Project Farm Tests Knife Sharpeners: $9 vs $900

   06.24.20

Project Farm Tests Knife Sharpeners: $9 vs $900

I see this guy’s videos all the time. He tests all sorts of things, sometimes in a rather flaky way, but usually interesting. Stuff like rust preventers, lubricants, drill bits, engine additives, you name it. And this time, he’s testing knife sharpeners, including some well-known name brands. He is pretty good about explaining his criteria, and he bought a knife sharpness tester for this video.

Knife sharpeners tested:

  • Rada
  • Fiskars
  • 400/1000 grit whetstone
  • Lansky
  • Spyderco
  • Chef’s Choice Trizor Edge Model 15XV
  • Edge Pro Apex
  • Wicked Edge Gen 3 Pro

This is the order in which they are tested; from cheapest to most expensive.

Here are the results measured with the sharpness tester. A lower number is better, and each knife started at 145 and was dulled to more than 1800.

  • Wicked Edge Gen 3 Pro: 100
  • Lansky: 110
  • 400/1000 grit whetstone: 120
  • Edge Pro Apex: 170
  • Spyderco: 170
  • Chef’s Choice Trizor Edge Model 15XV: 190
  • Rada: 230
  • Fiskars: 230

Even the comparably high 230 number is considered “very sharp” for a kitchen knife according to his knife sharpness chart.

After that, he dulls the knife edges on an ironwood cutting board to test each edge’s durability. Sharpness tester results follow:

  • Wicked Edge Gen 3 Pro: 140
  • 400/1000 grit whetstone: 150
  • Lansky: 185
  • Edge Pro Apex: 220
  • Chef’s Choice Trizor Edge Model 15XV: 225
  • Fiskars: 280
  • Rada: 290
  • Spyderco: 530

Clearly, Wicked Edge won out in both tests. So he decided to use it to test a dull cheapo knife to see if a cheap knife can actually be sharpened well.

The Farberware knife was an extremely dull 1390 on the sharpness tester. After attacking it with the Wicked Edge, it measures a stunning 85.

So what next? Sharpening a butter knife, of course! It seems that he was worn out from all the Wicked Edge work, because he used the electrically-powered Chef’s Choice to sharpen the butter knife. Even with the electric motor, it took him half an hour!

When he’s done, it slices paper easily and measured an impressive 160 on the sharpness tester. Heck, that’s better than the edge produced by the same sharpener with the higher-quality knife used in the initial test.

Here’s the video; check it out and judge for yourself whether it’s worth the $900 to get a Wicked Edge.

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Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.

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