Knife Sharpener Jan 2020 Test: Which Brand Wins?
In our Jan 2020 test we compared 6 knife sharpener options head to head. Work Sharp came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Work Sharp
Price shown in test: $67.40
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AccuSharp
Price shown in test: $10.97
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
AccuSharp
Price shown in test: $10.97
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“In my opinion, the most expensive sharpener is the best sharpener, but it also has the steepest learning curve. It seemed to provide the most durable knife edge, meaning that you can use it longer before you have to sharpen it again.”
Best in 1 of 4 measurements, including Edge retention after wood cutting board test.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Sharpening attempt 1 (BESS score)
- 1Work Sharp knife and tool sharpener (belt/electric)455
- 2AccuSharp knife and tool sharpener545
did not do a very good job
- 3Bavarian Edge240
described as sharper than the knife's original baseline sharpness
- 4Presto Professional Ever Sharp three-stage electric knife sharpener430
did not do a very good job
- 5Kitchellence 3-slot kitchen knife sharpener (diamond rod, tungsten steel, ceramic rod)about700
described as just as dull as when the test started
- 6Sunrise Pro410
better than AccuSharp but still not very good
Sharpening attempt 2, more effort (BESS score)
- 1Work Sharp knife and tool sharpener (belt/electric)245
(transcript states this came 'from 435 to 245,' a starting value of 435 that does not match the 455 given earlier for attempt 1; both figures kept as stated, not reconciled)
- 2AccuSharp knife and tool sharpener380
much better but still not the sharpest
- 3Bavarian Edge
not separately retested with more effort; already praised as one of only two sharpeners (with Work Sharp) that did a terrific job on the first attempt
- 4Presto Professional Ever Sharp three-stage electric knife sharpener365
definitely improved
- 5Kitchellence 3-slot kitchen knife sharpener (diamond rod, tungsten steel, ceramic rod)345
much better
- 6Sunrise Pro480
actually became worse with more effort
Edge retention after wood cutting board test (BESS score)
- 1Work Sharp knife and tool sharpener (belt/electric)255
up from 245, only about a 4 percent increase, the best edge retention of all 6 sharpeners
- 2AccuSharp knife and tool sharpener430
up from 380, roughly a 13 percent increase (one of several brands the narrator groups as losing over 10 percent sharpness)
- 3Bavarian Edge310
up from 240, still pretty sharp per the narrator but a loss of over 10 percent, similar to the other mechanical (non-electric) sharpeners
- 4Presto Professional Ever Sharp three-stage electric knife sharpener365
unchanged, no detectable sharpness loss, though it did not start out as sharp as some of the other brands
- 5Kitchellence 3-slot kitchen knife sharpener (diamond rod, tungsten steel, ceramic rod)500
up from 345, described as dulling quite a bit
- 6Sunrise Pro550
up from 480, another double-digit percentage loss
Microscope edge inspection
- 1Work Sharp knife and tool sharpener (belt/electric)
belt sharpener left a concave-style blade edge, unlike the more V-shaped edges left by the other brands; reground the entire factory edge like Presto
- 2AccuSharp knife and tool sharpener
leaves a V-like shape; ripped away and completely reshaped the factory edge
- 3Bavarian Edge
uses two independent spring-action tungsten carbide arms; most of the factory ground edge remained intact, appearing to only work the very leading edge of the blade
- 4Presto Professional Ever Sharp three-stage electric knife sharpener
electric three-stage sharpener; reground the entire factory edge of the knife
- 5Kitchellence 3-slot kitchen knife sharpener (diamond rod, tungsten steel, ceramic rod)
three sharpening slots (diamond rod for prep, tungsten steel for coarse sharpening, ceramic rod for fine tuning); left a more consistent and less jagged edge than the Sunrise Pro
- 6Sunrise Pro
uses the same basic pull-through design concept as AccuSharp, but left a more jagged edge
Severe damage recovery (grinding wheel to BESS 2775)
- 1Work Sharp knife and tool sharpener (belt/electric)3 minutes 36 seconds2nd
to sharpen, final score of 220, second sharpest of all 6 products and not far behind AccuSharp's 190; no further resharpening attempts needed
- 2AccuSharp knife and tool sharpener
35 strokes and 57 seconds for the first attempt, reaching 945; an additional 40 strokes brought it to 190, the sharpest of all 6 products tested in this round
- 3Bavarian Edge
took multiple rounds of extra strokes (two additional passes of 15 strokes each) reaching 550 at the first checkpoint, then further sharpening brought it to a final score of 240, described as very impressive given the damage
- 4Presto Professional Ever Sharp three-stage electric knife sharpenerabout3 minutes 15 seconds
to sharpen, final score of 355; no further resharpening attempts mentioned
- 5Kitchellence 3-slot kitchen knife sharpener (diamond rod, tungsten steel, ceramic rod)1 minute 49 seconds
for the first attempt, reaching 630; further sharpening brought it to 365, then further sharpening again brought it to a final score of 310, described as about as sharp as the narrator could make it
- 6Sunrise Pro
25 strokes and 40 seconds for the first attempt, reaching 355; an additional 30 strokes brought it to 370, described as about as sharp as the narrator was able to get it
How it was tested
- baseline BESS sharpness score measured before dulling
- standardized dulling: 5 passes of the blade across an aluminum pipe under 2.5 lb of weight
- sharpening attempt 1: BESS score measured after a single normal-effort sharpening pass with each sharpener
- sharpening attempt 2: BESS score measured after resharpening with more strokes and effort
- edge retention: BESS score measured after dragging the sharpened blade across a piece of cured Osage orange wood 10 times
- severe damage recovery: blades ground down on a grinding wheel to a BESS score of 2775, then resharpened, recording time/strokes and final BESS score across multiple resharpening attempts as needed
- microscope inspection of the resulting blade edge shape and consistency
“In my opinion, the most expensive sharpener is the best sharpener, but it also has the steepest learning curve. It seemed to provide the most durable knife edge, meaning that you can use it longer before you have to sharpen it again.”
Data notes and caveats
Uses a BESS (sharpness) tester where LOWER scores mean sharper edges; the video's own reference chart: double-edge razor blade about 50, utility blade 150 to 200, new high-end cutlery edge 250 to 350, edges needing maintenance around 400, a butter knife around 2000. Blades were dulled to roughly 655 for the main tests and to 2775 (duller than a butter knife) for the severe-damage recovery test. The Kitchellence product is called 'Kitchenart' on first mention and 'KitchenIQ' every time after that in the transcript; resolved to Kitchellence per the video description's product list, confirmed by the final meta chapter title which spells it 'Kichellence.' A small numeric discrepancy exists for Work Sharp's first sharpening score: stated as 455 right after the sharpening round, but the second-attempt recap says 'from 435 to 245'; both values kept as stated rather than corrected. Notably, AccuSharp posted the single sharpest raw BESS score of the entire video (190, in the severe-damage recovery test), edging out Work Sharp's 220, yet the narrator still names Work Sharp the overall best sharpener, explicitly crediting its superior edge durability (only about 4 percent sharpness loss in the cutting board test, versus over 10 percent for every other brand) rather than raw one-time sharpness; both facts are recorded rather than treating the narrator's verdict as contradicted by the numbers. Three products (AccuSharp, Bavarian Edge, Work Sharp) receive distinct positive buying endorsements for different use cases: AccuSharp for budget/quick touch-ups, Bavarian Edge for maintaining an already-decent edge, and Work Sharp as the overall best despite cost and learning curve.
