Ceramic knives have become increasingly popular in recent years. They are durable, lightweight, and extremely sharp. And while they tend to hold their edge longer than steel knives, once they become dull, these products require a special sharpener to return them to a razor sharp edge.
The Kyocera ceramic knife sharpener is one of very few tools available on the market that is specifically designed to sharpen ceramic blades. While most knife sharpeners are not capable of sharpening ceramic knives, this little guy can do both ceramic and steel.
Before we get into the features of the Kyocera, let’s clear up a point that often confuses people. There is a very big difference between a ceramic knife sharpener and a sharpener that is designed for ceramic knives. Let me explain a bit further. Ceramics are one of the materials used to sharpen steel blades and are commonly used in both manual and electric sharpeners.
So if you search for a ceramic knife sharpener online, you’ll most likely find a product that is intended for standard steel knives, such as the Pro-M120 from Chef’s Choice. Ceramic blades are typically sharpened with diamond abrasives. Hopefully that clears things up a bit.
Our Kyocera Review
The first thing you’ll notice about the Kyocera is that it’s battery powered. Our initial thoughts on finding this out made us somewhat suspect of it’s abilities. The reason they can get away with this is that it doesn’t’ take a great deal of pressure to sharpen a ceramic blade. In fact the unit is designed so that you cannot apply a great deal of pressure on the blade. Therefore this sharpener doesn’t require a large motor.
That being said, we still think it would be more convenient if it used a standard electrical outlet. But this limitation didn’t seem to impact the performance of the sharpener.
The #600 grade diamond grinding stone is capable of taking up to .5mm off of the surface of the blade during sharpening. The only angle this sharpener is capable of achieving is 35 degrees. The guide slot and roller allow for a very simple and efficient sharpening process.
Though it is intended for ceramic blades, this sharpener can also be used on steel blades. Just keep in mind that the angle of your steel blades might be higher or lower, so use of this sharpener could result in a good bit of material being shaved off. (For steel blades we recommend an adjustable angle sharpener.) For tools, we recommend the Work Sharp WS 3000. For a more professional job, we recommend the Tormek T-8 or T-4.
The unit is very flexible and can be used with either the left or right hand. The grinding stone unit is a separate piece so this makes it very easy to clean. It also makes it easy to replace the grinding stone when it wears out. As we mentioned earlier the unit is battery powered using 4 AA batteries.
The instructions are clear and concise, and will lead you through honing or even repairing a slightly damaged blade. All in all this ceramic knife sharpener works very well and will restore an almost factory-new edge to your ceramic knives.