Messermeister 12-Inch Ceramic Rod Knife Sharpener

Great for home and professional use!
First of all, let me say that I am a seasoned banquet cook and I work in a very busy, gourmet focused kitchen. My knife kit includes both German and Japanese blades, but I much prefer my Shun's! I have always used fine grit diamond steels and honing rods, but since I use both German and Japanese steel I need a rod that is able to hone both. The Messermeister ceramic knife sharpener is the best tool I now own. My diamond steels have never made much of an impact on my knives, but the ceramic does an amazing job of both honing the blade and restoring sharpness to the edge. I even sharpened some really old, dull, beat-up knives that we have in storage and it cleaned them up beautifully. I use my chef's knife a lot every day, and by using this ceramic rod, I can keep my edge precise and sharp. As I mentioned, I use a lot of japanese blades and the ceramic is the perfect material for handling them safely.

Did I mention that ceramic never wears out? Yeah. As long as you...

Your search for a sharpening stone that works is finally over!
Haaa--llelujah...... Haaa--llelujah...... Hallelujah! -- Hallelujah! -- Hal-le-le-eh-lu-jah.

Sharp knives! I finally have sharp knives!

This thing is so unbelievably amazing, I feel like swearing. It works!... by golly, the damn thing works! I've tried more knife sharpening systems and stones than I care to admit. In fact, here are the ones I can remember purchasing:

1. Smith's PP1 PocketPal
2. Furi FUR626 Ozitech Diamond Fingers Pro Knife Sharpener
3. Wusthof 2-Stage Knife Sharpener (the heavy duty version)
4. Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker Knife Sharpener
5. A traditional whetstone
6. AccuSharp Shear Sharp Scissor Sharpener
7. A motorized dual-stage (coarse/fine) grinding stone that came with a fancy can opener
8. Some other manual dual-stage sharpener I bought at Bed Bath & Beyond (similar to the cheap Chef's Choice)

Despite being a mechanical engineer *and* a mechanic and a psychotic perfectionist when...

It's that "Just don't drop it part" that will get you.
Works beautifully when it's in one piece. But, as the other reviewers point out, "just don't drop it." Mine was in the middle drawer of my kitchen cabinet which is about 2 ft off the ground. Pulling something else out of the drawer, I accidentally knocked the knife sharpener out of the drawer and onto the hardwood floor. (no, not even tile). Now I have (3) 4-inch knife sharpeners. Not so useful.

So, if you buy one, plan for a safe place to store it. Our knife block didn't have a place to store it or I'd probably have put it there.

btw, I also used this in combination with a with Messermeister 400/1000 water stone.

So the 4 stars (instead of 5) is simply for durability. Kitchens can be rough places.

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