Review on 🔪 Kota Japan 12-inch Diamond Carbon Steel Knife Sharpening Rod for Kitchen, Home, or Hunting - Perfect for Master Chefs, Hunters, and Home Gourmets by Robert Correa

I've wanted a diamond sharpener for a long time. It seemed to have good reviews overall and was priced at $16. I've only had it 2 days so I don't know how long it will last. I have sharpened 43 knives with blades ranging from 1.5 to 13 inches in length. Stainless and carbon steel butcher knives, paring knives and a variety of knives of different sizes, I've even sharpened 5 ceramic knives that I slammed into the box after they had become dull years ago (ceramic blades took twice as long to sharpen). Maybe 30 seconds to 2 minutes each and they're close to the sharpness of a shave. So far I'm impressed that this thing sharpens 10x faster than my rocks and the form factor for me allows me to sharpen the entire length of the blade in one go which helps me sharpen it down the length of the blade every time to do right, short or long. All of the knives were fairly dull, there were probably 2 or 3 of them that could slice a tomato before I sharpened them. Now they all go through the skin without even leaving a dent. Just to be clear, this was a full dull knife sharpening session. I think only maintenance from time to time will maintain this benefit from now on. For a person who only has a knife or two, I can tell you this will last you at least a couple of years. I'm a knife freak and I'm challenging my wife's wits with all the knives I have in my kitchen. She would get rid of all but 4 or 5 if she had her way. :) but I'm a chef and I can say it in the kitchen. I use 8 or 9 knives a day in the kitchen so I'm quite a heavy user. Let's see how long this lasts for me. I've noticed that different areas of the sharpener seem to have different levels of aggressiveness. It felt like the smaller radius sides had a lot more friction than the wider, flatter sides. I found that as the blade got sharper I changed where I sharpened it to give it a thinner edge. Not sure if this thing is made for grit as it's not listed anywhere but I'm happy with it. I also think I noticed a slight decrease in aggressiveness between the beginning and end of sharpening all 43 knives. However, it still sharpens and I don't feel any reduction in sharpening ability. Cleaning is a must. After sharpening about 20 knives without cleaning it, I spilled water on it and lightly beat it with a soft bottle brush and the water came out almost black from all the metal it washed off. After that I washed it every 3 or 4 knives. A minus that for me is a plus. It's like that thing's fine-grain finish, but it aggressively removes metal from the blade. What would have taken me 10 minutes with my sharpening stone took a minute at most with this one. I know some people who babysit their knives and don't like this aggressive sharpener. I am an advocate of utility and time. Knives are tools and I like them to be razor sharp and don't want to spend a lot of time sharpening them. I have many different knives and use and abuse them a lot. Meat one minute and crate opening the next. When it comes in handy, I use it in everything I do. The only utmost care I take with my knives is not to do anything that might break the tip, chip, or scratch the blade. When you get frustrated, take out the whetstones and set aside a few hours to sharpen your knives. it was pain Once I had a decent steel that I could use to wipe down the blades very quickly before each use, it took about twice as long before I had to do a sharpening session. I love my steel more than my old school whetstones. It's easy and quick to use to keep the edge. This sharpener combines my favorite steel form factor with a very fast sharpening ability. (Just a side note, while I haven't done this with all the knives I've sharpened, there were a few I had trouble getting properly sharp with, a swipe or two with steel nearly shaved them I would risk it I think it's the softer metal cheaper/lower quality knives So between my new sharpener and my old steel I don't think I'll ever have a marathon sharpening session again I'm lucky now I'm digging up some of my non-kitchen knives :)