Is the Accusharp too good to be true?

Pull-through sharpeners with carbide inserts are generally viewed 'dimly' by most sharpening nuts like us. ;)

Crossed carbide inserts, in a 'scissor' arrangement, will sharpen the edge by pinching, ripping and scrubbing shards of steel from it, along the long axis of the edge. That will leave lots of gnarly shards of weakened steel behind, which can function like 'teeth' on a blade, and work aggressively for a short while. But it's a horrible way to sharpen, for the sake of the blade's longevity. Edges don't last very long, because the weak 'teeth' fold or break away, and much more metal is removed than is necessary for touching up a knife. Softer steels can actually be ripped perpendicular and into the edge, to some depth, and harder steels could easily be chipped deeply in a similar fashion.

And all of this is due to the way the carbide inserts, ground like scissor blades, actually pinch the edge before the user draws/pulls it through. If you were to take a pair of scissors and hold them vertically, opened slightly with the blades pointed UP, and draw a piece of paper or cardboard between them like you would do with a blade in the sharpener, you'd quickly see why it's a very bad way to remove material from the edge (try this with a recipe/index card). It will alternately pinch and then rip the card, leaving the edge in rough tatters. Crossed-carbide sharpeners can easily do the same thing to a knife edge (look under magnification).

Having said all that, most average knife users with no knowledge of good sharpening technique would likely be thrilled to find something that puts a quick & toothy working edge on a blade, with a minimum of effort or skill required. I think that would account for most of the 'good' reviews posted. All depends on what one's expectations and needs are, for keeping a functional edge on simple working knives.

Here's a link below to a thread posted by our knifenut1013, with some high-quality photos of edges sharpened with crossed-carbide tools, and then repaired in expert fashion. Quite a contrast between 'before' and 'after' photos of the edge.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/683180-Long-term-carbide-scraper-use


David
 
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Good for blades that have 'butter knifed' saves a couple minutes on the stones... Not an edge I would consider good unless I had nothing better to use.

Some people don't see it as a bad thing, they don't care about how it cuts or how long it cuts, just that it cuts is enough. I see their logic, a blade doesn't need to be shaving sharp and in good condition to slice through meats and vegetables.. Why have a good edge when you are going to saw on plates and wash in the dishwasher?
 
I used to use that for dull factory edges to set a bevel because the only stone I had was a Smith's Diamond Combo.
I would finish on the diamonds, never on just the Accusharp because I noticed that the bevel had a deep groove in it that let the edge
easily be damaged.
 
I think drag & scrape sharpeners like this get positive reviews mostly from people that are excited about how quickly they turned a dull edge into something that cuts better and either don't realize or don't care how much excess material is removed in the process or what damage to the blade they are causing by using them.
 
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