebrating the beauty of reality. Through his lenses, Nguyen strives to capture the true essence of objects and events, showcasing and highlighting authentic features without distortion or exaggeration.