Nerdy Science in the Kitchen

Chef’s Choice AngleSelect M1520 Knife Sharpener

Chef’s Choice knife sharpeners are made by the EdgeCraft Corporation out of Avondale, Pennsylvania.

See the Chef’s Choice 1520 AngleSelect Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener at Amazon.They make a variety of equipment for home and commercial kitchens aside from their line of knife sharpeners, including cutlery, food slicers, waffle makers, and hot beverage appliances. They were founded in 1984 and right out of the gates, EdgeCraft released the Chef’s Choice line of electric sharpeners and have remained a powerhouse in the electric knife sharpening arena.

Chef’s Choice AngleSelect Diamond Hone M1520 Knife Sharpener

This review will focus on one of the premier electric knife sharpeners on the market and one of my personal favorites, the Chef’s Choice M1520 AngleSelect Diamond Hone Electric Knife Sharpener.

This is a professional grade knife sharpener and boasts three sharpening stages, included 100% coated discs in the first two stages (Stage 1 and Stage 2). This sharpener has the capability to sharpen standard, straight edged knives as well as serrated knives, like bread knives or some steak knives.

The final and finest stage, Stage 3, can be considered a stropping or polishing stage which is patented by EdgeCraft. This final stage guarantees a finely honed sharpness for your knives. This is one of the few electric knife sharpeners on the market that is capable of sharpening two different angles, enabling the user to sharpen a knife to a double beveled edge.

Very cool.

This sharpener is capable of sharpening a blade to 15° or 20° depending on the usage.

Typically, Japanese style knives will be sharpened down to the 15° angle and European and American style knives are sharpened to 20° coming out of the factory depending on the manufacturer.

The three-stage sharpening system features diamond abrasives and patented flexible stropping polishing discs that create a double beveled edge, reminiscent of a gothic arch, edge structure recognized for incredible sharpness and durability.

It will be important to use the right stage for your knife sharpening tasks.

Stage 1 is used for worn or dull knives. Stage 1 has the coarsest 100% diamond coated discs and will remove the most metal so you should only use this stage when it is truly needed. Stage 2 can be used for your routine sharpening tasks and is less coarse than Stage 1.

Stage 2 also uses diamond coated discs and at a slightly different angle which creates another bevel for added durability.

Stage 3 is made of a flexible abrasive and only removes a fraction of the metal that Stages 1 and 2 remove.

Stage 3 provides the stropping and honing that your knife needs as the final stage of sharpening. Stage 3 is also the one to use for your serrated knife sharpening needs.

See the Chef’s Choice 1520 AngleSelect Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener at Amazon

Chef’s Choice 1520 AngleSelect Sharpener is extremely versatile and can handle any sharpening task for high-quality gourmet knives, butcher knives, sporting knives, pocket knives, survival knives, and serrated knives.

For butcher knives, pocket knives, sporting knives, and, survival knives, I would recommend using Stage 1 and 2 in many cases. The slightly coarser grit and grind that is provided by Stage 1 and 2 can make the blades have a better “bite” which can be helpful depending on the task.

Some of the other Chef’s Choice models are stated to have a “Pre Sharpening” stage for Stage 1 meaning they have a fairly coarse grit in Stage 1 capable of removing more metal for very dull or damaged knife blades.

This model is not classified as such so if you anticipate that you need to cater to very dull or damaged knives than you might want to look at the Chef’s Choice M120.

Pros and Cons:

Owners are pleased overall in the Chef’s Choice AngleSelect M1520 Knife Sharpener reviews at Amazon.