Chef's Choice Pro EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener

Where's the 6th star?? This is an EXCEPTIONAL product, worth a PERFECT rating. I am a tough grader, but this thing is just wonderful: 1. It just works, very little skill or time required. 2. No water, no significant maintenance, no mess no fuss. 3. Compact, space efficient 4. FAST (maybe a minute or less per knife) 5. SAFE - - the abrasive wheels are spring-loaded, so you can't easily make a big "ding" in the edge of a blade. My wife loves it, I love it, we're throwing out all of our other miserably ineffective sharpening tools. I have no idea about longevity of the abrasive wheels -- but I suspect, with the spring-loaded design, that they will not suffer premature wear-out (because you can't press the knife into them too hard). Time will tell. Read the instructions well and follow them closely, for the best initial results. But honestly even if you don't you'll get sharp knives. Just draw the blade fairly smoothly through the slot (no pauses). I did notice that the edges produced by this system do not have the razor-sharp "feel" on fingertips that I am accustomed to with hand-sharpening, but they ARE SHARP and they CUT VERY WELL. I attribute this to the dual-bevel structure of the way the 3-stage (really 2-stage) process works. Another thing I was concerned about was getting the blade sharp all the way down to the hilt. No worries, the design of the machine allows the wheels to contact the blade down to within about 1/8" of the hilt. I have a 30x magnifier, which I used to examine the process and nature of the new cutting edge. This is a very useful method to understand what's happening with the sharpener and with your knife blades. I highly recommend a 10x or 20x magnifier (jeweler's loupe), they're cheap and you can really see what's going on with your fine knives. I don't normally rave on and on about any products, but this puppy is a gem and I've never been happier with a purchase.